N8N Docker Installation Guide

Here we don’t repeat the wheels; just check out the video from Zero Code Devs:

✨ Step 1: Install Docker

• Visit docker.com to download Docker Desktop for your operating system (Mac/Windows/Linux).
• Windows users should select the AMD 64 version for installation.

📦 Step 2: Pull the N8N Image

• Open Docker Terminal and execute the following command:

docker pull n8nio/n8n

• This command downloads the N8N runtime environment from the Docker repository.

💾 Step 3: Create a Data Volume

• In Docker Desktop, click Volumes → Create, and name it n8n-data (the name can be customized).
• 🔍 Key Concept: 【Data Volume】: Used to persistently store container data on the local hard drive, preventing data loss after container restarts.

⚙️ Step 4: Configure and Start the Container

#1 Click the Play button next to the N8N image in the Images tab.

#2 Configure the parameters:

• Port Mapping: Local port 5678 → Container port 5678 (N8N’s default service port).
• Volume Mapping:
• Local volume: n8n-data
• Container path: /home/node/.n8n

#3 Click Run to start the container.

🔗 Access the N8N Service

• After the container starts, check the access address in the logs at the bottom of Docker Desktop (e.g.).
• On the first visit, register an administrator account (email, name, password).

🛠️ Example Workflow Test

Simply, we run a workflow to test out whether it works in the local environment:

#4 Create a simple workflow (e.g., triggered by a chat message → processed by an AI agent).

#5 After stopping the container, refreshing the page will show an error (service unavailable).

#6 Restart the container, and the data and workflows will still be preserved (relying on volume persistence).

📊 Core Process Visualization (Mermaid)

flowchart TD
    A[Install Docker Desktop] --> B[Pull N8N Image<br>docker pull n8nio/n8n]
    B --> C[Create Data Volume n8n-data]
    C --> D[Configure Container<br>Port Mapping 5678:5678<br>Volume Mapping n8n-data:/home/node/.n8n]
    D --> E[Start Container and Access<br>http://localhost:5678]
    E --> F[Register Account and Create Workflow]
    F --> G[Test Data Persistence<br>Restart Container to Verify Data Retention]

✅ Summary Review

#7 Core Steps: Install Docker → Pull image → Create volume → Configure port and volume mapping → Start service.

#8 Key Technical Points:

• Data volumes enable [Persistence Storage].
• Port mapping allows local access to container services.

#9 Verification Method: Confirm data retention by restarting the container.

🔍 Further Exploration Suggestions

10. Security Optimization:

• Configure HTTPS encrypted access (e.g., using Nginx reverse proxy).
• Set environment variables to limit exposure of sensitive information.

#11 Extended Deployment:

• Explore Docker Compose for orchestrating multi-container dependencies (e.g., database + Redis).
• Investigate Kubernetes cluster deployment solutions.

#12 Integration Practices:

• Try connecting common tools (Slack/Google Sheets/GitHub) for automated workflows.
• Refer to the N8N Official Documentation to learn advanced node usage.

💡 Tip: For production environment deployment, it is recommended to use a database (PostgreSQL) instead of file storage to improve performance and data reliability.