Im getting this error "SQLITE_IOERR: disk I/O error" running n8n on docker

Questions
1

Describe the problem/error/question

when i created a docker container for n8n after 15 minutes it crashes and gives me this error "

SQLITE_IOERR: disk I/O error"

along with many lines stating
“Failed to hard-delete executions”

and it also lists this error
“2025-04-01 10:09:26 QueryFailedError: SQLITE_IOERR: disk I/O error
2025-04-01 10:09:26 at Statement.handler (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/@n8n/typeorm/driver/sqlite/SqliteQueryRunner.js:88:37)
2025-04-01 10:09:26 at Statement.replacement (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/sqlite3/lib/trace.js:25:27)
2025-04-01 10:09:26 at Statement.replacement (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/sqlite3/lib/trace.js:25:27)”

what is going on and how do i fix this?

Information on your n8n setup

  • n8n latest version
  • Database (default: SQLite):
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app):
  • windows 10:
2

How did you deploy n8n, seems like from node? It is recommended to use the docker / docker compose setup.

How many GB of ram and available space does the machine hosting n8n have?

The error seems to indicate it fails to delete, which may mean a permissions issue where it doesn’t have delete perms.

3

how do i give it delete perms.?

4

I would try deploy it via docker. Permissions should be no issue as docker creates an isolated environment and doesnt depend on the host permission.

6

but i did deploy it in docker, the errors occurred on docker hosted n8n

7

Oh wow thats interesting. Did you use a single docker image or docker compose?

Is it behind a domain or localhost?

Do you know how to check what version it is using?

8

I get this error constantly. Docker installed on PC. Stops from saving or running anything. Very annoying. Love to know how to cure it.

Btw - don’t use SQLLite so this is an internal 8n8 error we are causing.

9

It must be sqlite if the error says its from sqlite deletion failure.