I Self-Hosted n8n and Fixed the Websocket Headache

#opensource #linux #automation

Getting Started with n8n on a VPS

I've heard a lot of good things about n8n, the open-source workflow automation tool. But I never got around to trying it until a few days ago. I borrowed a VPS from a friend and set it up. It was straightforward, but I ran into a couple of hurdles. In this post, I'll share my steps so you can avoid the same issues.

Of course I used Docker, which makes things smooth like butter. Another thing, you need an HTTPS connection for n8n to set up properly. Without it, you'll hit roadblocks.

Here's my docker-compose.yaml file if you want to try it. Just tweak it to fit your needs.

services:
  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n:latest
    container_name: n8n
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      - N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS=true
      - N8N_HOST=domain.com
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - N8N_BLOCK_ENV_ACCESS_IN_NODE=false
      - N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED=true
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Asia/Dhaka
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    networks:
      - n8n-network
volumes:
  n8n_data:
networks:
  n8n-network:

I used Nginx as a reverse proxy. The biggest problem I faced was a websocket error. I also checked the network tab and there was just websocket errors. I kept getting "connection lost" message every time I tried to execute a workflow, no matter what environment variables I changed. I was stuck for hours. Then a friend suggested it might be an Nginx issue, and he was right. n8n relies on websocket connections, but my Nginx config wasn't set up to allow them.

I fixed it by adding these lines to my Nginx site config at /etc/nginx/sites-available/mydomain.com:

proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

Here's the full Nginx config file I ended up with. Remember to replace domain.com with your actual domain.

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name domain.com;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/n8n.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/n8n.error.log;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/domain.com/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/domain.com/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot
    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; # managed by Certbot
    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; # managed by Certbot

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:5678;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

server {
    if ($host = domain.com) {
        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
    } # managed by Certbot

    listen 80;
    server_name domain.com;
    return 404; # managed by Certbot
}