Error connecting to n8n - Docker compose log below

taste · September 5, 2025, 3:44am

Describe the problem/error/question

What is the error message (if any)?

traefik-1 | 2025-09-05T03:26:49Z ERR Unable to obtain ACME certificate for domains error=“unable to generate a certificate for the domains [n8n.domain. com]: error: one or more domains had a problem:\n[n8n.domain. com] invalid authorization: acme: error: 403 :: urn:ietf:params:acme:error:unauthorized :: Cannot negotiate ALPN protocol “acme-tls/1” for tls-alpn-01 challenge\n” ACME CA=https:// acme-v02.api.letsencrypt. org/directory acmeCA=https:// acme-v02.api.letsencrypt. org/directory domains=[“n8n.domain. com”] providerName=mytlschallenge.acme routerName=n8n@docker rule=Host(n8n.domain. com)
n8n-1 | Initializing n8n process
n8n-1 | n8n ready on ::, port 5678
n8n-1 |
n8n-1 | There are deprecations related to your environment variables. Please take the recommended actions to update your configuration:
n8n-1 | - DB_SQLITE_POOL_SIZE → Running SQLite without a pool of read connections is deprecated. Please set DB_SQLITE_POOL_SIZE to a value higher than zero. See: Database environment variables | n8n Docs
n8n-1 | - N8N_BLOCK_ENV_ACCESS_IN_NODE → The default value of N8N_BLOCK_ENV_ACCESS_IN_NODE will be changed from false to true in a future version. If you need to access environment variables from the Code Node or from expressions, please set N8N_BLOCK_ENV_ACCESS_IN_NODE=false. Learn more: Security environment variables | n8n Docs
n8n-1 |
n8n-1 | n8n Task Broker ready on 127.0.0.1, port 5679
n8n-1 | Initializing AuthRolesService…
n8n-1 | AuthRolesService initialized successfully.
n8n-1 | [license SDK] Skipping renewal on init: license cert is not initialized
n8n-1 | Registered runner “JS Task Runner” (4vrPQ0RKWluS0ntNi7tZu)
n8n-1 | Version: 1.109.2
n8n-1 |
n8n-1 | Editor is now accessible via:
n8n-1 | https:// n8n.domain. com
n8n-1 | ValidationError: The ‘X-Forwarded-For’ header is set but the Express ‘trust proxy’ setting is false (default). This could indicate a misconfiguration which would prevent express-rate-limit from accurately identifying users. See Page Redirection for more information.
n8n-1 | at Object.xForwardedForHeader (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:187:13)
n8n-1 | at Object.wrappedValidations. [as xForwardedForHeader] (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:398:22)
n8n-1 | at Object.keyGenerator (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:671:20)
n8n-1 | at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:724:32
n8n-1 | at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:704:5 {
n8n-1 | code: ‘ERR_ERL_UNEXPECTED_X_FORWARDED_FOR’,
n8n-1 | help: ‘https:// express-rate-limit.github. io/ERR_ERL_UNEXPECTED_X_FORWARDED_FOR/’
n8n-1 | }
n8n-1 | ValidationError: The ‘X-Forwarded-For’ header is set but the Express ‘trust proxy’ setting is false (default). This could indicate a misconfiguration which would prevent express-rate-limit from accurately identifying users. See Page Redirection for more information.
n8n-1 | at Object.xForwardedForHeader (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:187:13)
n8n-1 | at Object.wrappedValidations. [as xForwardedForHeader] (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:398:22)
n8n-1 | at Object.keyGenerator (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:671:20)
n8n-1 | at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:724:32
n8n-1 | at runNextTicks (node:internal/process/task_queues:65:5)
n8n-1 | at processImmediate (node:internal/timers:453:9)
n8n-1 | at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:704:5 {
n8n-1 | code: ‘ERR_ERL_UNEXPECTED_X_FORWARDED_FOR’,
n8n-1 | help: ‘https:// express-rate-limit.github. io/ERR_ERL_UNEXPECTED_X_FORWARDED_FOR/’
n8n-1 | }
n8n-1 | (node:7) [DEP0060] DeprecationWarning: The util._extend API is deprecated. Please use Object.assign() instead.
n8n-1 | (Use node --trace-deprecation ... to show where the warning was created)
n8n-1 | ValidationError: The ‘X-Forwarded-For’ header is set but the Express ‘trust proxy’ setting is false (default). This could indicate a misconfiguration which would prevent express-rate-limit from accurately identifying users. See Page Redirection for more information.
n8n-1 | at Object.xForwardedForHeader (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:187:13)
n8n-1 | at Object.wrappedValidations. [as xForwardedForHeader] (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:398:22)
n8n-1 | at Object.keyGenerator (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:671:20)
n8n-1 | at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:724:32
n8n-1 | at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/[email protected][email protected]/node_modules/express-rate-limit/dist/index.cjs:704:5 {
n8n-1 | code: ‘ERR_ERL_UNEXPECTED_X_FORWARDED_FOR’,
n8n-1 | help: ‘https:// express-rate-limit.github. io/ERR_ERL_UNEXPECTED_X_FORWARDED_FOR/’
n8n-1 | }

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Information on your n8n setup

n8n version: 1.109.2
Database (default: SQLite):
n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):
Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): Docker
Operating system: Debian 13

jabbson · September 5, 2025, 3:46am

Hey @taste hope all is well.

Regarding “Could not connect to server error” - please check out this bug:

github.com/n8n-io/n8n

"Error connecting to n8n Could not connect to server" after update to 1.109.1

opened 03:12PM - 03 Sep 25 UTC

H4qu3r

in linear

### Bug Description After updating **n8n** to version **1.109.1**, a red pop-up… appears in the bottom right with the warning: "_**Error connecting to n8n Could not connect to server. Refresh to try again.**_" <img width="331" height="98" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5355d626-498b-4a7e-bf86-4f0d2d09a67b" /> I self-host n8n (as localhost) on Podman on Windows 11. I installed it using docker-compose.yml, created according to this guide: [(https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/docker/#prerequisites)] YAML ``` version: '3.8' services: n8n: build: . container_name: n8n restart: unless-stopped environment: - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Europe/Warsaw - N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS=true - N8N_REINSTALL_MISSING_PACKAGES=true - N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED=true - DB_SQLITE_POOL_SIZE=8 volumes: - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n ports: - "5678:5678" postgres: image: postgres:16 container_name: postgres restart: unless-stopped environment: - POSTGRES_USER=************ - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=************ - POSTGRES_DB=************ volumes: - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data ports: - "5432:5432" qdrant: image: qdrant/qdrant:latest container_name: qdrant restart: unless-stopped ports: - "6333:6333" - "6334:6334" volumes: - qdrant_data:/qdrant/storage volumes: n8n_data: name: n8n_data postgres_data: name: postgres_data qdrant_data: name: qdrant_data ``` Up until version **1.108.2**, everything I used in n8n worked fine. The warning appeared starting with version **1.109.1**. Updating to **1.109.2** didn't change anything. I know someone else is having this problem on Docker: [(https://community.n8n.io/t/help-needed-docker-on-windows-healthy-backend-listening-but-frontend-fails-with-could-not-connect-401-unauthorized/180811)] The advice from this post to "Try to set **N8N_PROTOCOL** to **http**" didn't help me :/ ### To Reproduce 1. Install n8n on Windows 11 with Podman Engine 5.6.0 as localhost by default. 2. Go to the login page. 3. Check the bottom right corner of the page. ### Expected behavior Pop-up appears in the bottom right with the warning: "_**Error connecting to n8n Could not connect to server. Refresh to try again.**_" ### Debug Info # Debug info ## core - n8nVersion: 1.109.2 - platform: docker (self-hosted) - nodeJsVersion: 22.19.0 - database: sqlite - executionMode: regular - concurrency: -1 - license: enterprise (production) - consumerId: 07dbed52-494f-42a1-973a-05b974c8a970 ## storage - success: all - error: all - progress: false - manual: true - binaryMode: memory ## pruning - enabled: true - maxAge: 336 hours - maxCount: 10000 executions ## client - userAgent: mozilla/5.0 (windows nt 10.0; win64; x64) applewebkit/537.36 (khtml, like gecko) chrome/137.0.0.0 safari/537.36 opr/121.0.0.0 - isTouchDevice: false Generated at: 2025-09-03T15:10:51.338Z ### Operating System Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (26100.5074) ### n8n Version 1.109.2 ### Node.js Version 22.19.0 ### Database SQLite (default) ### Execution mode main (default) ### Hosting self hosted

taste · September 5, 2025, 4:14am

Thank you. I thought I messed up the upgrade.

taste · September 17, 2025, 9:44pm

I am getting this now after pulling the latest image. I use Cloudflare tunnel to access it. This worked fine before. Please help!

root@tasteweb-n8n:~/n8n-compose# docker compose logs
traefik-1 | 2025-09-17T21:33:02Z ERR Unable to obtain ACME certificate for domains error=“unable to generate a certificate for the domains [n8n.domain .ca]: error: one or more domains had a problem:\n[n8n.domain .ca] invalid authorization: acme: error: 403 :: urn:ietf:params:acme:error:unauthorized :: Cannot negotiate ALPN protocol “acme-tls/1” for tls-alpn-01 challenge\n” ACME CA=https ://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory acmeCA=https ://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory domains=[“n8n.domain .ca”] providerName=mytlschallenge.acme routerName=n8n@docker rule=Host(n8n.domain .ca)
traefik-1 | 2025-09-17T21:33:09Z ERR Unable to obtain ACME certificate for domains error=“unable to generate a certificate for the domains [n8n.domain .ca]: error: one or more domains had a problem:\n[n8n.domain .ca] invalid authorization: acme: error: 403 :: urn:ietf:params:acme:error:unauthorized :: Cannot negotiate ALPN protocol “acme-tls/1” for tls-alpn-01 challenge\n” ACME CA=https ://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory acmeCA=https ://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory domains=[“n8n.domain .ca”] providerName=mytlschallenge.acme routerName=n8n@docker rule=Host(n8n.domain .ca)
traefik-1 | 2025-09-17T21:33:10Z ERR Unable to obtain ACME certificate for domains error=“unable to generate a certificate for the domains [n8n.domain .ca]: error: one or more domains had a problem:\n: acme: error: 404 :: POST :: https ://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/acme/authz/2657741981/584985411371 :: urn:ietf:params:acme:error:malformed :: No such authorization” ACME CA=https ://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory acmeCA=https ://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory domains=[“n8n.domain .ca”] providerName=mytlschallenge.acme routerName=n8n@docker rule=Host(n8n.domain .ca)
n8n-1 | Last session crashed
n8n-1 | Initializing n8n process
n8n-1 | n8n webserver failed, exiting
n8n-1 | Last session crashed
n8n-1 | Initializing n8n process
n8n-1 | n8n webserver failed, exiting