Self-Hosting n8n with Docker Compose: Production Setup Guide

Prerequisites & Server Sizing

Running n8n in production requires stability. While SQLite is suitable for testing, a production installation must use PostgreSQL as the backend database to prevent database locking during parallel workflow executions.

• Recommended Server: 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM (e.g. Hetzner CPX21 or DigitalOcean 4GB Droplet, ~$12–$15/mo).
• OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or Debian 12.
• Domain: A pointed DNS A record (e.g., n8n.yourdomain.com).

---

Production docker-compose.yml

Below is the battle-tested Compose configuration featuring PostgreSQL, persistent named volumes, and automated container restarts:

version: '3.8'

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: ${POSTGRES_USER}
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_DB: ${POSTGRES_DB}
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ['CMD-SHELL', 'pg_isready -h localhost -U ${POSTGRES_USER} -d ${POSTGRES_DB}']
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 10

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:5678:5678"
    environment:
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=${POSTGRES_DB}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      - N8N_HOST=${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://${SUBDOMAIN}.${DOMAIN_NAME}/
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=UTC
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE=true
      - EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE=168
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy

volumes:
  postgres_data:
  n8n_data:

---

Essential Production Configurations

1. Prune Execution History (EXECUTIONS_DATA_PRUNE=true): If left unpruned, executions data will quickly bloat your database to tens of gigabytes within months.
2. Reverse Proxy (Nginx / Caddy): Terminate SSL using Let's Encrypt certificates before forwarding traffic to port 5678.
3. Automated Backups: Run a nightly cron script creating a compressed pg_dump backup transferred to an off-site S3 bucket.