How to install n8n with Docker Compose

n8n is a node-based workflow automation tool. It lets you connect different applications, services and databases so they can communicate with each other without having to develop a complex application from scratch.

The easiest way to install n8n on Clouding is to create a server from our Docker image and install n8n on it using the instructions below.

Requirements

• A cloud server created from our Docker image.

Create a .env file

Connect to the newly created Docker server via SSH as root and create a directory to store your n8n environment configuration file and the corresponding Docker Compose files:

# mkdir /opt/n8n-compose 
# cd /opt/n8n-compose   

Inside the n8n-compose directory, create a file named .env to customize your n8n installation. This is just a basic example; you should adapt it to your specific needs:

# DOMAIN_NAME and SUBDOMAIN determine where n8n will be accessible
# The 'top level' domain it will be accessible from:
DOMAIN_NAME=ejemplo.com

# Subdomain it will be accessible from:
SUBDOMAIN=n8n

# With the values above, n8n will be accessible at: https://n8n.ejemplo.com

# Optional: time zone used by Cron and other scheduled task nodes
# If nothing is specified, the default time zone is New York
GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Europe/Berlin

# Email address to use to create the TLS/SSL certificate
SSL_EMAIL=user@ejemplo.com

Create the local files directory

Inside the n8n-compose directory, create a directory named local-files to share files between the n8n instance and the host system (for example, for use with the Read/Write Files from Disk node):

  mkdir local-files

Create the Docker Compose file

Create the compose.yaml file. Add the following content:

services:
  traefik:
    image: "traefik"
    restart: always
    command:
      - "--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:
      - traefik_data:/letsencrypt
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro

  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/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=${DOMAIN_NAME}
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSIncludeSubdomains=true
      - traefik.http.middlewares.n8n.headers.STSPreload=true
      - traefik.http.routers.n8n.middlewares=n8n@docker
    environment:
      - N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS=true
      - N8N_HOST=${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED=true
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}/
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=${GENERIC_TIMEZONE}
      - TZ=${GENERIC_TIMEZONE}
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
      - ./local-files:/files

volumes:
  n8n_data:
  traefik_data:

The Docker Compose file above configures two containers: one for n8n and another to run traefik, a proxy that handles routing and TLS/SSL certificates.

It also creates and mounts two Docker volumes and mounts the local-files directory you created earlier:

Run Docker Compose

Start n8n by running:

# docker compose up -d

To stop the containers, type:

# docker compose stop

Conclusion

You can now access your n8n installation using the subdomain + domain combination you defined in the configuration file .env. With the configuration in this article, this would be https://n8n.ejemplo.com.

n8n is only accessible via HTTPS, not HTTP. 

We hope this tutorial has helped you 🙂. Remember, if you have any questions about this or anything else related to your servers on Clouding, feel free to write to soporte@clouding.io We're here to help with whatever you need. Get in touch!