n8n Server on Digital Ocean

Prerequisites

1. An active Digital Ocean account.
2. A registered domain on Google Domains or similar domain provider.

Procedure

Step 1: Set Up Digital Ocean Docker Server

1. Login to your Digital Ocean account at Digitalocean.com.
2. Create a new project or select an existing project.
3. Click on Create, then Droplets.
4. Select your desired region.
5. Under “Choose An image”, go to the Marketplace tab.
6. Type “Docker” in the search bar and select the Docker image.
7. Choose your CPU based on your usage requirements.
8. Choose your authentication method (SSH is more secure than password).
9. Type in a hostname that matches your desired subdomain.
10. Click on Create Droplet and wait for the droplet to be created.

Step 2: Configure DNS Settings in Google Domains

1. Copy the IP address assigned to the droplet to your clipboard.
2. Open a new tab and go to domains.google.com.
3. Select the domain name for the n8n server.
4. Click on the DNS section.
5. Click on Manage Custom Records.
6. Click on Create New Record and enter the following:
   • Hostname: the same as the hostname selected in Digital Ocean.
   • Type: A
   • IP: the server IP address for the Digital Ocean server.
7. Click on SAVE.
8. Verify the status of the DNS settings at dnschecker.org.

Step 3: Access Digital Ocean Console

1. Go back to the Digital Ocean tab with the project folder.
2. Click the 3 dots on the droplet and go to Access Console.
3. Click on the Launch Droplet Console button to open a new window with a console.

Step 4: Clone n8n Repository and Configure Files

1. Clone the n8n repository by running the following command in the console:git clone https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n-docker-caddy.git
2. Rename the folder to “n8n-digital-ocean” by running:mv n8n-docker-caddy n8n-digital-ocean
3. Change into the new folder using the following command:cd n8n-digital-ocean
4. Edit the .env file, docker-compose.yml, and Caddyfile according to the provided examples.

Step 5: Edit the .env file

Example File.env

1. Open the .env file using the nano editor by running the following command:nano .env
2. Update the following variables in the .env file:
   • DATA_FOLDER: Set this to the path of your data folder (e.g., /root/n8n-digital-ocean).
   • DOMAIN_NAME: Set this to your domain name (e.g., example.com).
   • SUBDOMAIN: Set this to your desired subdomain (e.g., n8nserver).
   • N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER: Set this to your desired username for accessing the n8n server.
   • N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD: Set this to your desired password for accessing the n8n server.
   • SSL_EMAIL: Set this to your email address for SSL certificate creation.

Save the changes and exit the editor by pressing Ctrl + X, followed by Y, and then Enter.

Step 6: Edit the docker-compose.yml file

docker-compose.yml

1. Open the docker-compose.yml file using the nano editor by running the following command:nano docker-compose.yml
2. Under the “environment” section, add the following line after the “GENERIC_TIMEZONE” line:- EXECUTIONS_PROCESS=mainThis configuration helps with the n8n server performance.

Save the changes and exit the editor by pressing Ctrl + X, followed by Y, and then Enter.

Step 7: Edit the Caddyfile in the caddy_config folder

Caddyfile

1. Open the Caddyfile using the nano editor by running the following command:nano caddy_config/Caddyfile
2. Update the first line of the Caddyfile to match your subdomain, but keep the “{” character. For example:n8nserver.example.com {
3. Make sure that the “reverse_proxy” section is properly configured to point to the n8n server with the correct port number: reverse_proxy n8n:5678 { flush_interval -1 }

Save the changes and exit the editor by pressing Ctrl + X, followed by Y, and then Enter.

After completing these steps, you have successfully edited the .env file, docker-compose.yml, and Caddyfile according to the provided examples. This configuration ensures that your n8n server is set up with the correct domain, subdomain, and environment settings.

Step 8: Open Firewall Ports and Start n8n Server

1. Open the firewall ports by running the following commands:sudo ufw allow 80 sudo ufw allow 443
2. Start the n8n server app by running:docker compose up -d

Step 9: Access the n8n Server

1. Open a web browser and navigate to your configured subdomain.
2. Log in using the N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER and N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD configured in the .env file.

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How to update.

log into n8n server on digital ocean.

start console

go into n8n image folder

use command

docker pull n8nio/n8n:latest

More Commands:

// Pull latest (stable) version docker pull docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n

// Pull specific version docker pull docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:0.220.1

// Pull next (unstable) version docker pull docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:next