Installation

Module 2 · Section 2 of 6

Installation

You have two options. Docker is the better choice for most people.

Docker (recommended)

If you have Docker installed, one command gets you running:

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

This runs n8n at http://localhost:5678, with your workflows and credentials stored in ~/.n8n on your machine. The -v flag is the important part — it means your data persists when the container restarts.

For a persistent setup that survives reboots, use a docker-compose.yml:

services:
  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    volumes:
      - ~/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n
    environment:
      - N8N_HOST=localhost
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - WEBHOOK_URL=http://localhost:5678/

Then docker compose up -d and it runs in the background.

npm

If you’d rather not use Docker:

npm install n8n -g
n8n start

That’s it. Same interface, same port. The Docker route is easier to maintain and move between machines, but npm works fine for getting started.