[GH-ISSUE #584] docker HEALTHCHECK fails if command line arguments are given #376

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opened 2026-03-15 14:08:33 +03:00 by kerem · 2 comments

kerem commented

2026-03-15 14:08:33 +03:00

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Originally created by @daggaz on GitHub (Nov 13, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/axllent/mailpit/issues/584

Docker HEALTHCHECK works fine If I run mailpit without any args:

$ MAILPIT=$(docker run -d axllent/mailpit)
$ docker inspect $MAILPIT --format '{{json .State.Health.Status}}'
"healthy"

However, if I run it with a command line arg:

$ MAILPIT=$(docker run -d axllent/mailpit --webroot mailpit)                                      
$ docker inspect $MAILPIT --format '{{json .State.Health.Status}}'
"unhealthy"

If I exec into the container and run the health check command myself:

$ docker exec $MAILPIT /mailpit readyz; echo $?
1

However, if I run the command with the additional arguments there as well:

$ docker exec $MAILPIT /mailpit --webroot mailpit readyz; echo $?
0

Originally created by @daggaz on GitHub (Nov 13, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/axllent/mailpit/issues/584 Docker HEALTHCHECK works fine If I run mailpit without any args: ```bash $ MAILPIT=$(docker run -d axllent/mailpit) $ docker inspect $MAILPIT --format '{{json .State.Health.Status}}' "healthy" ``` However, if I run it with a command line arg: ```bash $ MAILPIT=$(docker run -d axllent/mailpit --webroot mailpit) $ docker inspect $MAILPIT --format '{{json .State.Health.Status}}' "unhealthy" ``` If I exec into the container and run the health check command myself: ```bash $ docker exec $MAILPIT /mailpit readyz; echo $? 1 ``` However, if I run the command with the additional arguments there as well: ``` $ docker exec $MAILPIT /mailpit --webroot mailpit readyz; echo $? 0 ```

kerem closed this issue

2026-03-15 14:08:38 +03:00

kerem commented

2026-03-15 14:08:44 +03:00

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@axllent commented on GitHub (Nov 14, 2025):

@daggaz - there is no way around this issue if you are passing argument flags to Mailpit in the Docker command as the background health check inside of Docker can't detect that (unless you're overwriting the healthcheck command). The solution is to use Docker environment variables instead of argument flags, and the default health check should detect the MP_WEBROOT environment correctly and not need any further adjustment.

docker run -d -e MP_WEBROOT=mailpit axllent/mailpit

@axllent commented on GitHub (Nov 14, 2025): @daggaz - there is no way around this issue if you are passing argument flags to Mailpit in the Docker command as the background health check inside of Docker can't detect that (unless you're overwriting the healthcheck command). The solution is to use Docker environment variables instead of argument flags, and the default health check should detect the `MP_WEBROOT` environment correctly and not need any further adjustment. ``` docker run -d -e MP_WEBROOT=mailpit axllent/mailpit ```

kerem commented

2026-03-15 14:08:49 +03:00

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@daggaz commented on GitHub (Nov 14, 2025):

That's a shame, as it slightly invalidates the point in having an entrypoint like that.

Makes sense though, and your workaround works.

@daggaz commented on GitHub (Nov 14, 2025): That's a shame, as it slightly invalidates the point in having an entrypoint like that. Makes sense though, and your workaround works.