n8n

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This sample shows how to get a n8n app up using PostgreSQL as a database and running with Defang. The original sample can be found here. The official n8n guide for setting up with PostgreSQL here does not work with Defang. To use the version compatible with Defang, please refer to this sample instead.

Prerequisites

1. Download Defang CLI
2. (Optional) If you are using Defang BYOC authenticate with your cloud provider account
3. (Optional for local development) Docker CLI

Development

IMPORTANT: But before you do that change the default users and passwords in the .env file!

To run the application locally for development, use the development compose file:

docker compose -f compose.dev.yaml up

This will:

• Start PostgreSQL with volume persistence for local development
• Expose PostgreSQL on port 5432 for direct access if needed
• Start n8n on port 5678 with volume persistence
• Use the init-data.sh script to automatically set up the non-root database user

You can access n8n at http://localhost:5678 once the containers are running.

Configuration

For this sample, you will need to provide the following configuration. Note that if you are using the 1-click deploy option, you can set these values as secrets in your GitHub repository and the action will automatically deploy them for you.

POSTGRES_USER

The username for your Postgres database. You need to set this before deploying for the first time.

POSTGRES_PASSWORD

The password for your Postgres database. You need to set this before deploying for the first time.

POSTGRES_DB

The name of your Postgres database. You need to set this before deploying for the first time.

POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_USER

The non-root user for your Postgres database, it will be used in the service release to setup non-root access for your Postgres database. It is also used in the script called init-data.sh. You need to set this before deploying for the first time.

POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_PASSWORD

The POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_USER's password for your Postgres database, it will be used in the service release to setup non-root access for your Postgres database. It is also used in the script called init-data.sh. You need to set this before deploying for the first time.

Deployment

The project includes two compose files:

• compose.dev.yaml - For local development with volume persistence and port exposure
• compose.yaml - For cloud deployment (extends compose.dev.yaml with cloud-specific optimizations)

Note

Download Defang CLI

Defang Playground

Deploy your application to the Defang Playground by opening up your terminal and typing:

defang compose up

This will use compose.yaml which extends compose.dev.yaml but:

• Removes volume mounts (not supported by Defang)
• Removes PostgreSQL port exposure for security
• Adds a release service to initialize the database with proper user permissions
• Optimizes environment variables for cloud deployment

BYOC (AWS)

If you want to deploy to your own cloud account, you can use Defang BYOC:

1. Authenticate your AWS account, and check that you have properly set your environment variables like AWS_PROFILE, AWS_REGION, AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY.
2. Run in a terminal that has access to your AWS environment variables:

   defang --provider=aws compose up

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Title: n8n

Short Description: A n8n app running on Defang.

Tags: n8n, PostgreSQL, Docker

Languages: Docker, Shell