Uptime checks

An uptime check requests a URL on a schedule, the way a visitor would, and alerts you when it stops answering as expected. It doesn't need the plugin or package, so it works for any HTTPS site.

Add an uptime checkCopy Anchor Link

Open the site, go to Uptime and click Add Uptime Check. You can also add one when you create the site.

Under Advanced settings you can set an origin IP, basic auth credentials and custom headers, for sites behind a CDN, a staging password or a firewall.

What counts as downCopy Anchor Link

A check is Down when:

• the site doesn't answer: a timeout, a DNS failure or a refused connection
• the status code isn't one of the expected ones
• the keyword isn't in the page

Redirects aren't followed. A 301 or 302 counts as down unless you add it to the expected codes, so point the check at the final URL, including https:// and www or not.

Keywords are case-sensitive and must appear in the page. Pick text that only shows when the page has rendered properly, such as a footer line, rather than something an error page might also contain.

Before an alert goes outCopy Anchor Link

Ledge confirms an outage before telling you:

1. Another region checks. If the site doesn't answer at all, Ledge checks again straight away from another location. Failures that only one location sees are recorded as blips and left out of your uptime figures.
2. The grace time passes. While the check keeps failing, Ledge re-checks every minute until the grace time is up.
3. You're alerted with how long the site has been down and where it was confirmed from.

With a 5-minute interval and a 1-minute grace time, you'll hear about an outage within about 6 minutes.

When the site answers as expected again, the incident closes and Ledge sends one Up notice.

Response timesCopy Anchor Link

There are two kinds of response-time alert:

• Response Time Threshold. Set a limit in milliseconds and the check goes Degraded whenever a response is slower. It uses the same grace time as Down.
• Performance change. This is always on. Ledge learns what's normal for the URL over 24 hours and alerts when responses stay more than 50% slower than usual for 3 checks in a row. You can change the number of checks, from 2 to 10, under Advanced settings. It closes when responses return to normal or settle at a new level.

Measure warm response time sends a second request a few seconds after the first, so you can see how much your cache helps.

SSL certificatesCopy Anchor Link

With Monitor SSL certificate on, Ledge reads the certificate twice a day. It alerts 7 days before the certificate expires, reminds you once a day until it's renewed, and sends a notice when it is. A certificate that fails to validate shows up as Down.

HistoryCopy Anchor Link

Each check shows uptime for the last 24 hours, 7, 30 and 90 days, response times, and every result. Results are kept for 90 days.

• Poll Now checks immediately, up to once every 30 seconds.
• Pause stops a check without losing its history. When you resume it, it starts fresh.

To silence a site's alerts while you work on it, mute the site instead of pausing its checks.