https://github.com/pkochanowicz/n8n-setup-docker
Fast, safe and smart setup for self-hosted n8n placed in a Docker container, ready to host and connect to postgresql database.
https://github.com/pkochanowicz/n8n-setup-docker
automation bash chatgpt devops docker n8n open-source postgresql self-hosted shell stable-diffusion workflow-automation
Last synced: 3 months ago
JSON representation
Fast, safe and smart setup for self-hosted n8n placed in a Docker container, ready to host and connect to postgresql database.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/pkochanowicz/n8n-setup-docker
- Owner: pkochanowicz
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-05-26T04:04:03.000Z (5 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-06-03T14:48:02.000Z (4 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-06-03T17:47:25.359Z (4 months ago)
- Topics: automation, bash, chatgpt, devops, docker, n8n, open-source, postgresql, self-hosted, shell, stable-diffusion, workflow-automation
- Language: Shell
- Size: 19.5 KB
- Stars: 7
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
```
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🌀 Seamless DevOps. Powered by Swarm, Secured by Secrets.
```
---
# 🔧 n8n-setup-docker: Secure, Custom, Ready for Action
This repo delivers a production-friendly `n8n` stack using:
- 🐳 **Docker Swarm** for container orchestration
- 🔐 **Docker Secrets** for all sensitive env vars
- ⚙️ Custom scripts to prep, deploy, and launch cleanly
- 🧠 Readable, modifiable, highly hackable code
If you want a secure, local-AND-remote deployable `n8n` instance with PostgreSQL and zero manual docker CLI poking…
**This is it.**
---
## 🧠 Project Tree
```txt
./
├── docker-compose.yaml # Swarm service definition
├── Dockerfile # Custom n8n image with psql & logic
├── container_run.sh # Entry script inside container
├── docker_swarm_deploy.sh # Dev’s best friend — deploys everything
├── docker_clear_env_vars.sh # Script to remove or unset sensitive environment variables from the shell/session.
├── docker_destroy_container.sh # Script to fully stop and remove Docker stack, containers, volumes, and leave Swarm.
├── README.md # Project overview, usage instructions, diagrams, and badges. Your main documentation.
├── Docker_cheatsheet.md # Handy reference for common Docker commands tailored to your workflow.
├── .gitignore # Git config file to exclude specified files/folders (like secrets, volumes, etc.) from version control.
├── .dockerignore # Docker config file to exclude files/folders from being copied into Docker build context.
├── secrets/ # 🔥 Sensitive data here (not git-tracked!)
│ ├── N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER.txt
│ ├── N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD.txt
│ ├── N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY.txt
│ ├── DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST.txt
│ ├── DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT.txt
│ ├── DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE.txt
│ ├── DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA.txt
│ ├── DB_POSTGRESDB_USER.txt
│ ├── DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD.txt
│ └── N8N_PORT.txt # optional
```
---
# 🚀 Quickstart
### 1️⃣ Initialize Docker Swarm (if needed)
```bash
# only needed on the first run:
docker swarm init
```
---
### 2️⃣ Add Your Secrets
Drop plain-text secret files into the ./secrets/ in the project dir. Example:
```bash
echo "admin" > secrets/N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER.txt
echo "hunter2" > secrets/N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD.txt
echo "myKeyBase" > secrets/N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY.txt
echo "db.example.com" > secrets/DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST.txt
echo "public" > secrets/DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA.txt
echo "5432" > secrets/DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT.txt
echo "n8n_user" > secrets/DB_POSTGRESDB_USER.txt
echo "pa$$w0rd" > secrets/DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD.txt
echo "n8n" > secrets/DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE.txt
```
And the same for your DB creds.
---
### 3️⃣ Deploy It Like a Boss
```bash
./docker_swarm_deploy.sh
```
This will:
🏗️ Build your my-n8n:latest image
🔐 Create (or update) all Docker secrets
📦 Deploy a Swarm stack (n8n_stack) with those secrets
🧠 Auto-detect your timezone and inject it too!
---
### 4️⃣ Check Docker logs:
```bash
docker service logs -f n8n_stack_n8n
```
And that's it - n8n is set up and ready! In case of online deployment you'll be able to access your automations from anywhere!
(login using the values from your secret files)
---
## 🔍 What's Actually Happening?
Your container launches via:
`container_run.sh`:
🧪 Loads secrets from /run/secrets/…
🔁 Converts them into environment variables
✅ Tests PostgreSQL DB connection via psql
🎬 Runs n8n ONLY if everything is healthy
💡 Fail fast, fail clean — or don’t fail at all.
---
## ♻️ Rotating Secrets
Secrets are immutable in Docker Swarm.
To update:
```bash
# Edit files in ./secrets/*.txt
# Then:
./docker_swarm_deploy.sh
```
This deletes+recreates them automatically.
---
### 💾 Helpful scripts
(mostly helpful during development, not recommended for production):
#### 💥 Getting rid of Docker Containers
Wanna burn it down?
```bash
./docker_destroy_container.sh
```
(Watch out - the script stops and removes all the Docker containers!)
---
#### 🧼 Cleaning Up env variables
In case mess in env variables is giving you a headache:
```bash
./docker_clear_env_variables.sh
```
---
#### 👽 Need to reset n8n credentials within Docker container?
```bash
# This will list running containers, localise id or name of running container with n8n:
docker ps
# Execute n8n credentials reset command inside container:
docker exec -it n8n user-management:reset
```
---
### 📘 Docker Cheatsheet
📎 Check out the [Docker_cheatsheet.md](./Docker_cheatsheet.md) for more handy commands!
#### (I see you, automation fiend 😎)
---
## 💪 Powered By
| 🧠 Platform| 🌐 Link |
|------------|---------|
| 🔧 **[n8n](https://n8n.io/)** – powerful workflow automation | 🧩 [Docs](https://docs.n8n.io/) |
| 🐳 **[Docker](https://www.docker.com/)** – containerize all the things | 📦 [Hub](https://hub.docker.com/) |
| 🐘 **[PostgreSQL](https://www.postgresql.org/)** – battle-tested relational database | 📚 [Docs](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/) |
| 🤖 **[ChatGPT](https://chat.openai.com/)** – natural language assistant magic ✨ | 🔍 [OpenAI](https://openai.com/chatgpt) |
---
## 🚀 Free Tier PostgreSQL Hosting for n8n Self-Hosting (examples):
| 🏢 Service | 💸 Free Tier Highlights | 🔗 Link |
|-----------|-------------------------|---------|
| 🦄 **[Supabase](https://supabase.com/)** – Open-source Firebase alternative with Postgres backend, perfect for real-time & n8n integration | 🆓 500 MB storage, 2 million requests/month, 24/7 uptime, generous free tier | 🔥 [Supabase Free](https://supabase.com/pricing) |
| ☁️ **[ElephantSQL](https://www.elephantsql.com/)** – Simple managed PostgreSQL hosting with free shared plans | 🆓 20 MB storage, easy to connect, ideal for dev & small projects | 🐘 [ElephantSQL Plans](https://www.elephantsql.com/plans.html) |
| ☁️ **[Heroku Postgres](https://www.heroku.com/postgres)** – Classic cloud PaaS with free tier database | 🆓 1,000 rows, 20 connections, 10k rows/day writes, sleeps after inactivity (may impact response time) | 🚀 [Heroku Postgres Free](https://www.heroku.com/pricing#postgres) |
| ☁️ **[Neon](https://neon.tech/)** – Serverless Postgres with automatic scaling and free tier | 🆓 10 GB storage, 1 million monthly requests, modern cloud-native Postgres | ⚡️ [Neon Free Tier](https://neon.tech/pricing) |
| 🐦 **[Aiven](https://aiven.io/postgresql)** – Fully managed PostgreSQL with free trial and credits | 🎁 30-day free trial with $30 credit, easy migration & high availability | 🎉 [Aiven Free Trial](https://aiven.io/pricing) |
| ☁️ **[Citus Data on Azure](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/postgresql/)** – Horizontal scale-out Postgres, free for dev/test | 🆓 $200 Azure credit for 30 days + free tier options | 💎 [Azure PostgreSQL](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/postgresql/) |
*State of affairs as for June 2025*
---
## ☁️ Awesome Free (or Generous Trial) Shell Hosting for Remote Docker Swarm & n8n Frontend
| 🏢 Service | 💸 Free Tier / Trial Highlights | 🔗 Link |
|-----------|---------------------------------|---------|
| 🚀 **[Google Cloud Shell](https://cloud.google.com/shell)** – Fully featured shell environment with 5 GB persistent storage | 🆓 Always free, built-in Docker support, easy to connect via browser, perfect for lightweight dev & Docker experiments | 🌐 [Google Cloud Shell](https://cloud.google.com/shell) |
| 🐳 **[Railway](https://railway.app/)** – Developer-friendly cloud with free tier for containers and shell access | 🆓 $5 monthly credit (~500 hours), easy deployment, Docker support, persistent volumes | 🎉 [Railway Free Tier](https://railway.app/pricing) |
| ☁️ **[Fly.io](https://fly.io/)** – Global app hosting with Docker container support, 3 shared CPUs | 🆓 3 shared CPUs, 256 MB RAM, 3 GB persistent volume, free 1600 CPU hours/month | ✈️ [Fly.io Free Tier](https://fly.io/docs/about/pricing/) |
| 🐧 **[Oracle Cloud Free Tier](https://www.oracle.com/cloud/free/)** – Always free compute instances with shell access | 🆓 2 AMD VMs with 1/8 OCPU each, 1 GB RAM, Docker installable, 100 GB block storage | 🐘 [Oracle Cloud Free Tier](https://www.oracle.com/cloud/free/) |
| 🦄 **[AWS Free Tier (EC2)](https://aws.amazon.com/free/)** – Free micro instance for 12 months with full shell access | 🆓 750 hrs/month t2.micro/t3.micro, Docker installable, perfect for small dev projects | ☁️ [AWS Free Tier](https://aws.amazon.com/free/) |
| 🐳 **[DigitalOcean App Platform](https://www.digitalocean.com/products/app-platform/)** – Easy Docker container deploy with free starter plan | 🆓 Starter tier with 3 static sites, 1 container, 100 GB bandwidth | 🚀 [DigitalOcean App Platform](https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing/) |
*State of affairs as for June 2025*
---
## 🐵 Development plans:
- Kubernetes orchestration of containers with various customizable settings.
- Increase of installation options of popular services n8n connects to on setup.
- A script to dump workflows and creds from n8n regularly (via API or CLI). Re-import them with new keys and never lose your data.
- Much more to come...
---
© 2025 Paweł Kochanowicz · [GitHub](https://github.com/pkochanowicz)
This project is licensed under the [MIT License](LICENSE).