Self hosted N8N on AWS EC2; lost data (all json files) saved in docker

Questions
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Describe the problem/error/question

We accidentally deleted our n8n database during a migration from EC2 to Google Cloud using Kubernetes. During the migration process, we overwrote the EC2 instance and lost the Docker container with our database. We need to recover our workflow data and are looking for any possible recovery options or alternative log systems that might help us retrieve our lost workflows and execution data.

What is the error message (if any)?

No specific error message - this is a data loss situation due to accidental deletion during migration.

Please share your workflow

Unfortunately, we cannot share the workflow as it was lost during the database deletion. We had multiple workflows running in our production environment that we need to recover.

Share the output returned by the last node

Not applicable - we cannot access any outputs as the entire database was deleted.

Information on your n8n setup

  • n8n version: V1.
  • Database (default: SQLite): Postgresssql
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): Docker (on EC2, now migrating to Google Cloud with Kubernetes)
  • Operating system: Linux (EC2), migrating to Google Cloud Platform

Additional Context: We are not using n8n cloud service. During our migration from EC2 to Google Cloud using Kubernetes, we accidentally overwrote our EC2 instance and deleted the Docker container our database. We’re desperately looking for any recovery options, backup systems, or alternative log systems that might help us retrieve our workflow data.

Any help or guidance on possible recovery methods would be greatly appreciated!

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Hello @Maximilian_Erdmann_S

My biggest question did you have any backups or snapshots avaible in the cloudplatform? I hate to say it, but if you;ve truely overwritten it / deleted, these are really the only way.

I would start by checking if the volume was actually deleted docker volume ls, hoping that the deletion of the docker container didn;t remove the volume,

docker volume ls

you can also look at EBS Snapshot Recovery see if you managed to capture any snapshots.

DId you not have backup to github or anything on? Please make sure to setup once backup and running I can help with best way if needed.

Samuel

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Hi Samuel,

thank you in advance for your support. We checked the docker volume ls and it is unfortunately removed.
Where can I find the EBS Snapshot Recovery.
I must say we still have all EC2 Instances active.

Greetings

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@Maximilian_Erdmann_S in the cloud platform, double check sometimes it worth just checking with the cloud provider support also, sometimes they can help recover.

Samuel

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