To host n8n with Coolify, install Coolify on a Linux VPS, create a project, deploy n8n from Coolify’s service catalog or as Docker Compose, use PostgreSQL for anything beyond a test, configure the public HTTPS address and encryption key, attach persistent storage, point DNS to the server, and deploy. Then verify the editor and webhooks before enabling scheduled backups and updates.
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This guide uses the interface and deployment pattern commonly available in 2026. Coolify and n8n change their templates and variable names, so confirm the current labels in your installation when they differ from the examples below.
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A typical deployment has four pieces:
- Coolify: the control panel that creates and updates your containers.
- n8n: the workflow editor and execution service, listening internally on port 5678.
- PostgreSQL: the database that stores workflow metadata, executions, users, and credentials for a production installation.
- A reverse proxy and DNS: Coolify’s proxy receives traffic for your subdomain and can obtain a Let’s Encrypt certificate automatically.
Your browser reaches a hostname such as n8n.example.com. DNS sends that hostname to the VPS address; the proxy terminates HTTPS and forwards traffic to n8n on port 5678. The n8n data directory must be on persistent storage, otherwise a container replacement can remove local configuration and other files.
Choose the server before installing
Minimum practical starting point
A commonly suggested starting point is 2 GB RAM, 2 vCPUs, and 20 GB of storage. Treat that as a baseline rather than a guarantee. Four GB of RAM gives more headroom for the Coolify control plane, PostgreSQL, and ordinary workflows. Large binary files, many simultaneous executions, browser automation, or AI-agent workloads can require substantially more memory and CPU.
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Leave free disk space for PostgreSQL growth, execution data, Docker images, and backups. A full disk can stop both n8n and the database, so monitor storage from the beginning.
Operating system and network access
- Use a current 64-bit Ubuntu or Debian server with a public, static IP address.
- Ensure you can connect over SSH with an account that can run administrative commands.
- Allow SSH and web traffic (HTTP and HTTPS) through the VPS firewall. Coolify’s installer and proxy may also need Docker-related local access; do not expose database ports publicly unless a specific, secured administration requirement demands it.
- Use a hostname or subdomain you control. You can create the DNS record after the server is ready, but the final certificate request requires the hostname to resolve correctly.
Install Coolify
- Connect to the VPS over SSH using your administrative account.
- Open Coolify’s current official installation instructions and copy the installer command shown there. The installer is intentionally distributed as a single command and can install Docker when it is absent, pull Coolify’s containers, and start the platform. Do not reuse an old command copied from an unrelated tutorial; installation commands and prerequisites can change.
- Wait for the installer to finish. It starts Coolify’s dashboard and supporting containers.
- In a browser, open
http://SERVER_IP:8000(replaceSERVER_IPwith the VPS address). Create the first administrator account immediately. - Sign in and complete any initial server or proxy configuration that Coolify requests. Keep the dashboard itself restricted to trusted administrators; it is not your n8n public endpoint.
If port 8000 does not respond, check that the installer completed, that the VPS firewall allows it temporarily, and that Coolify’s containers are running. After administration is configured, prefer a protected access path rather than leaving a management port broadly exposed.
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Coolify gives you two useful deployment paths. Select one per n8n instance; changing methods later usually means recreating or carefully migrating the application and its data.
| Method | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Service catalog | Fast setup with a maintained n8n template | Fewer decisions about networking, volumes, and companion services |
| Docker Compose | Custom PostgreSQL layout, networks, volumes, or additional services | More control, but you must maintain the Compose configuration and variable mapping |
Service-catalog deployment
- In the Coolify dashboard, create a Project.
- Inside the project, choose + New Resource, then Service.
- Search the catalog for n8n and select the current template.
- Review the generated service before deploying. Confirm the image tag, exposed internal port, storage mount, and database choice.
- Keep the generated resource inside the same project as its database and backups so project-level operations are easy to manage.
Docker Compose deployment
Choose Docker Compose instead when you need explicit networks, separate worker services, or a database definition that the catalog template does not provide. Use the n8n image and release tag documented for the version you intend to run; pin a specific release tag in production instead of using latest. A pinned tag makes a redeploy reproducible and prevents an automatic upstream release from changing your runtime unexpectedly.
Whichever method you choose, define a persistent volume mounted at /home/node/.n8n (the common named-volume form is n8n-data:/home/node/.n8n). The mount is where n8n keeps its local configuration and encryption-related state. A container that has no persistent mount can appear to work until it is recreated, then lose important data.
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Use PostgreSQL for a real installation
SQLite is for testing
The default n8n template is commonly SQLite-based. SQLite is convenient for a quick evaluation on one container, but it is a poor default for a service that must survive regular deployments, retain substantial execution history, or handle concurrent work.
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PostgreSQL is the production choice
Create or select a PostgreSQL resource in the same Coolify project and connect n8n to it using the database fields supplied by the current n8n template. Keep the database on the private Docker network; expose it publicly only for a deliberate administrative workflow protected by firewall rules and strong credentials.
Record the database name, user, password, host, and port in a password manager. Set them as Coolify secrets or protected environment variables rather than committing them to a Compose file or displaying them in screenshots. Verify that the n8n container can resolve the database service name over the project network before troubleshooting application-level errors.
Configure n8n environment and storage
Open the n8n resource’s environment-variable section in Coolify. Exact labels can vary by template, but these settings are central:
| Setting | Value or purpose |
|---|---|
N8N_HOST |
Your public hostname, for example n8n.example.com, without a protocol prefix. |
N8N_PORT |
5678, the internal n8n listening port. |
N8N_PROTOCOL |
https when the public endpoint uses HTTPS. |
| Database settings | The PostgreSQL host, port, database, user, and password exposed by the selected n8n template. |
| Encryption key | A long, randomly generated secret stored permanently. In many n8n templates this variable is named N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY; verify the current label before saving. |
| Persistent data mount | Map a durable volume to /home/node/.n8n. |
Generate the encryption key once and preserve it in a secure password manager. Changing it later can make existing encrypted credentials unreadable. Do not put the key in a public repository, a client-side script, or an issue report.
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Set the public URL fields requested by your current template, especially if you use webhook triggers. The editor URL and webhook URL must agree with the hostname and HTTPS scheme that external services will call. If Coolify offers a dedicated domain field, set it there as well as in the n8n variables where the template requires both.
Attach the domain and HTTPS
Direct Coolify proxy and Let’s Encrypt
- Create an A DNS record for your chosen subdomain, such as
n8n.example.com, pointing to the VPS public IP. - Wait for DNS to resolve from your network. Existing records and DNS caching can delay visibility.
- In the n8n resource, set the public domain to the hostname and select HTTPS. Leave the service’s internal port at 5678.
- Deploy or redeploy. Coolify’s Traefik proxy can request and renew a Let’s Encrypt certificate when the hostname resolves to the server and ports 80 and 443 are reachable.
- Open the HTTPS hostname and inspect the browser certificate. Confirm that n8n generates webhook URLs with the same HTTPS hostname, not an internal container name or an HTTP address.
Cloudflare Tunnel or another external TLS terminator
A tunnel changes where encryption terminates. If the tunnel handles TLS at the edge and forwards plain HTTP to Coolify, the domain setting in Coolify must be configured as plain http according to the tunnel setup. Do not combine that arrangement with a second, conflicting HTTPS assumption in n8n. Decide which component owns the certificate, then make the proxy, domain field, and n8n public URL consistent.
Deploy and perform an acceptance test
- Save the environment variables, domain, storage, and database settings.
- Click Deploy in Coolify and watch the build and container logs. A first deployment commonly takes about two to three minutes, depending on image downloads and the VPS.
- Open the public n8n URL. Confirm that the editor loads over HTTPS and that the browser shows no certificate warning.
- Create a harmless test workflow, such as a manual trigger followed by a simple data transformation, and run it once.
- Test a webhook from an external client. Confirm the request reaches n8n, that the response is returned, and that the execution appears in the n8n history.
- Restart or redeploy the resource, then sign in again and verify that the test workflow, credentials, and execution history remain present. This validates both the database connection and the persistent data volume.
Backups, updates, and recovery
Schedule backups before relying on the instance
Use Coolify’s scheduled-backup controls in the project settings. A daily schedule is a reasonable starting point; send copies to S3-compatible object storage, an R2-style bucket, or separate local storage rather than keeping the only backup on the same VPS. Include PostgreSQL and the n8n data volume in the backup plan, and protect the backup destination with separate credentials.
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A backup is only useful if it can be restored. Periodically restore into a temporary project or server, verify that workflows and encrypted credentials are readable with the original encryption key, and record the recovery steps.
Pin versions and update deliberately
Use a specific n8n image tag rather than latest. Before changing the tag, read the release notes for breaking changes, take a fresh database and volume backup, and update during a period when a short interruption is acceptable. Keep the previous known-good tag available so you can roll back the container if a workflow or integration fails after the update.
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Security settings that should not be skipped
- Use HTTPS for any internet-accessible instance. Do not set
N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=falsemerely to silence a browser or cookie error; that setting is appropriate only on a fully trusted local network. - Use a unique administrator password and enable the strongest account protections offered by the current n8n release.
- Store database passwords, API tokens, and the encryption key as protected Coolify secrets.
- Restrict SSH to trusted addresses where practical, disable password-based SSH in favor of keys, and apply operating-system security updates.
- Do not publish PostgreSQL, Redis, or the Coolify administration interface to the open internet without a specific reason and compensating controls.
- Limit execution-history retention if it contains sensitive payloads, and avoid logging secrets in workflow nodes.
Troubleshooting by symptom
The editor opens, but webhooks show an HTTP URL or fail externally
- Check that
N8N_PROTOCOL=httpsand the host value contain the public hostname, not the container name. - Confirm the Coolify domain is attached to the n8n resource and that the DNS A record points to the current VPS IP.
- Verify that ports 80 and 443 reach the proxy and that no second proxy is rewriting the scheme unexpectedly.
- For a tunnel, make sure TLS termination is configured in one place and that the plain-HTTP domain setting required by that tunnel is used consistently.
Credentials disappear after a redeploy
First check that the encryption key is unchanged. Then verify that the volume is mounted at /home/node/.n8n and that the mount is attached to the resource that is actually being deployed. If the key changed or the volume was omitted, restore the prior key and data from backup before attempting further updates.
n8n cannot connect to PostgreSQL
- Confirm the database container is running and healthy.
- Use the private service hostname and internal port supplied by Coolify, not the public VPS address.
- Check spelling, capitalization, and whitespace in the database variables.
- Ensure both resources share the same Coolify project network.
- Read the PostgreSQL and n8n logs together; a database authentication error and a network-resolution error require different fixes.
Deployments fail or the server becomes unresponsive
Check RAM, CPU, and disk usage while the deployment runs. Image extraction and database migrations can briefly consume more resources than an idle workflow. Remove unused images and old execution data, increase the VPS size if memory remains constrained, and avoid running heavy jobs in the same small instance as Coolify and PostgreSQL.
When one n8n container is not enough
The single-container arrangement is suitable for modest automation. Heavy webhook traffic or AI-agent workloads may need n8n’s queue mode, a Redis-backed queue, and dedicated worker processes. In that design, the main process accepts and coordinates work while workers execute jobs. It adds services, environment variables, monitoring, and backup considerations, so do not introduce it merely because it sounds faster.
Move to queue mode when execution latency, concurrency, or reliability requirements justify the operational cost. Size workers based on the memory and CPU profile of your actual workflows, and keep Redis and PostgreSQL on private networks.
Service catalog or Compose: a practical decision
| Choose the catalog when… | Choose Compose when… |
|---|---|
| You want the quickest supported path and are comfortable with the template’s defaults. | You need explicit control over networks, volumes, PostgreSQL, Redis, or worker services. |
| You are evaluating n8n or running a small, conventional installation. | You need repeatable infrastructure files, custom health checks, or a multi-service queue architecture. |
| You prefer changing settings through Coolify’s form fields. | Your team reviews deployment changes as version-controlled configuration. |
Pre-launch checklist
- VPS has at least the baseline resources and sufficient free disk space.
- Coolify dashboard is reachable and administrator access is protected.
- n8n uses PostgreSQL rather than the default SQLite for production work.
- Public hostname resolves to the VPS and HTTPS is valid.
N8N_HOST,N8N_PORT=5678,N8N_PROTOCOL=https, database settings, and the encryption key are correct./home/node/.n8nis mapped to persistent storage.- A manual workflow and an external webhook both succeed.
- Redeploy testing confirms data survives replacement.
- Backups are scheduled, stored separately, and restoration has been tested.
- The n8n image uses a deliberate version tag, with a rollback tag retained.
Final recommendation
For most self-hosters, start with the Coolify n8n service template, attach PostgreSQL, configure a persistent /home/node/.n8n volume, and use Coolify’s direct HTTPS proxy. Choose Compose when you need custom networking or queue-mode workers. The important safeguards are not the deployment button itself: preserve the encryption key, verify webhook URLs over HTTPS, back up both database and n8n data, and update a pinned version only after a tested backup.
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