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n8n (container) n8n (container)

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n8n allows you to build flexible workflows focused on deep data integration.

Configuration

Type
Container
Image
docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest
Ports
5678/tcp
Volumes
/home/node/.n8n : /opt/mediadepot/apps/n8n/etc/localtime : /etc/localtime
Env vars
GENERIC_TIMEZONE=America/Los_AngelesTZ=America/Los_Angeles
Labels
traefik.enable=truetraefik.http.services.n8n.loadbalancer.server.port=5678traefik.http.routers.n8n.entrypoints=websecuretraefik.http.routers.n8n.tls.certresolver=mydnschallenge

Template by mediadepot

Report issue

Standalone Install

Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying n8n (container)

Installation method

Install on Portainer

Import all app templates into your Portainer instance, for easy 1-click deploys

  1. Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
  2. Log into your Portainer web UI
  3. Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
  4. Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
  5. Select n8n (container), fill in any config options, and hit Deploy

Template Import URL

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json
Show Me demo

More install options in our documentation.

Serve n8n (container) on your own domain behind Caddy, Nginx or Traefik. Fill in your domain and copy the result. It's a starting point, some apps need their own base URL or extra headers set too.

Proxying n8n-container.example.com to http://n8n:5678

Add this to your Caddyfile

n8n-container.example.com {
	reverse_proxy http://n8n:5678
}

Check the logs first

Nine times out of ten the logs tell you exactly what went wrong.

  • In Portainer, go to Containers, click the container, then Logs. Or run docker logs n8n
  • Exit codes help too: 137 means killed, usually out of memory. 126 or 127 means the command inside the image is broken.

Published on a random port

This template exposes 5678/tcp without setting a host port, so Docker picks a random free one on every deploy.

  • Find it in the Ports column of Portainer's container list, or with docker port n8n

Permission denied on volumes

If the logs show "permission denied", the app can't write to its data folder on the host.

  • Fix the ownership: sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /opt/mediadepot/apps/n8n
  • Seeing "read-only file system"? /etc/localtime is mounted read-only on purpose, the app isn't meant to write there.

Image won't pull

Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest

  • "manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists. This template uses latest, so try pinning a specific version instead.
  • "toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with docker login to raise it.
  • "no space left on device" means a full disk. Reclaim space with docker system prune

"exec format error"

This means the image was built for a different CPU architecture than your server.

  • Check yours with uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.

Raise an issue

Found something which isn't working as it should? Here's how to report it.

A single container

n8n (container) runs as one container, the simplest kind of app here. Just the one image to pull and nothing else wired up alongside it.

The app image

An image is the app packed up ready to go, everything n8n (container) needs bundled into one download. This template pulls docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest, which Docker fetches once and then starts your own copy from.

Where the image comes from

Docker pulls its images from registries, public libraries of ready-built apps. n8n (container)'s comes from docker.n8n.io, published by n8nio.

Version tags

The bit after the colon in the image name is the version tag. Here it's latest, which always points at the newest build, so a redeploy can bump you to a newer release without you asking. Pin a specific tag if you would rather stay on one version.

Ports

A port is the door the app answers on. Here the app exposes a port but leaves the host side blank, so Docker picks a free one for you. It opens:

  • 5678, published on a random host port

Volumes

A volume is where n8n (container) keeps its files so they survive an update or a restart. Without one, anything it saves would sit inside the container and vanish the moment it's recreated. This template mounts:

  • /home/node/.n8n from /opt/mediadepot/apps/n8n on the host
  • /etc/localtime from /etc/localtime on the host, read-only

Environment variables

Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. n8n (container) takes 2 of them, all with defaults you can leave alone or tweak:

  • GENERIC_TIMEZONE, defaults to America/Los_Angeles
  • TZ, defaults to America/Los_Angeles

Networking

Nothing custom is set, so n8n (container) sits on Docker's default bridge network: its own private space that reaches the outside world only through the ports it publishes.

Container name

Once it's deployed, Portainer names the container n8n. That's what you'll spot in the containers list and use in commands like docker logs n8n.

Labels

Labels are small notes pinned to the container. They don't change how n8n (container) behaves, but other tools read them, most often a reverse proxy like Traefik working out which apps to route where. This template sets:

  • traefik.enable=true
  • traefik.http.services.n8n.loadbalancer.server.port=5678
  • traefik.http.routers.n8n.entrypoints=websecure
  • traefik.http.routers.n8n.tls.certresolver=mydnschallenge

Portainer app templates

Zooming out, this whole page comes from a Portainer app template: a short recipe telling Portainer how to set n8n (container) up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying n8n (container) is a click rather than a wall of config.