Docker Compose Setup (Recommended)

The fastest way to run n8n self-hosted is Docker Compose. This configuration includes n8n with a PostgreSQL backend for workflow persistence.

docker-compose.yml

version: "3.8"

services:
  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      # Database — use Postgres for durability (SQLite is the default but loses data on container restart)
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=change_this_password

      # n8n settings
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=change_this_password
      - N8N_HOST=localhost
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=http
      - WEBHOOK_URL=http://localhost:5678/

      # Timezone — set to your local timezone for correct cron scheduling
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=UTC
      - TZ=UTC

      # Execution settings
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_ERROR=all
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_SUCCESS=all
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS=true
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE=true
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE=168  # Keep 7 days of execution history
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=n8n
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=change_this_password
      - POSTGRES_DB=n8n
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U n8n"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 10

volumes:
  n8n_data:
  postgres_data:

Start It Up

# Create a directory for your n8n setup
mkdir n8n-self-hosted && cd n8n-self-hosted

# Save the docker-compose.yml above, then:
docker compose up -d

# Check logs
docker compose logs -f n8n

# Access the UI
open http://localhost:5678

First Login

Navigate to http://localhost:5678 and log in with the credentials you set in N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER / N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD.

Included with n8n Self-Hosted Workflow Templates

Ready for the complete n8n Self-Hosted Workflow Templates?