contentType: tutorial
Docker Installation
Docker{:target=_blank .external-link} offers the following advantages:
- Installs n8n in a clean environment.
- Easier setup for your preferred database.
- Can avoid issues due to different operating systems, as Docker provides a consistent system.
- Can avoid compatibility issues due to differences in operating systems and tools.
- Makes migrating to new hosts or environments more straightforward.
You can also use n8n in Docker with Docker Compose. You can find Docker Compose configurations for various architectures in the n8n-hosting repository.
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Prerequisites
Before proceeding, install Docker Desktop{:target=_blank .external-link}.
/// note | Linux Users Docker Desktop is available for Mac and Windows. Linux users must install Docker Engine and Docker Compose individually for your distribution. ///
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Starting n8n
From your terminal, run:
docker volume create n8n_data
docker run -it --rm --name n8n -p 5678:5678 -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
This command creates a volume to store persistent data, downloads the required n8n image, and starts your container, exposed on port 5678. To save your work between container restarts, it also mounts a docker volume, n8n_data, to persist your data locally.
Once running, you can access n8n by opening: http://localhost:5678
Using with PostgreSQL
By default, n8n uses SQLite to save credentials, past executions, and workflows. n8n also supports PostgreSQL, configurable using environment variables as detailed below.
When using PostgreSQL, it's still important to persist the data stored in the /home/node/.n8n folder. This includes n8n user data and, even more importantly, the encryption key for credentials. It's also the name of the webhook when using the n8n tunnel.
If n8n can't find the /home/node/.n8n directory on startup, it automatically creates one. In this case, all existing credentials that n8n saved with a different encryption key will no longer work.
/// note | Keep in mind
While persisting the /home/node/.n8n directory with PostgreSQL is the recommended best practice, it's not explicitly required. You can provide the encryption key by passing the N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY environment variable when starting your Docker container.
///
To use n8n with PostgreSQL, execute the following commands, replacing the placeholders (depicted within angled brackets, for example <POSTGRES_USER>) with your actual values:
docker volume create n8n_data
docker run -it --rm \
--name n8n \
-p 5678:5678 \
-e DB_TYPE=postgresdb \
-e DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=<POSTGRES_DATABASE> \
-e DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=<POSTGRES_HOST> \
-e DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=<POSTGRES_PORT> \
-e DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=<POSTGRES_USER> \
-e DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA=<POSTGRES_SCHEMA> \
-e DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=<POSTGRES_PASSWORD> \
-v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n \
docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
You can find a complete docker-compose file for PostgreSQL in the n8n hosting repository.
Setting timezone
To define the timezone n8n should use, you can set the GENERIC_TIMEZONE environment variable. Schedule-oriented nodes, like the Schedule Trigger node use this to determine the correct timezone.
You can set the system timezone, which controls what some scripts and commands like date return, using the TZ environment variable.
This example sets the same timezone for both variables:
docker volume create n8n_data
docker run -it --rm \
--name n8n \
-p 5678:5678 \
-e GENERIC_TIMEZONE="Europe/Berlin" \
-e TZ="Europe/Berlin" \
-v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n \
docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
Updating
To update n8n, in Docker Desktop, navigate to the Images tab and select Pull from the context menu to download the latest n8n image:
You can also use the command line to pull the latest, or a specific version:
# Pull latest (stable) version
docker pull docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
# Pull specific version
docker pull docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:1.81.0
# Pull next (unstable) version
docker pull docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:next
After pulling the updated image, stop your n8n container and start it again. You can also use the command line. Replace <container_id> in the commands below with the container ID you find in the first command:
# Find your container ID
docker ps -a
# Stop the container with the `<container_id>`
docker stop <container_id>
# Remove the container with the `<container_id>`
docker rm <container_id>
# Start the container
docker run --name=<container_name> [options] -d docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
Updating Docker Compose
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Further reading
You can find more information about Docker setup in the README file for the Docker image.
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Start n8n with --tunnel by running:
docker volume create n8n_data
docker run -it --rm \
--name n8n \
-p 5678:5678 \
-v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n \
docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n \
start --tunnel
Next steps
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