Install n8n for workflow automation

n8n is a workflow automation tool, like Zapier or Make, that you can host yourself. You connect apps and services (Gmail, Slack, Google Sheets, Xero, webhooks, AI models and hundreds more) with a visual editor, and your automations run on your own VPS with no per-task fees.

This guide runs n8n in Docker, with Caddy in front of it to provide a free HTTPS certificate automatically. HTTPS matters here, because most services that send webhooks to n8n require it. The guide works on every operating system we offer: Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04 and 26.04, Debian 12 and 13, AlmaLinux 8, 9 and 10, and Rocky Linux 9 and 10.

Before you start

• A VPS with at least 2 GB of RAM. Add more if you plan to run large or frequent workflows.
• A domain or subdomain with an A record pointing to your VPS IP address, for example n8n.example.co.nz.
• Nothing else using ports 80 or 443 on the server.
• SSH access as root or as a user with sudo rights. If you're logged in as root, you can leave sudo off the commands.

Step 1: Install Docker

Skip this step if Docker is already installed (docker --version shows a version).

Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04, 26.04 and Debian 12, 13

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
. /etc/os-release
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/$ID/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources <<EOF
Types: deb
URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/$ID
Suites: ${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}
Components: stable
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
EOF
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

AlmaLinux 8, 9, 10 and Rocky Linux 9, 10 (this removes Podman, which conflicts with Docker):

sudo dnf remove -y podman runc
sudo dnf install -y dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/rhel/docker-ce.repo
sudo dnf install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

All systems: start Docker and check it works.

sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo docker run --rm hello-world

Step 2: Open the firewall

Ubuntu/Debian with UFW enabled:

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443

AlmaLinux/Rocky with firewalld:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http --add-service=https --add-port=443/udp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 3: Create the configuration files

sudo mkdir -p /opt/n8n
cd /opt/n8n
sudo nano .env

Paste in the following, replacing the domain with your own. Change the time zone if you're not in New Zealand.

DOMAIN=n8n.example.co.nz
GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Pacific/Auckland

Press Ctrl+O and Enter to save, then Ctrl+X to exit. Next, create the Docker Compose file:

sudo nano compose.yaml

Paste in the following. You don't need to change anything in this file.

services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    container_name: n8n
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - N8N_HOST=${DOMAIN}
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://${DOMAIN}/
      - N8N_PROXY_HOPS=1
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=${GENERIC_TIMEZONE}
      - TZ=${GENERIC_TIMEZONE}
      - N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS=true
      - N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED=true
      - NODE_ENV=production
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n

  caddy:
    image: caddy:2
    container_name: caddy
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - DOMAIN=${DOMAIN}
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "443:443/udp"
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
      - caddy_data:/data
      - caddy_config:/config

volumes:
  n8n_data:
  caddy_data:
  caddy_config:

Save and exit. Finally, create the Caddy configuration:

sudo nano Caddyfile

Paste in the following exactly as shown. Caddy reads your domain from the .env file.

{$DOMAIN} {
    reverse_proxy n8n:5678
}

Save and exit.

Step 4: Start n8n

sudo docker compose up -d

Caddy gets an SSL certificate for your domain automatically. This usually takes under a minute.

Step 5: Create your owner account

Open https://n8n.example.co.nz straight away and set up the owner account with your email address and a strong password. Until you do, anyone who finds the page could claim it. Once you're in, click Create workflow to build your first automation, or browse the ready-made templates.

Back up your data

Everything n8n stores, including your workflows, saved credentials and the encryption key that protects them, is kept in the n8n_data Docker volume. If you lose that volume, your saved credentials can't be recovered. Back it up regularly, for example:

cd /opt/n8n
sudo docker compose stop n8n
sudo docker run --rm -v n8n_n8n_data:/data -v /opt/n8n:/backup alpine tar czf /backup/n8n-backup.tar.gz -C /data .
sudo docker compose start n8n

Copy the backup file off the server, for example to your computer or cloud storage.

n8n uses a built-in SQLite database, which suits most small and medium setups. For heavy use or a team, n8n recommends PostgreSQL. See n8n's example setup with PostgreSQL.

Keeping it up to date

Check the n8n release notes for breaking changes, take a backup, then run:

cd /opt/n8n
sudo docker compose pull
sudo docker compose up -d

Troubleshooting

• The site won't load over HTTPS: check the Caddy logs with sudo docker logs caddy. The usual cause is DNS that doesn't point to this VPS yet, or ports 80 and 443 being blocked.
• Webhook URLs show localhost or the wrong address: check DOMAIN in /opt/n8n/.env, then run sudo docker compose up -d again.
• n8n stops or restarts during big workflows: the server may be out of memory. Check with sudo docker logs n8n, and consider upgrading your VPS.

Need help?

Our Cloud VPS plans are self-managed, so you're responsible for installing, securing and maintaining the software on your server. If something on our side isn't working, such as the network, or your VPS won't boot, open a support ticket. New to your VPS? Start with our Cloud VPS Getting Started Guide.