How do you self-host n8n on a VPS?

Why Self-Host n8n

Self-hosting n8n eliminates per-execution pricing, gives teams full control over data residency, and allows connecting to internal services behind your firewall. The community edition is free with unlimited workflows and executions. The trade-off is that you are responsible for infrastructure, updates, and backups.

Step 1: Choose a VPS Provider

n8n runs well on any Linux VPS. Common choices:

Step 2: Minimum Server Specifications

• CPU: 2 vCPU (4 vCPU recommended for 20+ active workflows)
• RAM: 4 GB (8 GB recommended for heavy workloads)
• Storage: 20 GB SSD minimum
• OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Debian 12

Step 3: Install Docker and Docker Compose

# Update system packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Install Docker Compose plugin
sudo apt install docker-compose-plugin -y

# Verify installation
docker --version
docker compose version

Step 4: Create Docker Compose Configuration

Create a directory for n8n and the configuration file:

mkdir -p /opt/n8n && cd /opt/n8n

Create docker-compose.yml:

version: "3.8"
services:
  n8n-db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: always
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: n8n
      POSTGRES_USER: n8n
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U n8n"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=n8n-db
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}
      - N8N_HOST=${N8N_HOST}
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://${N8N_HOST}/
      - N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=${ENCRYPTION_KEY}
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=UTC
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      n8n-db:
        condition: service_healthy

volumes:
  db_data:
  n8n_data:

Step 5: Configure PostgreSQL

Create a .env file:

N8N_HOST=n8n.yourdomain.com
DB_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -base64 24)
ENCRYPTION_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 16)

PostgreSQL is required for production deployments. SQLite (the default) does not handle concurrent executions reliably and lacks proper backup tooling.

Step 6: Set Up a Reverse Proxy with SSL

Install Caddy for automatic HTTPS:

sudo apt install -y caddy

Add to /etc/caddy/Caddyfile:

n8n.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:5678
}

Caddy automatically provisions and renews Let's Encrypt certificates.

Step 7: Start n8n

cd /opt/n8n
docker compose up -d

Verify n8n is running:

docker compose logs -f n8n

Navigate to https://n8n.yourdomain.com to complete the initial setup.

Step 8: Configure Automated Backups

Create a backup script at /opt/n8n/backup.sh:

#!/bin/bash
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
BACKUP_DIR=/opt/n8n/backups
mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR
docker exec n8n-db-1 pg_dump -U n8n n8n | gzip > $BACKUP_DIR/n8n_$DATE.sql.gz
find $BACKUP_DIR -name "*.sql.gz" -mtime +30 -delete

Add to crontab to run daily at 2am:

chmod +x /opt/n8n/backup.sh
echo "0 2 * * * /opt/n8n/backup.sh" | crontab -

Production Checklist

• PostgreSQL with a strong, generated password
• Encryption key generated and backed up securely
• HTTPS via reverse proxy (Caddy or Nginx)
• Firewall allows only ports 22, 80, 443
• Automated daily database backups
• Backup restoration tested at least once
• Docker image pinned to a specific version for stability
• Unattended security updates enabled

Editor's Note: We use Hetzner CX22 (EUR 5.50/month, 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM) for most client n8n deployments. One client has been running on this configuration for 14 months, processing approximately 2,300 executions per day across 18 active workflows, with zero unplanned downtime. The critical lesson we learned early: automated PostgreSQL backups are non-negotiable. We lost a client's 3 months of execution history before standardizing the backup script above. The database was recoverable from Docker volumes, but the incident prompted us to implement daily pg_dump backups with 30-day retention and weekly off-site sync to a separate storage service. Total monthly infrastructure cost for a production n8n instance: EUR 5.50-11.00 depending on specs.