🌐 n8n + PostgreSQL on Google Cloud VM (Beginner-Friendly Guide)

This guide helps you self-host n8n on a Google Cloud VM using Docker + Docker Compose, and migrate from default SQLite (filesystem) storage to PostgreSQL for improved performance and scalability.

🇸🇦 اضغط هنا لقراءة الدليل باللغة العربية

✅ Requirements

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A Google Cloud account
• A domain name (e.g., yourdomain.com)
• Ability to set DNS A records
• Basic familiarity with using terminal & SSH

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🚀 Step 1: Create Google Cloud VM

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Navigate to Compute Engine > VM instances
3. Click Create Instance and configure as follows:
   • Name: n8n-vm
   • Region: choose one near you
   • Machine type: e2-micro (Free Tier)
   • Boot disk: Debian 12
   • ✅ Enable HTTP & HTTPS traffic
4. Click Create

🌐 Link your domain (A record)

⚠️ Go to your domain registrar and point an A record for your domain (e.g., ai.yourdomain.com) to the external IP of your VM.

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🧰 Step 2: Prepare the VM

SSH into your VM and run the following:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install docker.io docker-compose nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

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📦 Step 3: Create Project Directory & Docker Compose

mkdir n8n-setup && cd n8n-setup
nano docker-compose.yml

Paste the following:

version: '3.7'
services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:15
    restart: always
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: n8n_user
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: YOUR_PASSWORD
      POSTGRES_DB: n8n
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - 5678:5678
    environment:
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=n8n_user
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=YOUR_PASSWORD
      - N8N_HOST=ai.yourdomain.com
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://ai.yourdomain.com/
      - WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL=https://ai.yourdomain.com/
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      - postgres

volumes:
  postgres_data:
  n8n_data:

⚠️ Important: Replace all instances of:

• YOUR_PASSWORD → with a strong secure password
• ai.yourdomain.com → with your actual domain or subdomain

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🟢 Step 4: Start the containers

sudo docker-compose up -d

Check that both n8n and postgres containers are running:

sudo docker ps

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🔐 Step 5: Configure NGINX Reverse Proxy + SSL

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

Paste:

server {
    server_name ai.yourdomain.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_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

⚠️ Make sure to replace ai.yourdomain.com with your actual domain

Enable it:

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

Enable SSL:

sudo certbot --nginx -d ai.yourdomain.com

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🧪 Step 6: Access n8n

Visit: https://ai.yourdomain.com
You should see the n8n setup screen.

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🔍 Verify PostgreSQL Usage

sudo docker exec -it CONTAINER_ID env | grep DB_

You should see values for:

DB_TYPE=postgresdb
DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgres
...

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🔄 How to Update Later

sudo docker-compose down
sudo docker pull n8nio/n8n
sudo docker-compose up -d

Your data is kept in Docker volumes (n8n_data, postgres_data).

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🛠 Tips

• Always use strong passwords and avoid using defaults in production.

• For A record setup: go to your domain registrar (e.g. GoDaddy, Namecheap) → DNS → add A record → point to VM's external IP.

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🧑‍💻 Made with ❤️ by Ahmed Shatat