Dev Tools

Host n8n on VeloxaHost

n8n is a workflow automation tool: you connect apps and APIs as nodes on a visual canvas, and workflows run on triggers, schedules or incoming webhooks. Teams self-host it to keep credentials and execution data on their own server and to avoid per-execution pricing.

The one-click install puts n8n on Ubuntu 24.04 with Node.js 20 from NodeSource, runs it as a systemd service under its own n8n user, and listens on port 5678.

Install it yourself

These steps use n8n's npm install. n8n's Docker images work too: Docker runs inside VeloxaHost servers.

  1. Install Node.js 22 from NodeSource. n8n needs a Node.js version between 20.19 and 24.x.
    curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | bash -
apt install -y nodejs
  2. Install n8n globally and create a user to run it.
    npm install -g n8n
useradd -m -s /bin/bash n8n
  3. Create /etc/systemd/system/n8n.service. Replace the domain with your own.
    [Unit]
Description=n8n
After=network.target

[Service]
User=n8n
Environment=N8N_PORT=5678 N8N_HOST=n8n.example.com N8N_PROTOCOL=https WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.example.com/
ExecStart=/usr/bin/n8n start
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
  4. Start the service and check it is running.
    systemctl daemon-reload && systemctl enable --now n8n
systemctl status n8n
  5. Point a DNS record for your domain at an address where ports 80 and 443 reach the server (a dedicated IPv4 address, a paid add-on with limited availability; IPv6 is not available in US East yet). Then install Caddy and proxy to n8n; Caddy gets a Let's Encrypt certificate on its own.
    apt install -y caddy
printf 'n8n.example.com {\n  reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:5678\n}\n' > /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
systemctl reload caddy
  6. Open https://n8n.example.com and create the owner account.

FAQ

What license is n8n released under?

n8n calls itself "fair-code" and is released under the Sustainable Use License, which is not OSI-approved. It allows use for your own internal business purposes and for non-commercial or personal use. Files marked .ee are under a separate n8n Enterprise License.

Where does n8n keep my workflows and credentials?

With the default SQLite setup, everything is in the .n8n folder of the user running n8n. On the one-click install that is /home/n8n/.n8n. The folder also holds the encryption key for stored credentials, so back it up with the database: a database without the key cannot decrypt them.

Why does n8n warn about a secure cookie when I open it?

n8n sets a secure cookie by default, so browsers only keep the session over HTTPS. Put n8n behind a reverse proxy with a certificate, as in step 5 above. Setting N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false turns the check off, but only do that for testing.

How do I upgrade n8n?

On an npm install, run npm install -g n8n@latest and then systemctl restart n8n. Take a snapshot of the server first from the VeloxaHost console, so you can restore it if a new version breaks a workflow.

Can I give n8n more CPU or memory later?

Yes. Marketplace apps run as containers, and on a container a CPU or memory change from the console applies immediately, without a restart. A server created from a VPS size is resized by picking another size.

Which VeloxaHost size fits n8n?

The recommended 1 vCPU and 2 GB of RAM is a Veloxa 1: 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM and 50 GB of disk for $10 a month, billed at $0.02 an hour and capped at the monthly price. Busy instances with many parallel executions need more memory.