Unable to activate license: getaddrinfo EAI_AGAIN enterprise.n8n.io on Synology NAS

Questions
1

Hi everyone,

I’m running into an issue trying to activate n8n with a license key on my Synology NAS (Docker).

  • Error message:

    • “Failed to register community edition: getaddrinfo EAI_AGAIN ``enterprise.n8n.io”

    • Or when trying to activate a license:

      • “Activation failed — Connection error: failed to fetch”

  • Setup details:

    • Synology NAS with Docker

    • Using n8nio/n8n:latest image

    • Docker Compose setup with postgres and n8n services

    • Reverse proxy through Synology + AdGuard Home for DNS

    • N8N_HOST is set to my domain, and the UI works fine over HTTPS

  • What I tested already:

    • From inside the container:

      • ping enterprise.n8n.io works (low latency, no packet loss).

      • curl -v https://enterprise.n8n.io works → returns HTTP/2 200.

      • So HTTPS connectivity is fine and the certificate is valid.

    • I tried using Google DNS (8.8.8.8), Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1).

    • I tried n8nio/n8n:full image.

    • Docker container has internet access (can reach other domains).

  • Still the issue:

    • n8n itself cannot reach enterprise.n8n.io from within the app (Node.js), while curl inside the container works fine.

    • Looks like a DNS resolution issue in Node.js specifically (EAI_AGAIN).

Has anyone seen this issue on Synology or Docker before?
Is there a workaround to make n8n trust external DNS/SSL properly, or force IPv4 resolution?

Thanks a lot for your help!

2

One thing you could try is using the N8N_LICENSE_ACTIVATION_KEY env var and set your license manually.

Additionally see the following page for more info:

As for your question, you can set manual resolution for a given name with docker like so:

Docker run:

--add-host example.com:203.0.113.10 \

and with Docker compose:

extra_hosts:
  - "example.com:203.0.113.10"
3

Hello

I wanted to share the solution I found for the common license activation issue on n8n when running in a Docker container on a Synology NAS.

Problem:
When trying to activate the license, I kept getting:

Failed to register Community Edition: getaddrinfo EAI_AGAIN enterprise.n8n.io

Even though I could access the internet from the NAS and ping enterprise.n8n.io.

Root Cause:
The Docker container was unable to resolve the domain enterprise.n8n.io properly due to isolated DNS settings inside the container (potentially blocked or intercepted by AdGuard Home or local DNS). This prevented n8n from contacting the license server.

Solution:

  1. Use extra_hosts in Docker Compose / Portainer stack to manually map the domain to its IPs:
extra_hosts:
  - "enterprise.n8n.io:104.26.13.187"
  - "enterprise.n8n.io:104.26.12.187"
  - "enterprise.n8n.io:172.67.68.102"
  1. Set public DNS in the container to ensure proper resolution of other domains:
dns:
  - 1.1.1.1
  - 8.8.8.8
  1. Optional: Force IPv4 priority to avoid IPv6 resolution issues:
NODE_OPTIONS: "--dns-result-order=ipv4first"
  1. Remove or comment out the variable N8N_HIDE_USAGE_PAGE if previously set, so that the Usage / License page is visible in the UI.

After applying these changes and redeploying the stack, the container could successfully reach enterprise.n8n.io, and I was able to activate my license via the Usage & Plan page.

Result:

  • n8n now runs with an active license.

  • Workflows and external API calls work normally.

  • No other functionality is affected.

I hope this helps anyone else struggling with license activation on Synology NAS Docker setups!

Thank you ^^

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4

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