2025-09-23

N8N Workflow Automation HomeLab

Self-hosted workflow automation platform with Docker containerization, persistent data management, and development-to-production pipeline

Docker & Docker ComposeN8N Workflow EngineUbuntu ServerSQLite Database

N8N Dashboard showing workflow automation interface

N8N workflow automation dashboard with active workflows

📋 Overview

Built a containerized N8N workflow automation platform for testing and developing automation workflows before production deployment. The setup demonstrates container orchestration, data persistence, and infrastructure management skills.

🎯 Challenge

Needed a reliable development environment for testing workflow automations before deploying to production. Required proper data persistence, security configuration, and easy maintenance while learning container orchestration.

💡 Solution

Implemented a Docker-based N8N instance on Ubuntu Server with persistent data volumes, basic authentication, and proper network configuration. Created a development-to-production pipeline for workflow validation.

🛠️ Technologies

Docker & Docker Compose

Container orchestration with proper volume mounting and environment configuration

N8N Workflow Engine

Open-source automation platform for connecting apps and services

Ubuntu Server

Linux server administration and network configuration

SQLite Database

Persistent data storage for workflows and execution history

✨ Key Features

🐳 **Containerized Deployment**: Docker Compose configuration with proper resource management

💾 **Data Persistence**: Persistent volumes for SQLite database, binary data, and custom nodes

🔐 **Security Configuration**: Basic authentication with environment-based credentials

📊 **Monitoring & Logging**: Application logs and execution tracking

🔄 **Development Pipeline**: Test workflows locally before production deployment

⚙️ **Custom Node Support**: Directory structure for custom automation packages

🗂️ **Git Integration**: Version control for workflow configurations

🏗️ Technical Highlights

Container Architecture

Designed Docker container with proper user mapping (1000:1000), volume persistence, and network isolation

Data Management

Implemented comprehensive data persistence strategy including database, binary files, and configuration backups

Environment Configuration

Secured deployment with environment variables for credentials and configurable webhook tunneling

💻 Implementation

Docker Compose Configuration

services:
  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest
    container_name: n8n
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    env_file:
      - /opt/n8n_data/.env
    volumes:
      - /opt/n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    user: "1000:1000"

Environment Configuration

N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin@example.com
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=secure_password
N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false
# Optional webhook tunnel
# WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL=https://tunnel.ngrok-free.app

🚀 Deployment Specs

Server	Ubuntu Server 192.168.1.30
Container	docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest
Ports	5678:5678 (proxied via 8090)
Data Volume	/opt/n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
Database	SQLite (~1.1GB)
Authentication	Basic Auth enabled

📸 Gallery

Docker Compose setup with volume mounts and environment configuration

🎓 Key Learnings

📚Container orchestration and Docker Compose best practices
📚Linux file permissions and user mapping in containers
📚Data persistence strategies for stateful applications
📚Network configuration and port management
📚Infrastructure as Code principles

View Live GitHub