Opa Jan's Homelab

n8n

2 min read

n8n

Workflow automation platform. Connect services and automate tasks.

Overview

n8n is a workflow automation tool similar to Zapier or Make, but self-hosted. Used for automating tasks between services.

Access: https://n8n.janvv.nl Container: CT 120 IP: 192.168.144.61 Port: 5678

Source Code

Docker Compose & Install Script: github.com/opajanvv/homelab-docker/tree/main/n8n Local copy: ~/dev/homelab-docker/n8n/

Deployment

# Clone LXC template
pct clone 902 120 --hostname n8n --full
pct set 120 --cores 1 --memory 1024
pct set 120 -net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,firewall=1,gw=192.168.144.1,ip=192.168.144.61/23
pct set 120 -mp0 /lxcdata/n8n,mp=/data
pct set 120 -features nesting=1,keyctl=1
pct set 120 -onboot 1
 
# Add AppArmor workaround to /etc/pve/lxc/120.conf
cat >> /etc/pve/lxc/120.conf << 'EOF'
lxc.apparmor.profile: unconfined
lxc.mount.entry: /dev/null sys/module/apparmor/parameters/enabled none bind 0 0
EOF
 
# Deploy
pct start 120
pct exec 120 -- bash -c 'systemctl enable --now docker'
pct exec 120 -- bash -c 'git clone https://github.com/opajanvv/homelab-docker.git /opt/homelab-docker'
pct exec 120 -- bash -c 'cd /opt/homelab-docker/n8n && chmod +x install.sh && ./install.sh'

Configuration

Environment Variables:

  • N8N_HOST - Domain for n8n
  • N8N_PORT - Port (default: 5678)
  • N8N_PROTOCOL - http
  • WEBHOOK_URL - Full URL for webhooks
  • N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY - Encryption key for credentials

Data Location:

  • /data/n8n/ - Workflow definitions, credentials
  • /opt/homelab-docker/n8n/ - Docker Compose config

Access

Backup

What to backup:

  • /lxcdata/n8n/ - All n8n data (workflows, credentials)

Backup command:

rsync -av /lxcdata/n8n/ /backup/homelab/n8n/

Restore:

# Stop container
pct stop 120
 
# Restore data
rsync -av /backup/homelab/n8n/ /lxcdata/n8n/
 
# Start container
pct start 120

Maintenance

Update:

pct exec 120 -- bash -c 'cd /opt/homelab-docker/n8n && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d'

View logs:

pct exec 120 -- bash -c 'cd /opt/homelab-docker/n8n && docker compose logs -f'

Restart:

pct exec 120 -- bash -c 'cd /opt/homelab-docker/n8n && docker compose restart'

Common Tasks

Create workflow: Via web UI Import/Export workflows: Via web UI (Settings → Workflows) Check execution history: Via web UI (Executions)

Backlinks