How to update n8n desktop!

Questions
1

Describe the issue/error/question

Unable to update the desktop version to the latest version.

What is the error message (if any)?

None

Environment

n8n desktop

2

Sorry for the exclamation point! Meant a ?

3

Hey @djangelic,

I don’t think there is any updates for the desktop app it is just the one version at the moment. The version of n8n inside the app still points to the main update URL which can be a bit confusing.

Hopefully there will be an update to it soon though.

4

ok thank you! Fingers crossed it comes soon!

If I wanted to help and submit an update to this page: Updating n8n | Docs
for #desktop and add a blurb that updates are coming in the future, would I need to find the page in github to update it and submit a PR?

5

Figured it out, I’ve submitted a PR for this, hopefully it helps someone else that accidentally stumbles on the page from a desktop.

6

Fyi @ivov just updated the n8n Desktop version. So you should be able to download the latest version from the website (https://n8n.io/).

1 Like
7

I like the n8n windows app so I can test new flows before putting them on my server.
Is the desktop app going to be updated but like in a few weeks delay?

8

Hi @David_Go, yes pretty much that - building and publishing the desktop app causes quite a bit of additional work, so it doesn’t happen with every release yet (but instead every few weeks as you suspected).

1 Like
9

Do you think it would be better to simply install Docker on my PC instead of using the desktop app?
Or are there other benefits to the desktop app that I am overlooking?

10

The benefit of the desktop app is clearly its simplicity (a few clicks to install, one double click to start). So if you just want stuff to work and not worry about configuring it, the desktop app would be the best option.

But if you’d like to try out the very latest features immediately after the release, Docker would be the better approach (though a tad more resource hungry and a bit more annoying to configure).

So if you don’t mind fiddling around a bit (or actually enjoy it), I’d definitely recommend the Docker approach.

On the Windows machine I use for support for example, I have simply created a docker-compose.yml file in a designated n8n folder with a bunch of options I just comment in or out as needed. The n8n part looks like this (this is a bad example to start with, but it shows how Docker can be useful on the desktop):

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n:0.157.1
    restart: unless-stopped
    container_name: n8n
    ports:
      - 5678:5678
    environment:
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgresql
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=aStrong(!)Password
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Europe/Berlin
      - N8N_LOG_LEVEL=debug
      - N8N_LOG_OUTPUT=console
      - N8N_HOST=localhost
      - N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED=false
      - NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN=url
      - N8N_USE_DEPRECATED_REQUEST_LIB=true
      # - NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_BUILTIN=request-promise-native
      - NODE_FUNCTION_ALLOW_EXTERNAL=request-promise-native
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=false
      - N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE=filesystem
      # - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=mutedjam
      # - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD
      # - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_HASH=true
      # - WEBHOOK_URL=https://something.else.com/
      # - EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue
      # - QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST=redis
      # - QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_PORT=6379
    depends_on:
      - postgresql
    volumes:
      - C:\Users\Tom\n8n\n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
      - C:\Users\Tom\Desktop:/home/node/Desktop
    # deploy:
    #   resources:
    #     limits:
    #       cpus: "0.5"
    #       memory: "512M"
1 Like
11

Hi All, sorry to revive an old thread!

I was curious if there is a way to view on github what version you’re downloading for the desktop versions? Loving the latest version of .168.0 and I don’t want to bug you all asking when a desktop version is available. It would be great if there was some indication on the download page of what version of the desktop app we are getting, but if not some page on Github that shows what version is currently out would be great!

Thanks in advance!

1 Like
12

Would be nice if there would be a ‘Check for updates’ function in the DeskTop App, as well as a ‘update now’ option … perhaps a feature request :thinking:

4 Likes
13

Can we build the desktop app ourselves? Is there any documentation available?