3. Production Deployment with Docker Compose

Deploy n8n to a production server with Docker Compose.

15m Lesson 3 of 5

For production use, Docker Compose provides a reproducible, multi-service deployment with PostgreSQL for reliable data storage and Nginx for HTTPS termination.

Architecture

- n8n: The automation engine
- PostgreSQL: Reliable database backend (replaces default SQLite)
- Nginx/Traefik: Reverse proxy with automatic SSL

Code Examples

docker-compose.yml

yaml

version: '3.8'

services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      - N8N_HOST=${N8N_HOST}
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://${N8N_HOST}/
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      - postgres

  postgres:
    image: postgres:15
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=n8n
      - POSTGRES_USER=n8n
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

volumes:
  n8n_data:
  postgres_data:

.env file

bash

N8N_HOST=n8n.yourdomain.com
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_secure_password_here
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_random_encryption_key

Pro Tips

💡Always set N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY — without it, credentials are encrypted with a default key
💡Use PostgreSQL instead of SQLite for any production deployment
💡Set WEBHOOK_URL to your public domain so webhook triggers work correctly

Comprehension Quiz

Answer 2 of 2 correctly to unlock lesson completion.

1. Which database should replace SQLite for production n8n?

2. What does the WEBHOOK_URL environment variable control?

Pass the quiz above to unlock lesson completion

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All lessons in this chapter

1. n8n Cloud Overview8m 2. Local Installation (npm & Docker)12m 3. Production Deployment with Docker Compose15m 4. Environment Variables & Configuration10m 5. Backups, Updates & Maintenance10m