N8N Automation

⚙️ Self‑Hosting n8n on Oracle Cloud (Free Tier)

Automating repetitive tasks—social posting, data syncing, email processing—quickly becomes overwhelming.
n8n provides a powerful visual workflow engine, and hosting it yourself gives you full control.
This guide walks through deploying n8n on Ubuntu 24.04 using Oracle Cloud’s Free Tier, which offers a permanent, cost‑free VM.

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🧩 Overview

Category	Details
Platform	n8n (Self‑Hosted)
Cloud Provider	Oracle Cloud Free Tier
Operating System	Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Runtime	Node.js v22 (via NVM)
Process Manager	PM2
Reverse Proxy	NGINX
SSL	Certbot + Let’s Encrypt

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1️⃣ Preparing the Server

Creating the VM

Step	Description
Sign Up	Create an account at oracle.com/cloud/free
Deploy Instance	Select Ubuntu 24.04
Credentials	Save public IP and SSH private key

Connect via SSH

ssh -i ~/path/to/key.key ubuntu@<your-ip>
chmod 400 ~/path/to/key.key

Update the system

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt install -y \
build-essential curl wget git ufw ca-certificates gnupg \
lsb-release software-properties-common

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2️⃣ Installing Node.js with NVM

Component	Purpose
NVM	Manages Node.js versions
Node.js v22	Required runtime for n8n

Install NVM

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
source "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"

Install Node.js v22

nvm install 22
nvm use 22
nvm alias default 22
node -v

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3️⃣ Running n8n with PM2

Tool	Role
PM2	Keeps n8n running and restarts it automatically
Startup Script	Loads environment variables and launches n8n

Install PM2

npm install -g pm2
pm2 -v

Create startup script

nano ~/start-n8n.sh

Script content:

#!/bin/sh
set -a
. ~/.n8n/.env
set +a
npx n8n

Make executable:

chmod +x ~/start-n8n.sh

Start with PM2

pm2 start ~/start-n8n.sh --name n8n
pm2 startup
pm2 save

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4️⃣ Reverse Proxy with NGINX

Component	Purpose
NGINX	Handles HTTP traffic and proxies to n8n
Port 80	Public access

Install NGINX

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx

Configure NGINX for n8n

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/n8n

Add:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:5678;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        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;
        proxy_buffering off;
        proxy_cache off;
        chunked_transfer_encoding off;
    }
}

Enable the site:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/n8n /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

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5️⃣ Securing with SSL (Certbot)

Component	Purpose
Certbot	Generates and manages SSL certificates
Let’s Encrypt	Provides free HTTPS certificates

Install Certbot

sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Generate certificate

sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

Enable auto‑renewal:

sudo systemctl enable certbot.timer

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6️⃣ Hardening the Server

Firewall (UFW)

sudo ufw allow 22
sudo ufw allow 80
sudo ufw allow 443
sudo ufw enable

Optional: iptables rules

sudo nano /etc/iptables/rules.v4

Apply:

sudo iptables-restore < /etc/iptables/rules.v4

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7️⃣ Environment Variables for n8n

Create:

nano ~/.n8n/.env

Example:

N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=yourusername
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=yourpassword
WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL=https://your-domain.com/

Secure it:

chmod 600 ~/.n8n/.env

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8️⃣ Maintenance & Troubleshooting

Logs

pm2 logs n8n

Common issues

Issue	Fix
n8n not responding	pm2 restart n8n
Domain not resolving	Check DNS A record
NGINX errors	sudo nginx -t
Firewall blocking	Verify UFW rules

Backups

What to Save	Frequency	Location
n8n config	Weekly	Cloud storage
.env file	Monthly	Encrypted drive
PM2 list	Monthly	pm2 save
Scripts	After changes	Git repo

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🎯 Final Notes

This setup gives you a fully self‑hosted, secure, always‑free n8n instance running on Oracle Cloud.
You can now build workflows, integrate APIs, automate tasks, and scale as needed.