Everytime I restart the server I have to setup all of my credentials

Questions
1

Describe the problem/error/question

I am using self hosting, using docker and postgres. Everytime I launch the n8n server I have to setup all of my credentials again. How do I get the credentials to persist through server restarts?

What is the error message (if any)?

N/A

Please share your workflow

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Share the output returned by the last node

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Information on your n8n setup

  • n8n version: 2.2.4
  • Database (default: SQLite): Postgres
  • n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): Docker
  • Operating system: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
2

Hi @Matt_Marchio,

You need to set a volume to the n8n data directory so that data is retained across reboots

Here’s an example docker compose file:

services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    container_name: n8n-main
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      # Task runner configuration for v2 (external mode)
      - N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED=true
      - N8N_RUNNERS_MODE=external
      - N8N_RUNNERS_BROKER_LISTEN_ADDRESS=0.0.0.0
      - N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN=your-secret-here

  task-runners:
    image: n8nio/runners:latest
    container_name: n8n-runners
    environment:
      # Task runner configuration
      - N8N_RUNNERS_MODE=external
      - N8N_RUNNERS_TASK_BROKER_URI=http://n8n-main:5679
      - N8N_RUNNERS_AUTH_TOKEN=your-secret-here
      # Enable Python and JavaScript support
      - N8N_RUNNERS_ENABLED_TASK_TYPES=javascript,python
      # Auto shutdown after 15 seconds of inactivity
      - N8N_RUNNERS_AUTO_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT=15
    depends_on:
      - n8n

volumes:
  n8n_data:

To run this, create a folder on your local machine somwhere and call it “docker-compose.yml”.

Then in a terminal / command prompt run the command:

docker compose up

Also check the official documentation for an example using docker run:

image
image1920Ă—1336 138 KB

1 Like
3

I had to disable that a while ago because it was breaking my install (wouldn’t authenticate), I guess I’ll just have to live with it.

1 Like
4

Hi @Matt_Marchio,

Can you please elaborate what you mean by breaking your install?

If my answer helped, please can you mark it as the solution

5

When I enabled the n8n_data volume, my login credentials no longer worked. And I couldn’t reset the state of the volume back to the first install state.

6

You can delete the volume if you didnt have anything sensitive.

Shutdown your instance, then:

docker volume ls

docker volume rm -f <volume_name>

OR

you can reset your password using the below technique.

docker exec -u node -it <n8n-container-name> n8n user-management:reset
7

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