Describe the problem/error/question
I am self-hosting n8n on Azure in queue mode (for now its hosted in test environment in normal mode, but I am preparing for queue mode setup). In queue mode, for binary data store, external storage must be used. I dont want to use s3 as then it will be a cross-cloud communication.
So, want to use Azure Blob Storage as External Storage. I setup a Azure Blob Storage with public access and a container in it with anonymous access enabled.
I setup following environment variables.
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_HOST=.blob.core.windows.net
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_BUCKET_NAME=
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_BUCKET_REGION=southeastasia
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_ACCESS_KEY=
N8N_EXTERNAL_STORAGE_S3_ACCESS_SECRET=uCQrf3…Idg==
N8N_AVAILABLE_BINARY_DATA_MODES=s3
N8N_DEFAULT_BINARY_DATA_MODE=s3
But container does not start and fails with below error. If I change back binary mode to filesystem it works. I also tried with Azure Storage Account with Hierarchical Namespace enabled and with flat path (i.e. Hierarchical Namespace disabled).
Please advise if Azure Blob Storage can work as External Storage. This link seems to be hinting that it may work - n8n Storage Configuration | OpenCharts but then I see below error.
What is the error message (if any)?
2025-09-16T23:26:17.577726203Z Exiting due to an error.
2025-09-16T23:26:17.577862208Z Request to S3 failed
2025-09-16T23:26:17.577905870Z Error: Request to S3 failed
2025-09-16T23:26:17.577911570Z at ObjectStoreService.checkConnection (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/n8n-core@file+packages+core_@[email protected]_@[email protected]_08b575bec2313d5d8a4cc75358971443/node_modules/n8n-core/src/binary-data/object-store/object-store.service.ee.ts:92:10)
2025-09-16T23:26:17.577915919Z at processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)
2025-09-16T23:26:17.577921880Z at ObjectStoreManager.init (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/n8n-core@file+packages+core_@[email protected]_@[email protected]_08b575bec2313d5d8a4cc75358971443/node_modules/n8n-core/src/binary-data/object-store.manager.ts:15:3)
2025-09-16T23:26:17.577925657Z at BinaryDataService.init (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/node_modules/.pnpm/n8n-core@file+packages+core_@[email protected]_@[email protected]_08b575bec2313d5d8a4cc75358971443/node_modules/n8n-core/src/binary-data/binary-data.service.ts:45:4)
2025-09-16T23:26:17.578016207Z at Start.initBinaryDataService (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/src/commands/base-command.ts:239:3)
2025-09-16T23:26:17.578021517Z at Start.init (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/src/commands/start.ts:230:3)
2025-09-16T23:26:17.578025524Z at CommandRegistry.execute (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/src/command-registry.ts:66:4)
2025-09-16T23:26:17.578029803Z at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/bin/n8n:63:2
2025-09-16T23:26:17.578045171Z
2025-09-16T23:26:17.578091879Z UnknownError
Information on your n8n setup
- n8n version: Enterprise Trial version (as its trial so no support)
- Database (default: SQLite): Postgres
- n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):
- Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): Self-Hosted on Azure Container App
- Operating system: Linux (Azure Container App)