Hi everyone, I’m setting up a new self-hosted n8n instance using Docker on Windows and I’m consistently getting an “Error 403” when trying to claim the free community license key. I have spent a lot of time troubleshooting this and believe the issue is not with my local setup anymore. **My Setup:** * **n8n Version:** (请在这里填入你的n8n版本号, 可以在n8n界面左下角看到) * **Database:** SQLite (default) * **Running on:** Docker Desktop on Windows (using WSL 2 backend) * **How I’m running n8n:** Using the official docker-compose.yml with a bind mount for data (`./.n8n:/home/node/.n8n`). — **Here is the extensive list of troubleshooting steps I have already taken:** 1. **Initial Error:** The first time I ran `docker-compose up`, it failed due to a port conflict on `5678`. 2. **Restart & Success:** After a PC restart, the port was free, and n8n started successfully. I was able to create an owner account. 3. **First 403 Error:** When I tried to claim the license, I got the “403 Forbidden” error for the first time. 4. **VPN & Networking Issues:** I am in a region that requires a VPN (Clash client on Windows) for stable international connections. 5. **DNS Fix:** I tried setting a custom DNS (`8.8.8.8`) in the Docker Engine settings, but the 403 error persisted. 6. **Docker Proxy Configuration:** * I configured the Docker proxy to point to my Clash client’s port (`http://127.0.0.1:7897`), but it failed. * I corrected the address to `http://host.docker.internal:7897`, which is the correct way for a container to reach the Windows host. 7. **A Breakthrough:** After setting the proxy to `host.docker.internal`, the error changed from “403 Forbidden” to “Client network socket disconnected”! This proved the container was now correctly routing traffic to my Clash proxy. 8. **Proxy “Allow LAN” Setting:** I realized the “socket disconnected” error was because my Clash client was rejecting connections from the Docker container (which it sees as a LAN device). I enabled the “Allow LAN Connections” setting in Clash. 9. **Back to 403:** After enabling “Allow LAN,” the “socket disconnected” error went away, but I was back to the original “403 Forbidden” error. 10. **VPN Node Switching:** My conclusion was that my VPN’s IP address was being blocked by the n8n license server. I have tried switching to many different server nodes (Japan, Singapore, US, etc.), but every single one results in a 403 error. 11. **Complete Reset:** To be absolutely sure it wasn’t an account issue, I completely reset my n8n instance by running `docker-compose down` and manually deleting the `.n8n` data directory. After setting up a new owner account, the 403 error still occurs. — **My Conclusion & Question:** After all this, I am almost certain that my local setup and Docker networking are now configured correctly. The issue seems to be that a wide range of my VPN provider’s IP addresses are being blocked by the n8n license server’s firewall. Is this a known issue? Are there specific regions or VPNs that have trouble with this? Is there any other way to activate the community license, or any advice on what to try next? Thanks in advance for your help!
Please share your workflow
(Select the nodes on your canvas and use the keyboard shortcuts CMD+C/CTRL+C and CMD+V/CTRL+V to copy and paste the workflow.)