I am running into an issue regarding permissions for updating our n8n environment.
Currently, it seems that only the user with the Owner role has the ability to update the n8n instance (specifically, changing the active running version). We need more flexibility in managing our environment.
My questions are:
Is it possible to grant “Update” permissions to Administrators? We would like other team members with the Administrator role to be able to perform system updates/version changes without needing the Owner’s credentials.
If not, how can we transfer ownership to a different user? If only the Owner can update, is there a standard procedure to change who the “Owner” of the n8n instance is (e.g., via CLI, environment variables, or database modification)?
As you said, today, only the instance Owner can change the n8n version via the Admin Dashboard. This isn’t grantable to Admins.
You can transfer ownership by logging in as the current Owner and change the email in Settings → Personal. The new email must not already be used on that instance (e.g. person cannot be both member and owner at the same time). There is no other way currently to change the owner.
I would suggest to you to maybe use “service” account as owner account, and then when update is needed so multiple people can login to that service account and update the instance. Also, subadressing can be used for owner accounts, for example “[email protected]” with “+” can be owner while email without subaddressing can be member.
FYI: very old Cloud instances are auto‑updated after notification windows, but the recommended path is the Owner updating from the dashboard