n8n Deployment on Google Cloud with SSL

Overview

This guide walks you through the process of deploying n8n on Google Cloud with SSL encryption. It covers everything from creating your Google Cloud project to configuring your virtual machine, setting up Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL, and deploying n8n with Docker. Two reverse proxy flows are provided: one using Caddy and an alternate flow using Nginx.

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Table of Contents

1. Prerequisites
2. Google Cloud Setup
   • Create a Project
   • Enable Required APIs
3. Compute Engine Configuration
   • Create a VM Instance
   • Reserve a Static IP (Optional)
   • Open Required Ports
4. Connecting and Installing Docker
5. Cloud SQL Configuration
   • Set Up PostgreSQL Instance
   • Create a Database and User
   • Allow VM Access to Cloud SQL
6. Deploying n8n with Docker
   • Deployment without a Domain
   • Deployment with a Domain
7. Reverse Proxy Setup
   • Using Caddy
   • Alternate Flow: Using Nginx
8. Troubleshooting & Potential Errors
9. Additional Techniques

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Prerequisites

• A Google Cloud account.
• A domain name (if deploying with a domain).
• Basic knowledge of Docker, SSH, and PostgreSQL.
• [Optional] Familiarity with reverse proxy servers (Caddy or Nginx).

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Google Cloud Setup

Create a Project

1. Go to the Google Cloud Console.
2. Click the project dropdown (top-left) and select New Project.
3. Name your project (e.g., <YOUR_PROJECT_NAME>).
4. Click Create.

Enable Required APIs

1. Navigate to APIs & Services → Library.
2. Enable the following APIs:
   • Compute Engine API
   • Cloud SQL API

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Compute Engine Configuration

Create a VM Instance

1. Go to Compute Engine → VM Instances → Create Instance.
2. Set the following:
   • Name: n8n-server
   • Region: e.g., us-central1
   • Machine Type: e2-small (or as needed)
   • Boot Disk: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (default disk size is 10 GB)
   • Firewall: Check Allow HTTP traffic and Allow HTTPS traffic
3. Click Create.

Reserve a Static IP (Optional)

1. Stop your VM.
2. Edit the VM, click on the Network interface.
3. Under External IPv4 address, select Reserve Static IP Address.
4. Name it (e.g., <STATIC_IP_NAME>) and click Reserve.
5. Start your VM.

Open Required Ports

n8n uses port 5678 for HTTP and 5679 for HTTPS.

1. Navigate to VPC Network → Firewall → Create Firewall Rule.
2. Configure:
   • Name: allow-n8n
   • Targets: All instances in the network
   • Source IP ranges: 0.0.0.0/0 (adjust for your security needs)
   • Protocols and Ports: TCP: 5678,5679
3. Click Create.

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Connecting and Installing Docker

1. Connect to Your VM via SSH:

   • Go to Compute Engine → VM Instances
   • Click the SSH button for n8n-server

2. Install Docker:

   curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
   sudo sh get-docker.sh

3. Add Your User to the Docker Group and Reboot:

   sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
   sudo reboot

4. Reconnect via SSH and Verify Docker Installation:

   docker --version

Cloud SQL Configuration

Set Up PostgreSQL Instance

1. In the GCP Console, navigate to Cloud SQL → Create Instance.
2. Select PostgreSQL.
3. Configure:
   • Instance ID: n8n-db
   • Database Version: PostgreSQL 15
   • Region: Same as your VM (e.g., us-central1)
   • Machine Type: Choose the smallest option (e.g., 1 vCPU, 0.6 GB RAM)
   • Storage: 10 GB (default)
4. Click Create (this may take a few minutes).

Create a Database and User

1. Go to your n8n-db instance → Databases → Create Database:
   • Database Name: n8n_db
2. Go to Users → Create User Account:
   • Username: n8n_user
   • Password: <YOUR_DB_PASSWORD>
3. Save your credentials securely.

Allow VM Access to Cloud SQL

1. In your n8n-db instance → Connections → Networking.
2. Under Add Network, paste your VM's external IP address.
3. Click Done and then Save.

Deploying n8n with Docker

Deployment without a Domain

In your VM's SSH terminal, run:

docker run -d \
  --name n8n \
  -p 5678:5678 \
  -e DB_TYPE=postgresdb \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=<YOUR_DB_NAME> \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=<YOUR_CLOUD_SQL_PUBLIC_IP> \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432 \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=<YOUR_DB_USER> \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=<YOUR_DB_PASSWORD> \
  -e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true \
  -e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=<YOUR_N8N_USERNAME> \
  -e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=<YOUR_N8N_PASSWORD> \
  -e N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false \
  n8nio/n8n

Deployment with a Domain

1. Set Up DNS:

   • In your domain registrar (e.g., Namecheap), create an A record:
     • Host: @ or a subdomain (e.g., n8n)
     • Value: Your VM's External IP
     • TTL: Automatic

2. Run n8n with Domain Configuration:

docker run -d \
  --name n8n \
  -p 5678:5678 \
  -e DB_TYPE=postgresdb \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=<YOUR_DB_NAME> \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=<YOUR_CLOUD_SQL_PUBLIC_IP> \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432 \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=<YOUR_DB_USER> \
  -e DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=<YOUR_DB_PASSWORD> \
  -e N8N_HOST=<YOUR_DOMAIN> \
  -e N8N_PROTOCOL=https \
  -e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true \
  -e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=<YOUR_N8N_USERNAME> \
  -e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=<YOUR_N8N_PASSWORD> \
  -e WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL=https://<YOUR_DOMAIN> \
  -e WEBHOOK_URL=https://<YOUR_DOMAIN> \
  n8nio/n8n

Reverse Proxy Setup

Using Caddy

1. Install Caddy:

sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install caddy

2. Configure Caddy:

sudo nano /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Add (replace <YOUR_DOMAIN>):

<YOUR_DOMAIN> {
    reverse_proxy localhost:5678
}

3. Restart Caddy:

sudo systemctl restart caddy

Alternate Flow: Using Nginx

1. Install Nginx:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

2. Obtain SSL Certificates with Certbot:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo systemctl stop nginx  # Temporarily stop Nginx for certificate setup
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d <YOUR_DOMAIN> --preferred-challenges http --agree-tos -m <YOUR_EMAIL> --non-interactive
sudo systemctl start nginx  # Restart Nginx after certificate acquisition

3. Configure Nginx:

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

Add (replace <YOUR_DOMAIN>):

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name <YOUR_DOMAIN>;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name <YOUR_DOMAIN>;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/<YOUR_DOMAIN>/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/<YOUR_DOMAIN>/privkey.pem;
    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:5678;
        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 https;
    }
}

4. Test and Reload Nginx:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Troubleshooting & Potential Errors

1. psql Client Not Found

Scenario: Running psql returns "Command 'psql' not found"
Solution: Install PostgreSQL client tools
Fix:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install postgresql-client

2. Service Unit Not Found (PostgreSQL)

Scenario: Error when trying to restart PostgreSQL via systemctl
Solution: Manage Cloud SQL instances through GCP Console
Steps:

1. Navigate to Cloud SQL in GCP Console
2. Select your instance
3. Click Restart button

3. Docker Permissions Issues

Scenario: "Permission denied" errors when running docker commands
Solution: Add user to docker group and refresh permissions
Fix:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker  # Refresh group membership without reboot
# If still issues:
sudo reboot

4. DNS Propagation Delays

Scenario: Domain not resolving to server IP
Verification:

dig +short <YOUR_DOMAIN>
nslookup <YOUR_DOMAIN>

Tools: Use DNS Checker to monitor global propagation

5. SSL Certificate Errors

Scenario: SSL/TLS connection failures or certificate warnings
Diagnosis:

# Verify certificate files exist
sudo ls -l /etc/letsencrypt/live/<YOUR_DOMAIN>/

# Check certificate expiration
sudo certbot certificates

# Test SSL configuration
sudo nginx -T | grep ssl_certificate

Renewal Setup:

# Create renewal cron job
(crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "0 12 * * * /usr/bin/certbot renew --quiet") | crontab -

6. Nginx Configuration Errors

Scenario: Failed reload after configuration changes
Test Configuration:

sudo nginx -t

Common Fixes:

• Check for missing semicolons in config files
• Verify DNS resolution in server_name directives
• Confirm port 443 is open in firewall

Additional Techniques

• Automated Backups: Use Cloud SQL's automated exports or:

  pg_dump -h <DB_IP> -U <DB_USER> -d <DB_NAME> > backup.sql

• Monitoring:

  docker logs -f n8n

• Scaling:

  • Use managed instance groups for Compute Engine
  • Scale Cloud SQL based on load

Congratulations!

Your n8n instance is now deployed on Google Cloud with SSL. Enjoy the powerful workflow automation!