n8n with Docker Compose

What n8n needs

Only figures n8n's own documentation publishes, each linked to the page it is on. Where the project gives no number, this page does not invent one.

On top of this, Caddy (the reverse proxy in the file) is a single small container.

docker-compose.yml

This is exactly what the builder writes for n8n alone on example.org: the official definition with its published ports removed and Caddy added in front. The time zone is Etc/UTC here; the builder uses your browser's.

# docker-compose.yml built at dankhost.com for: n8n
# Each app block is its official compose definition. Only the names were prefixed with
# the app slug (services, containers, volumes, bind folders, .env variables) so any set of
# apps can share one file; other differences are listed under "Changed:" in each block.
# Only Caddy publishes ports. Secrets live in .env next to this file.

services:
  # ---- Caddy: the one reverse proxy, HTTPS certificates from Let's Encrypt ----
  # Source: https://caddyserver.com/docs/running (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Source: https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/Using-Docker-Compose (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Caddyfile goes in ./caddy/Caddyfile. Fixed address 172.30.0.2 so apps can trust it exactly.
  caddy:
    image: "caddy:2"
    container_name: "caddy"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "443:443/udp"
    volumes:
      - "./caddy:/etc/caddy"
      - "caddy-data:/data"
      - "caddy-config:/config"
    networks:
      proxy:
        ipv4_address: "172.30.0.2"

  # ---- n8n (n8n.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/server-setups/docker-compose/ (checked 2026-09-25)
  # Source: https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/deployment/ (checked 2026-09-25)
  # Changed: Removed the documented '127.0.0.1:5678:5678' port and the documented Traefik service and labels; Caddy reaches n8n:5678 on the proxy network.
  #          N8N_HOST, WEBHOOK_URL, GENERIC_TIMEZONE and TZ are filled in with your address and time zone instead of the documented .env variables SUBDOMAIN, DOMAIN_NAME and GENERIC_TIMEZONE.
  #          Added N8N_PROXY_HOPS=1 (deployment variables page: the number of reverse proxies n8n runs behind), since one proxy sits in front of it.
  #          The documented HSTS header middleware (STSSeconds 315360000 with includeSubdomains and preload) is left out: it would commit every subdomain of your domain to HTTPS-only for ten years. Add it yourself if that is what you want.
  n8n:
    image: "n8nio/n8n"
    container_name: "n8n"
    restart: "always"
    environment:
      N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS: "true"
      N8N_HOST: "n8n.example.org"
      N8N_PORT: "5678"
      N8N_PROTOCOL: "https"
      NODE_ENV: "production"
      WEBHOOK_URL: "https://n8n.example.org/"
      GENERIC_TIMEZONE: "Etc/UTC"
      TZ: "Etc/UTC"
      N8N_RESTRICT_FILE_ACCESS_TO: "/files"
      N8N_PROXY_HOPS: "1"
    volumes:
      - "n8n-n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n"
      - "./n8n/local-files:/files"
    networks:
      proxy: {}

networks:
  # Pinned so the trusted-proxy address given to each app (172.30.0.2) is exact.
  # If "docker compose up" reports "Pool overlaps", change 172.30.0 here, in Caddy's
  # ipv4_address and in every trusted-proxy value to a free 172.x.0 range.
  proxy:
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: "172.30.0.0/24"
          ip_range: "172.30.0.128/25"
          gateway: "172.30.0.1"

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:
  n8n-n8n_data:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for n8n.example.org by itself once the DNS record points at your server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# Caddyfile built at dankhost.com. Save it as ./caddy/Caddyfile next to docker-compose.yml.
# Caddy gets and renews a Let's Encrypt certificate for each name below by itself,
# once the DNS records point at this server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# n8n
n8n.example.org {
	reverse_proxy n8n:5678
}

.env

n8n needs no secret here; the builder adds nothing you have to fill in by hand.

# .env for n8n, from dankhost.com/app/n8n/. Nothing here is secret.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).
# None of the chosen apps needs a variable here.

Changes from the official file

Besides prefixing every service, container, volume, folder and variable with n8n (so any set of apps can share one file), these are all the differences from what the project documents:

• Removed the documented '127.0.0.1:5678:5678' port and the documented Traefik service and labels; Caddy reaches n8n:5678 on the proxy network.
• N8N_HOST, WEBHOOK_URL, GENERIC_TIMEZONE and TZ are filled in with your address and time zone instead of the documented .env variables SUBDOMAIN, DOMAIN_NAME and GENERIC_TIMEZONE.
• Added N8N_PROXY_HOPS=1 (deployment variables page: the number of reverse proxies n8n runs behind), since one proxy sits in front of it.
• The documented HSTS header middleware (STSSeconds 315360000 with includeSubdomains and preload) is left out: it would commit every subdomain of your domain to HTTPS-only for ten years. Add it yourself if that is what you want.

Notes for n8n behind the proxy

• Open https://n8n.example.org and create the owner account straight away: until you do, whoever opens the address first can create it.
• Create the folder for the Read/Write Files from Disk node before the first start, so it is owned by you rather than root: mkdir -p n8n/local-files. In n8n it is /files.
• n8n generates its credentials encryption key on first start and keeps it in the n8n_data volume next to its SQLite database. Lose the volume and every saved credential is unreadable, so back it up (see BACKUP.md).

Back it up

n8n publishes no backup procedure for this setup. Its Docker Compose page says what the volumes hold: n8n_data is where n8n saves its SQLite database file and encryption key, and ./local-files is shared with the host. The copy below follows Docker's generic method with n8n stopped.

Below is the BACKUP.md the builder writes next to the compose file above: which of its folders and volumes hold data, what to copy with which container stopped, and a restore check. Pick more apps in the builder and it covers them all in one file.

# BACKUP.md built at dankhost.com for: n8n

What to copy from the docker-compose.yml built with this file, the database dump each project documents (rewritten for the service names in that file), what to copy with which container stopped, and how to check the result. Run every command in the folder that holds docker-compose.yml.

The folders are owned by the containers' users: put sudo in front of tar if it says "Permission denied". Named volumes live under /var/lib/docker/volumes, not next to the compose file, so they are copied through a throwaway ubuntu container (Docker's documented --volumes-from method). tar makes a full copy each run; for large folders an incremental tool (restic, borg, rsync) saves time and space.

Never run "docker compose down -v" on this file: it deletes the named volumes of every app in it.

## Before you start

    BACKUP=/mnt/backup/selfhost   # change this: a disk or machine other than this server's system disk
    mkdir -p "$BACKUP"

## Every time: the three stack files

    tar czf "$BACKUP/stack-files.tar.gz" docker-compose.yml .env caddy

.env holds the database passwords and secret keys the apps were set up with; keep this archive as private as the data.

## Caddy (the reverse proxy)

Caddy's docs: 'The data directory must not be treated as a cache.' It holds the TLS certificates and their private keys; without it Caddy has to ask Let's Encrypt for every certificate again.

- caddy-data (named volume, /data in caddy)
  BACK UP: TLS certificates, private keys, OCSP staples.
- caddy-config (named volume, /config in caddy)
  SKIP: the last active configuration, kept for 'caddy run --resume', which this setup does not use: it starts from the Caddyfile.
- ./caddy (/etc/caddy in caddy)
  IN stack-files.tar.gz: the Caddyfile, copied with the stack files above.

Copy (Caddy keeps serving while you copy):

    docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/caddy-data.tar /data

Restore check:

    tar tf "$BACKUP/caddy-data.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK
    docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /data && tar xvf /backup/caddy-data.tar --strip 1"

Sources:
- Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory: https://caddyserver.com/docs/conventions#data-directory (checked 2026-09-24)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-09-24)

## n8n

n8n publishes no backup procedure for this setup. Its Docker Compose page says what the volumes hold: n8n_data is where n8n saves its SQLite database file and encryption key, and ./local-files is shared with the host. The copy below follows Docker's generic method with n8n stopped.

What this compose mounts:
- n8n-n8n_data (named volume, /home/node/.n8n in n8n)
  BACK UP: the SQLite database (workflows, credentials, execution history) and the encryption key that unlocks the credentials.
- ./n8n/local-files (/files in n8n)
  BACK UP: files your workflows read and write through /files.

1. Stop n8n. Stopping it keeps SQLite from writing mid-copy; a copy of a database file taken while it is being written can be unusable.

    docker compose stop n8n

2. Copy while n8n is stopped:

    docker run --rm --volumes-from n8n -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/n8n-n8n_data.tar /home/node/.n8n
    tar czf "$BACKUP/n8n-local-files.tar.gz" ./n8n/local-files

3. Start it again:

    docker compose start n8n

Restore check:

    tar tf "$BACKUP/n8n-n8n_data.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK
    tar tzf "$BACKUP/n8n-local-files.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with n8n stopped):

    docker run --rm --volumes-from n8n -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /home/node/.n8n && tar xvf /backup/n8n-n8n_data.tar --strip 3"
    tar xzf "$BACKUP/n8n-local-files.tar.gz"   # recreates ./n8n/local-files; move the old folder aside first

Stop it, put the n8n_data volume and ./n8n/local-files back, start it. Restore the volume and the key together: credentials saved under one key cannot be read with another.

Sources:
- n8n docs: Use Docker Compose (compose.yaml, .env, volumes table): https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/server-setups/docker-compose/ (checked 2026-09-25)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-09-25)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

• n8n.io front page checked 2026-09-25 (what it does)
• n8n docs: Fix memory issues checked 2026-09-25 (hardware requirements)
• n8n docs: Use Docker Compose (compose.yaml, .env, volumes table) checked 2026-09-25 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
• n8n docs: Deployment environment variables (N8N_PROXY_HOPS, N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY) checked 2026-09-25 (compose definition and proxy settings)
• Caddy docs: Keep Caddy running (Docker Compose section) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
• Vaultwarden wiki: Caddy with HTTP challenge (uses the caddy:2 image) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
• Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-09-25 (backup plan)
• Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)

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