Lesson 2 / 25

Installing and Running n8n

Start n8n locally with Docker or npx and open the editor.

Two quick ways to start

The fastest local start is Docker. Mount a volume so your workflows and credentials survive restarts. An alternative is npx n8n if you have Node.js installed. Either way the editor opens at http://localhost:5678, where you create an owner account on first run.

Run with Docker

The named volume n8n_data stores your data in /home/node/.n8n. Check the official docs for the current image tag and flags.

docker volume create n8n_data
docker run -it --rm --name n8n -p 5678:5678 \
  -v n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n \
  docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n

# or, with Node.js installed:
npx n8n

Do not skip the volume

Without a persistent volume, removing the container deletes every workflow and the encryption key, and saved credentials become unrecoverable. Back the volume up.

Quick check: Why mount a volume when running n8n in Docker?

So data survives container restarts and removal
To make n8n faster
To open more ports
Docker requires it to start

Answer

So data survives container restarts and removal — Workflows, credentials and settings live in the data folder, which must be persisted.