quick-reference.md

n8n Deployment Quick Reference

This document provides a quick reference for deploying and managing n8n using this Docker deployment solution.

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Deployment Options

Deployment Type	Command	Description
Local	sudo ./setup.sh --type local	Basic deployment with local storage
S3 Backup	sudo ./setup.sh --type s3 --s3-bucket BUCKET --aws-key KEY --aws-secret SECRET	Adds S3 backups
Traefik HTTPS	sudo ./setup.sh --type traefik --domain DOMAIN --email EMAIL	Adds HTTPS with automatic SSL
Production	sudo ./setup.sh --type production --domain DOMAIN --email EMAIL --s3-bucket BUCKET --aws-key KEY --aws-secret SECRET	Complete production setup with HTTPS and S3 backups

Interactive Setup

For a guided setup experience:

sudo ./setup.sh

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default	Required For
DEPLOYMENT_TYPE	Deployment type	local	All
POSTGRES_USER	PostgreSQL username	n8n	All
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	PostgreSQL password	auto-generated	All
POSTGRES_DB	PostgreSQL database name	n8n	All
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY	Encryption key for n8n	auto-generated	All
N8N_USER_MANAGEMENT_JWT_SECRET	JWT secret for n8n	auto-generated	All
BACKUP_RETENTION_DAYS	Days to keep backups	7	All
S3_BUCKET_NAME	S3 bucket name	-	S3, Production
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID	AWS access key	-	S3, Production
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	AWS secret key	-	S3, Production
AWS_REGION	AWS region	us-east-1	S3, Production
DOMAIN_NAME	Domain name for n8n	-	Traefik, Production
ACME_EMAIL	Email for Let's Encrypt	-	Traefik, Production

Common Commands

Start/Stop Services

# Start services
cd /path/to/n8n-deployment-docker
docker-compose up -d

# Stop services
docker-compose down

# Restart services
docker-compose restart

View Logs

# View n8n logs
docker logs n8n

# View PostgreSQL logs
docker logs n8n-postgres

# View Traefik logs
docker logs n8n-traefik

# Follow logs (add -f flag)
docker logs -f n8n

Backup and Restore

# Manual backup (local deployment)
sudo /opt/n8n-data/backup.sh

# Manual backup (S3 deployment)
sudo /opt/n8n-data/backup-s3.sh

# Restore from local backup
sudo /opt/n8n-data/restore.sh --backup-id YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS

# Restore from S3 backup
sudo /opt/n8n-data/restore-s3.sh --backup-id YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS

Update n8n

# Pull the latest n8n image
docker pull n8nio/n8n:latest

# Restart the services
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

Check Service Status

# Check all containers
docker ps

# Check container health
docker inspect --format='{{.State.Health.Status}}' n8n

Accessing n8n

• Local/S3 Deployment: http://your-server-ip:5678
• Traefik/Production Deployment: https://your-domain.com

Accessing Traefik Dashboard

For Traefik and Production deployments:

• URL: https://traefik.your-domain.com
• Username: admin
• Password: (Generated during setup - check console output)

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. n8n fails to start:

   • Check logs: docker logs n8n
   • Verify PostgreSQL is running: docker ps | grep postgres
   • Check environment variables in .env

2. Backup fails:

   • Check disk space: df -h /opt/n8n-data
   • For S3 backups, verify AWS credentials and bucket permissions
   • Check backup logs: cat /opt/n8n-data/backup.log

3. Traefik SSL certificate issues:

   • Ensure your domain points to the server's IP
   • Check Traefik logs: docker logs n8n-traefik
   • Verify that ports 80 and 443 are open in your firewall

4. Database connection issues:

   • Check PostgreSQL logs: docker logs n8n-postgres
   • Verify database credentials in .env
   • Check if PostgreSQL container is running: docker ps | grep postgres

Viewing Logs

# View deployment log
cat /opt/n8n-data/deployment.log

# View backup log
cat /opt/n8n-data/backup.log

Removing n8n

# Interactive removal
sudo ./utils/remove-n8n.sh

# Remove everything
sudo ./utils/remove-n8n.sh --all

# Remove only containers
sudo ./utils/remove-n8n.sh --containers

Additional Resources

• Deployment Diagrams - Visual explanation of deployment options
• Troubleshooting Guide - Detailed troubleshooting information
• n8n Documentation - Official n8n documentation

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