n8n LXC¶

Overview¶

Property	Value
Hostname	n8n
IP Address	192.168.0.112
VMID	107
OS	Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
Purpose	Workflow automation platform
Web UI	http://192.168.0.112:5678

Installed Software¶

Package	Version	Notes
Node.js	22.22.0	Installed via NodeSource repository
npm	11.8.0
n8n	2.4.8	Installed globally via npm

Running Services¶

Service	Status	Description
n8n.service	active	n8n workflow automation
ssh.service	active	OpenSSH server
cron.service	active	Scheduled tasks

Open Ports¶

Port	Protocol	Process	Notes
5678	TCP	node (n8n)	Web UI, accessible from LAN
22	TCP	sshd	SSH access

n8n Configuration¶

Systemd Service¶

Path: /etc/systemd/system/n8n.service

[Unit]
Description=n8n

[Service]
Type=simple
EnvironmentFile=/opt/n8n.env
ExecStart=n8n start

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Environment Variables¶

Path: /opt/n8n.env

N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false
N8N_PORT=5678
N8N_PROTOCOL=http
N8N_HOST=192.168.0.112

Note: N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false is required because the web UI is served over plain HTTP (no HTTPS/reverse proxy). Without this setting, session cookies would fail on non-HTTPS connections.

Binary Location¶

n8n is installed globally via npm:

/usr/lib/node_modules/n8n/  →  symlinked as  /usr/bin/n8n

Data Directory¶

Path: /.n8n/ (root of the filesystem)

File/Directory	Description
`database.sqlite`	Main SQLite database (workflows, credentials, executions)
`database.sqlite-shm`	SQLite shared memory file
`database.sqlite-wal`	SQLite write-ahead log
`config`	Encrypted credentials key
`binaryData/`	Binary attachments from workflow executions
`nodes/`	Custom/community nodes
`n8nEventLog.log`	Current event log

Service Management¶

# Check status
systemctl status n8n

# Restart
systemctl restart n8n

# View logs
journalctl -u n8n -f

# View logs (last 100 lines)
journalctl -u n8n -n 100

MCP Integration¶

This n8n instance is connected to Claude Code via the n8n-mcp server. The MCP server communicates with n8n through its REST API, enabling Claude Code to create, read, and trigger workflows directly from the terminal.

Lessons Learned¶

Data directory at filesystem root: n8n stores its data in /.n8n/ (filesystem root), not in a home directory. This is because the service runs as root and n8n defaults to $HOME/.n8n - on this system $HOME is /. Be mindful when planning backups or migrations.
N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false is mandatory for plain HTTP: Without this setting, the browser refuses to store the session cookie over HTTP, making login impossible. Only remove this flag if HTTPS is configured (e.g., via a reverse proxy).
SQLite as backend: n8n uses SQLite by default (no PostgreSQL setup). Suitable for a single-node homelab deployment, but SQLite WAL files (-shm, -wal) must be included together when backing up the database, or the backup will be corrupt.
NodeSource repository: Node.js was installed from the NodeSource apt repository (not Debian's default), providing a much newer version (v22 vs Debian's older packages). Check the repository when planning updates.