How to Set Up HTTPS for n8n

1# Caddyfile — save this as Caddyfile in your project directory
2n8n.example.com {
3  reverse_proxy localhost:5678
4}

1# docker-compose.yml — n8n with Caddy reverse proxy
2version: '3.8'
3
4services:
5  caddy:
6    image: caddy:2
7    restart: unless-stopped
8    ports:
9      - '80:80'
10      - '443:443'
11    volumes:
12      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
13      - caddy_data:/data
14      - caddy_config:/config
15    depends_on:
16      - n8n
17
18  n8n:
19    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
20    restart: unless-stopped
21    expose:
22      - '5678'
23    environment:
24      - N8N_HOST=n8n.example.com
25      - N8N_PORT=5678
26      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
27      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.example.com/
28      - N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=true
29      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=America/New_York
30    volumes:
31      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
32
33volumes:
34  n8n_data:
35  caddy_data:
36  caddy_config:

1# Step 1: Install Certbot and obtain a certificate
2sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
3sudo certbot certonly --nginx -d n8n.example.com
4
5# Step 2: Nginx configuration — /etc/nginx/sites-available/n8n
6server {
7    listen 80;
8    server_name n8n.example.com;
9    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
10}
11
12server {
13    listen 443 ssl http2;
14    server_name n8n.example.com;
15
16    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/n8n.example.com/fullchain.pem;
17    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/n8n.example.com/privkey.pem;
18    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
19    ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
20
21    location / {
22        proxy_pass http://localhost:5678;
23        proxy_set_header Host $host;
24        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
25        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
26        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
27        proxy_http_version 1.1;
28        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
29        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
30        proxy_buffering off;
31        proxy_cache off;
32    }
33}
34
35# Step 3: Enable and reload
36sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/n8n /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
37sudo nginx -t
38sudo systemctl reload nginx

1# Required environment variables for HTTPS
2export N8N_PROTOCOL=https
3export N8N_HOST=n8n.example.com
4export WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.example.com/
5export N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=true
6
7# Optional: trust the reverse proxy headers
8export N8N_PROXY_HOPS=1

1# Direct SSL on n8n (no reverse proxy needed)
2export N8N_PROTOCOL=https
3export N8N_SSL_KEY=/path/to/privkey.pem
4export N8N_SSL_CERT=/path/to/fullchain.pem
5export N8N_PORT=443
6
7n8n start
8
9# In Docker:
10# Mount the certificate files into the container
11# docker run -d \
12#   -v /etc/letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt:ro \
13#   -e N8N_PROTOCOL=https \
14#   -e N8N_SSL_KEY=/etc/letsencrypt/live/n8n.example.com/privkey.pem \
15#   -e N8N_SSL_CERT=/etc/letsencrypt/live/n8n.example.com/fullchain.pem \
16#   -p 443:443 \
17#   docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n