How to Automatically Restart Failed Microservices

In a microservices architecture, failures are inevitable. Whether due to a crash, high memory usage, or an unexpected error, services may go down. To maintain system reliability, failed services should restart automatically. In this blog, we’ll explore how different tools — Kubernetes, systemd, Docker, Consul, and API Gateways — handle failed service recovery.

1️⃣ Restarting Failed Services in Kubernetes

Kubernetes ensures that unhealthy microservices restart automatically using liveness probes.

Kubernetes Configuration for Auto-Restart

Modify your deployment.yaml file:

livenessProbe:
  httpGet:
    path: /api/health
    port: 8000
  initialDelaySeconds: 5
  periodSeconds: 10

✅ How It Works:

• If /api/health fails, Kubernetes restarts the pod.
• It checks every 10 seconds and waits 5 seconds before the first check.

2️⃣ Restarting Failed Services with Systemd

If running Laravel in a VM or bare metal, use systemd to restart it.

Create a systemd Service File

Save this as /etc/systemd/system/laravel-microservice.service:

[Unit]
Description=Laravel Microservice
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/php artisan serve --host=0.0.0.0 --port=8000
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
User=www-data
Group=www-data
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

✅ How It Works:

• If Laravel crashes, systemd restarts it in 5 seconds.
• Check status: systemctl status laravel-microservice
• Restart manually: systemctl restart laravel-microservice

3️⃣ Restarting Failed Containers in Docker

If Laravel runs inside Docker, use Docker’s restart policies.

Run Container with Restart Policy

docker run --restart=always -d -p 8000:8000 my-laravel-app

✅ How It Works:

• --restart=always → Restarts even after crashes or reboots.
• Alternative options: on-failure, unless-stopped.

4️⃣ Restarting Services with Consul

If Laravel is discovered via Consul, it can be deregistered and restarted.

Register Service with Health Check

{
  "service": {
    "name": "user-service",
    "port": 8000,
    "check": {
      "http": "http://user-service.local/api/health",
      "interval": "10s",
      "timeout": "2s"
    }
  }
}

Then register it with Consul:

curl --request PUT --data @consul.json http://localhost:8500/v1/agent/service/register

✅ How It Works:

• If /health fails, Consul removes the service.
• The orchestrator (Kubernetes, systemd, etc.) restarts it.

5️⃣ Restarting Failed Services with Kong API Gateway

Kong can remove unhealthy services and redirect traffic.

Set Up Kong Health Checks

curl -X POST http://localhost:8001/upstreams/user-service/healthchecks \
  --data "active.http_path=/health" \
  --data "active.unhealthy.interval=5"

✅ How It Works:

• If /health fails, Kong stops sending requests.
• After recovery, it resumes traffic.

🚀 Summary: How Failed Services Restart

MethodHow It WorksBest ForKubernetesAuto-restarts failed podsCloud-native appsSystemdRestarts Laravel if it crashesVM, bare metalDockerAuto-restarts crashed containersContainerized appsConsulDeregisters failed servicesService discoveryKong API GatewayStops routing to failed instancesAPI management

✅ For a Laravel microservices setup, the best approach is:

• Kubernetes for cloud-based deployments
• Systemd for VM-based applications
• Docker restart policies for containerized environments
• Consul and Kong for service discovery and API routing

Would you like help automating service restarts for your Laravel microservices? Let me know in the comments! 🚀