Self-hosted Docker license activation fails with 403 despite working DNS and outbound HTTPS

Growork · March 12, 2026, 10:28am

I’m running n8n self-hosted with Docker on a VPS, accessible through Tailscale.

Error:
License request failed
Failed to register community edition: Request failed with status code 403

What I already checked:

DNS works from inside the n8n container:
- license.n8n.io resolves
- api.n8n.cloud resolves
HTTPS outbound connectivity works from inside the container:
- https://license.n8n.io returns 403
- https://api.n8n.cloud returns 404
Container time is correct
UFW was temporarily disabled for testing, no change
n8n is reachable and working normally otherwise

Current env:

N8N_HOST=100.115.86.121
N8N_PORT=5678
N8N_PROTOCOL=http
WEBHOOK_URL=http://100.115.86.121:5678/
N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL=http://100.115.86.121:5678/

Docker image:

n8nio/n8n:latest

This looks like the instance has outbound internet access, so I’m not sure whether this is a base URL validation issue or a licensing-side 403. Any help?

Anshul_Namdev · March 12, 2026, 12:00pm

Hi @Growork Welcome!
I recommend starting your n8n once with a public HTTPS URL via tunnel request the community license there, then restart your container and paste your key there and then make sure it is running in --tunnel mode then paste your license key that should work.