n8n

n8n is an open-source workflow automation platform that lets you connect apps, APIs, and services using a visual node-based editor. It supports hundreds of integrations and can run custom JavaScript logic inside workflows.

Software included

Component	Version
n8n	1.121.0
Docker	Latest stable
Docker Compose	Latest stable
Ubuntu	24.04 LTS

Getting started

1. Connect to your VM

ssh ubuntu@<your-vm-ip>

2. Wait for first-boot configuration

On the first boot, a setup script runs automatically. It:

Generates a random encryption key for securing credentials stored in n8n
Writes the environment configuration to /opt/n8n/.env
Starts n8n using Docker Compose

This takes under 60 seconds. Track progress:

journalctl -u n8n-first-boot.service -f

3. Access the n8n UI

Open a browser and navigate to:

http://<your-vm-ip>:5678

On the first visit, n8n will prompt you to create an owner account (email and password of your choice). This account is stored locally on the VM.

Optional: set a custom webhook URL

If n8n will be accessible via a domain name, provide the URL at deploy time using cloud-init userdata. This allows webhooks to use your domain instead of the VM’s IP.

Add this to your VM’s userdata at deploy time:

#cloud-config
write_files:
  - path: /run/n8n-webhook-url
    content: 'https://n8n.example.com'
    permissions: '0600'
    owner: root:root

If no URL is provided, n8n defaults to http://<vm-ip>:5678.

Managing n8n

n8n runs as a Docker Compose service in /opt/n8n.

# Check status
cd /opt/n8n && docker compose ps

# Restart
cd /opt/n8n && docker compose restart

# View logs
cd /opt/n8n && docker compose logs -f

# Stop
cd /opt/n8n && docker compose down

# Start
cd /opt/n8n && docker compose up -d

Workflow data is persisted in /opt/n8n/data.

Environment configuration: /opt/n8n/.env

Security

Port 5678 is accessible on the VM’s network interface. UFW is enabled and allows SSH (port 22) only by default.

To allow browser access from a specific IP:

sudo ufw allow from <trusted-ip> to any port 5678

To access the UI without opening the firewall, use an SSH tunnel:

# Run this on your local machine
ssh -L 5678:localhost:5678 ubuntu@<your-vm-ip>

# Then open in browser
http://localhost:5678

For production use, place n8n behind a reverse proxy with HTTPS and a domain name, then set N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=true in /opt/n8n/.env.

n8n