====== n8n installation with Docker Compose ======

n8n installation with Docker Compose, Let's Encrypt [[wpde>SSL]] certificate and Basic Auth. For systems that are not directly accessible on the Internet, the [[en:linux:n8n:installation|HTTP method can also be selected]] (not recommended, however).

===== 1st Docker installation (Debian) =====

==== 1.1 Uninstall old versions ====

<code bash>
sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc
</code>

==== 1.2 Repo installation ====

=== 1.2.1 Update apt and activate HTTPS ===

<code bash>
 sudo apt-get update

 sudo apt-get install \
    ca-certificates \
    curl \
    gnupg \
    lsb-release
    
sudo mkdir -m 0755 -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \
  $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
  </code>
  
=== 1.2.2 Add Docker GPG Key ===

<code bash>
sudo mkdir -m 0755 -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
</code>

=== 1.2.3 Repo setup ===

<code bash>
echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \
  $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
</code>

==== 1.3 Install Docker Engine ====

<code bash>
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
</code>

===== 2. install Docker Compose =====

<code bash>
sudo apt-get install docker-compose-plugin
</code>

===== 3. DNS entry =====

<code bash>
Type: A
Name: n8n
IP address: <IP_OF_YOUR_SERVER>
</code>

===== 4. create Docker Compose file =====

<code>/somedirectory/docker-compose.yml</code>

==== 4.1 HTTP-01 Challenge (Standard TLS Port 443) ====

<hidden>
<code bash>
version: "3"

services:
  traefik:
    image: "traefik"
    restart: always
    command:
      - "--api=true"
      - "--api.insecure=true"
      - "--providers.docker=true"
      - "--providers.docker.exposedbydefault=false"
      - "--entrypoints.web.address=:80"
      - "--entrypoints.web.http.redirections.entryPoint.to=websecure"
      - "--entrypoints.web.http.redirections.entrypoint.scheme=https"
      - "--entrypoints.websecure.address=:443"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.mytlschallenge.acme.tlschallenge=true"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.mytlschallenge.acme.email=${SSL_EMAIL}"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.mytlschallenge.acme.storage=/letsencrypt/acme.json"
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ${DATA_FOLDER}/letsencrypt:/letsencrypt
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:5678:5678"
    labels:
      - traefik.enable=true
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.rule=Host(`${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}`)
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.tls=true
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.entrypoints=web,websecure
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.tls.certresolver=mytlschallenge
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.SSLRedirect=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSSeconds=315360000
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.browserXSSFilter=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.contentTypeNosniff=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.forceSTSHeader=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.SSLHost=${DOMAIN_NAME}
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSIncludeSubdomains=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSPreload=true
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.middlewares=n8n@docker
    environment:
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD
      - N8N_HOST=${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}/
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=${GENERIC_TIMEZONE}
      # this section reduces the database size and speed up performance, disable for debug
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_ERROR=all
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_SUCCESS=none
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_PROGRESS=true
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS=false
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE=true
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE=336
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_MAX_COUNT=50000
      - DB_SQLITE_VACUUM_ON_STARTUP=true
    volumes:
      - ${DATA_FOLDER}/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n
</code>
</hidden>



==== 4.2 DNS-01 Challenge (Alternative TLS Ports) ====

The [[wpde>DNS]] provider must be adapted accordingly here.

<hidden>
<code bash>
version: "3"

services:
  traefik:
    image: "traefik"
    restart: always
    command:
      #- "--log.level=DEBUG"
      - "--api=true"
      - "--api.insecure=true"
      - "--providers.docker=true"
      - "--providers.docker.exposedbydefault=false"
      - "--entrypoints.web.address=:80"
      - "--entrypoints.web.http.redirections.entryPoint.to=websecure"
      - "--entrypoints.web.http.redirections.entrypoint.scheme=https"
      - "--entrypoints.websecure.address=:12345"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.myresolver.acme.dnschallenge=true"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.myresolver.acme.dnschallenge.provider=netcup"
      #- "--certificatesresolvers.myresolver.acme.caserver=https://acme-staging-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.myresolver.acme.email=postmaster@example.com"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.myresolver.acme.storage=/letsencrypt/acme.json"
    ports:
      - "8081:80"
      - "12345:12345"
    environment:
      - "NETCUP_CUSTOMER_NUMBER=<CNR>"
      - "NETCUP_API_KEY=<API-KEY>"
      - "NETCUP_API_PASSWORD=<API-PASS>"
      - "NETCUP_PROPAGATION_TIMEOUT=15m"
      - "NETCUP_TTL=3600"
    volumes:
      - ${DATA_FOLDER}/letsencrypt:/letsencrypt
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:5678:5678"
    labels:
      - traefik.enable=true
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.rule=Host(`${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}`)
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.tls=true
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.entrypoints=web,websecure
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.tls.certresolver=myresolver
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.SSLRedirect=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSSeconds=315360000
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.browserXSSFilter=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.contentTypeNosniff=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.forceSTSHeader=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.SSLHost=${DOMAIN_NAME}
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSIncludeSubdomains=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSPreload=true
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.middlewares=n8n@docker
    environment:
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD
      - N8N_HOST=${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}:12345/
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=${GENERIC_TIMEZONE}
      # this section reduces the database size and speed up performance, disable for debug
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_ERROR=all
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_SUCCESS=none
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_PROGRESS=true
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS=false
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE=true
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE=336
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_MAX_COUNT=50000
      - DB_SQLITE_VACUUM_ON_STARTUP=true
      #- N8N_LOG_LEVEL=debug
      #- N8N_LOG_OUTPUT=console
    volumes:
      - ${DATA_FOLDER}/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n
</code>
</hidden>

===== 5. create .env file =====

<code>/somedirectory/n8n/.env</code>

<code bash>
# Folder where data should be saved
DATA_FOLDER=/root/n8n/

# The top level domain to serve from
DOMAIN_NAME=example.com

# The subdomain to serve from
SUBDOMAIN=n8n

# DOMAIN_NAME and SUBDOMAIN combined decide where n8n will be reachable from
# above example would result in: https://n8n.example.com

# The user name to use for authentication - IMPORTANT ALWAYS CHANGE!
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=user

# The password to use for authentication - IMPORTANT ALWAYS CHANGE!
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=password

# Optional timezone to set which gets used by Cron-Node by default
# If not set New York time will be used
GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Europe/Berlin

# The email address to use for the SSL certificate creation
SSL_EMAIL=user@example.com
</code>

===== 6. create data directory =====

<code bash>
mkdir /somedirectory/n8n
</code>

===== 7. start and stop =====

==== 7.1 Start ====

<code bash>
sudo docker compose up -d
</code>

=== 7.1.1 Start with output ===

<code bash>
sudo docker compose up
</code>

==== 7.2 Stop ====

<code bash>
sudo docker compose stop
</code>

===== 8 Update =====

==== 8.1 Update image ====

<code bash>
docker pull n8nio/n8n
</code>

==== 8.2 Restart ====

<code bash>
# Stop current setup
sudo docker compose stop
# Delete it (will only delete the docker-containers, data is stored separately)
sudo docker compose rm 
# Then start it again, in ingteractive mode to check for errors
sudo docker compose up
</code>

If everything runs without errors, end the process with CTRL+C and start it in daemon mode

<code bash>
sudo docker compose up -d
</code>