Deploying n8n scaling queue mode Behind Nginx with Docker, PostgreSQL, Redis, Workers, Webhook and Ollama

This guide walks through deploying n8n (including worker, webhook, PostgreSQL, Redis, and Ollama) behind an existing Nginx server on a Linux host. The goal is to serve n8n at https://n8n.example.com using a secure setup with Let’s Encrypt and Docker.

This tutorial walks you through deploying n8n (with , Webhook processors, PostgreSQL, Redis,Queu Mode, and Ollama) behind an existing Nginx server.

This guide will help you to configure this scaling mode : https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/scaling/queue-mode/

We’ll use the domain n8n.example.com as an example. You’ll end up with:

Nginx (system installation) listening on ports 80 and 443 for n8n.example.com. A Docker stack hosting:

n8n (main) → 1 CPU
n8n-worker → 1 CPU
PostgreSQL 
Redis (for queue mode)
Ollama → 1 CPU

n8n is accessible only at 127.0.0.1:5678 inside the server, while Nginx proxies external traffic (443) to that internal port. HTTPS is managed by Let’s Encrypt (Certbot) on the host.

Prerequisites

A Linux server with a public IP address
A domain name (e.g., n8n.example.com)
Nginx installed on the server
Docker and Docker Compose installed
A working knowledge of basic Linux commands

1. Install Required Software

Docker and Docker Compose

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y docker.io docker-compose-plugin

Nginx

sudo apt-get install -y nginx

Certbot

sudo apt-get install -y certbot

2. Configure DNS

At your domain registrar, create an A record pointing your domain (e.g., n8n.example.com) to your server’s public IP address.

Verify DNS propagation:

nslookup n8n.example.com

3. Prepare the Nginx Configuration

We will set up Nginx to handle both HTTP (port 80) and HTTPS (port 443).

HTTP (Port 80) Configuration

Edit your Nginx configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name n8n.example.com;

    location /.well-known/acme-challenge/ {
        root /var/www/certbot;
    }

    location / {
        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
    }
}

Save the file, then reload Nginx:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Prepare Certbot’s Webroot

Create the directory:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/certbot

4. Obtain Let’s Encrypt Certificates

Run Certbot with the webroot plugin:

sudo certbot certonly --webroot -w /var/www/certbot -d n8n.example.com

When completed, the certificates will be available in /etc/letsencrypt/live/n8n.example.com/.

5. Add HTTPS (Port 443) Configuration

Now that certificates are in place, update the Nginx configuration for HTTPS and add this below your first configuration :

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name n8n.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/n8n.example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/n8n.example.com/privkey.pem;
    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:5678;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

Verify you configuration and reload Nginx:

# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Nginx listening on port 80 for the domain n8n.exemple.com
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name n8n.example.com;

    location /.well-known/acme-challenge/ {
        root /var/www/certbot;
    }

    location / {
        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
    }
}
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Nginx listening on port 443 for the domain n8n.exemple.com
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name n8n.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/n8n.example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/n8n.example.com/privkey.pem;
    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:5678;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

If Nginx complains about missing files like /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf or /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem, you need to create/download them:

Download options-ssl-nginx.conf

sudo mkdir -p /etc/letsencrypt
sudo curl \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/certbot/certbot/master/certbot-nginx/certbot_nginx/_internal/tls_configs/options-ssl-nginx.conf \
  -o /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf

Generate or download ssl-dhparams.pem

sudo openssl dhparam -out /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem 2048

then

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

6. Prepare the `.env` File

In your project directory (e.g., /home/n8n), create a .env file:

POSTGRES_USER=n8n
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=securepassword
POSTGRES_DB=n8n_db
POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_USER=n8n
POSTGRES_NON_ROOT_PASSWORD=securepassword



ENCRYPTION_KEY=mysecretkey

DOMAIN=exemple.com

SSL_EMAIL=youremail.com

GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Europe/Paris

WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.exemple.com

REDIS_HOST=redis
REDIS_PORT=6379

ENCRYPTION_KEY=cryptedkey

EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue
N8N_DATABASE_TYPE=postgresdb
N8N_POSTGRES_HOST=postgres
N8N_POSTGRES_PORT=5432
N8N_POSTGRES_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
N8N_POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
N8N_POSTGRES_DB=${POSTGRES_DB}

QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST=${REDIS_HOST}
QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_PORT=${REDIS_PORT}

N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=name
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=securepassword

7. Create the Docker Compose File

Create a docker-compose.yml in the same directory:

version: "3.8"

volumes:
  db_storage:
  n8n_storage:
  redis_storage:
  ollama_storage:

services:
  ##########################################################################
  # PostgreSQL
  ##########################################################################
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    container_name: n8n-postgres
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      - POSTGRES_DB=${POSTGRES_DB}
    volumes:
      - db_storage:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -h localhost -U ${POSTGRES_USER} -d ${POSTGRES_DB}"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 10

  ##########################################################################
  # Redis
  ##########################################################################
  redis:
    image: redis:6-alpine
    container_name: n8n-redis
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - redis_storage:/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 10

  ##########################################################################
  # N8N MAIN
  ##########################################################################
  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
    container_name: n8n-main
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      postgres:
        condition: service_healthy
      redis:
        condition: service_healthy

    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:5678:5678"

    environment:
      # Base de données
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=${POSTGRES_DB}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}

      # Mode queue
      - EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue
      - QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST=redis
      - QUEUE_HEALTH_CHECK_ACTIVE=true

      # Clé de chiffrement
      - N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=${ENCRYPTION_KEY}

      # Configuration n8n
      - N8N_HOST=n8n.exemple.com
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.exemple.com/

    volumes:
      - n8n_storage:/home/node/.n8n
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: "1"

  ##########################################################################
  # N8N WORKER
  ##########################################################################
  n8n-worker:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
    container_name: n8n-worker
    restart: always
    depends_on:
      - n8n
    command: worker
    environment:
      # BDD
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=${POSTGRES_DB}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=${POSTGRES_USER}
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}

      # Queue
      - EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue
      - QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST=redis
      - QUEUE_HEALTH_CHECK_ACTIVE=true

      # Clé de chiffrement
      - N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=${ENCRYPTION_KEY}

    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: "1"


  ##########################################################################
  # OLLAMA (CPU)
  ##########################################################################
  ollama:
    image: ollama/ollama:latest
    container_name: ollama
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ollama_storage:/root/.ollama
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: "1"

networks:
  default:
    name: my_n8n_network

8. Launch the Docker Stack

Start the containers in detached mode:

docker compose up -d

Verify that all services are running:

docker compose ps

You should see Up or healthy for n8n-main, n8n-worker, n8n-webhook, n8n-postgres, n8n-redis, and ollama.

9. Test the Setup

Open a browser and navigate to:

https://n8n.example.com

Troubleshooting

Missing SSL files:

If options-ssl-nginx.conf or ssl-dhparams.pem are missing, download or generate them:

sudo curl -o /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/certbot/certbot/master/certbot-nginx/certbot_nginx/_internal/tls_configs/options-ssl-nginx.conf
sudo openssl dhparam -out /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem 2048

PostgreSQL authentication errors:
- Verify .env credentials.
- If issues persist, reset the database volume:
```
docker compose down
docker volume rm db_storage
docker compose up -d
```

Summary

This guide walks you through:

Setting up Nginx to serve n8n behind HTTPS.
Using Let’s Encrypt for certificates.
Running n8n, worker, webhook, PostgreSQL, Redis, and Ollama in Docker.
Keeping n8n securely accessible only via localhost and Nginx.

With these steps, you now have a reliable and secure n8n instance accessible at https://n8n.example.com.

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Deploying n8n scaling queue mode Behind Nginx with Docker, PostgreSQL, Redis, Workers, Webhook and Ollama

Prerequisites

1. Install Required Software

Docker and Docker Compose

Nginx

Certbot

2. Configure DNS

3. Prepare the Nginx Configuration

HTTP (Port 80) Configuration

Prepare Certbot’s Webroot

4. Obtain Let’s Encrypt Certificates

5. Add HTTPS (Port 443) Configuration

6. Prepare the `.env` File

7. Create the Docker Compose File

8. Launch the Docker Stack

9. Test the Setup

Troubleshooting

Summary

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Deploying n8n scaling queue mode Behind Nginx with Docker, PostgreSQL, Redis, Workers, Webhook and Ollama

Prerequisites

1. Install Required Software

Docker and Docker Compose

Nginx

Certbot

2. Configure DNS

3. Prepare the Nginx Configuration

HTTP (Port 80) Configuration

Prepare Certbot’s Webroot

4. Obtain Let’s Encrypt Certificates

5. Add HTTPS (Port 443) Configuration

6. Prepare the .env File

7. Create the Docker Compose File

8. Launch the Docker Stack

9. Test the Setup

Troubleshooting

Summary

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6. Prepare the `.env` File

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