Self-Hosting Guide: Deploy n8n for Workflow Automation

n8n is the open source Zapier alternative with 400+ integrations and a visual workflow builder. Self-hosting gives you unlimited workflows, no execution limits, and full control over your automation data.

Requirements

• VPS with 1 GB RAM minimum (2 GB recommended)
• Docker and Docker Compose
• Domain name (e.g., n8n.yourdomain.com)
• 10+ GB disk

Step 1: Create Docker Compose

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    container_name: n8n
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    environment:
      - N8N_HOST=n8n.yourdomain.com
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.yourdomain.com/
      - N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-random-encryption-key
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=db
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=your-strong-password
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=America/New_York
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    container_name: n8n-db
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=n8n
      - POSTGRES_USER=n8n
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your-strong-password

volumes:
  n8n_data:
  db_data:

Step 2: Generate Encryption Key

# Generate a random encryption key (keep this safe!)
openssl rand -hex 32

Replace your-random-encryption-key in the compose file. This encrypts all stored credentials. If you lose this key, all saved credentials become unreadable.

Step 3: Start n8n

docker compose up -d

Step 4: Reverse Proxy (Caddy)

# /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
n8n.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:5678
}

sudo systemctl restart caddy

Step 5: Initial Setup

1. Open https://n8n.yourdomain.com
2. Create your admin account
3. Set up your first workflow

Step 6: Essential Configuration

Environment variables to consider:

Variable	Purpose	Example
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY	Encrypts credentials	Random 64-char hex
N8N_USER_MANAGEMENT_DISABLED	Single user mode	true
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE	Auto-delete old executions	true
EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE	Execution retention	168 (7 days)
N8N_METRICS	Enable Prometheus metrics	true
N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED	Disable telemetry	false
N8N_TEMPLATES_ENABLED	Show workflow templates	true

Step 7: Set Up SMTP (For Email Nodes)

Add to your environment:

N8N_EMAIL_MODE=smtp
N8N_SMTP_HOST=smtp.resend.com
N8N_SMTP_PORT=587
N8N_SMTP_USER=resend
N8N_SMTP_PASS=re_your_api_key
N8N_SMTP_SENDER=n8n@yourdomain.com
N8N_SMTP_SSL=true

Step 8: Popular Workflow Examples

Slack notification on form submission:

1. Webhook Trigger → receives form data
2. Set node → format message
3. Slack node → post to channel

Daily database backup to S3:

1. Cron Trigger → runs daily
2. Execute Command → pg_dump
3. AWS S3 → upload backup file

GitHub PR → Linear ticket:

1. GitHub Trigger → on PR opened
2. Set node → map fields
3. Linear → create issue

Production Hardening

Execution pruning (prevent disk filling up):

EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE=true
EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE=168
EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE_MAX_COUNT=10000

Backups:

# Database backup (daily cron)
docker exec n8n-db pg_dump -U n8n n8n > /backups/n8n-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

# Credentials and workflows
docker cp n8n:/home/node/.n8n /backups/n8n-data-$(date +%Y%m%d)

Updates:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Monitoring:

• Monitor port 5678 with Uptime Kuma
• Enable Prometheus metrics for workflow monitoring
• Set up alerts for failed executions

Resource Usage

Workflows	RAM	CPU	Disk
1-20	1 GB	1 core	10 GB
20-100	2 GB	2 cores	20 GB
100+	4 GB	4 cores	50 GB

VPS Recommendations

Provider	Spec	Price
Hetzner	2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM	€4.50/month
DigitalOcean	1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM	$12/month
Linode	1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM	$12/month

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