mirror of
https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n.git
synced 2024-12-28 22:19:41 -08:00
363 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
363 lines
10 KiB
Markdown
# n8n - Workflow Automation Tool
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
n8n is a free node-based "Open Source" (with Commons Clause)
|
|
Workflow Automation Tool. It can be self-hosted, easily extended, and
|
|
so also used with internal tools.
|
|
|
|
<a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/n8n-io/n8n/master/docs/images/n8n-screenshot.png"><img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/n8n-io/n8n/master/docs/images/n8n-screenshot.png" width="550" alt="n8n.io - Screenshot"></a>
|
|
|
|
Is still in beta so can not guarantee that everything works perfectly. Also
|
|
is there currently not much documentation. That will hopefully change soon.
|
|
|
|
## Contents
|
|
|
|
<!-- TOC -->
|
|
- [Demo](#demo)
|
|
- [Give n8n a spin](#give-n8n-a-spin)
|
|
- [Installation](#installation)
|
|
- [Start](#start)
|
|
- [Execute Workflow from CLI](#execute-workflow-from-cli)
|
|
- [Create Custom Nodes](#create-custom-nodes)
|
|
- [Keyboard Shortcuts](#keyboard-shortcuts)
|
|
- [Run n8n on own server](#run-n8n-on-own-server)
|
|
- [Hosted n8n](#hosted-n8n)
|
|
- [What does n8n mean and how do you pronounce it](#what-does-n8n-mean-and-how-do-you-pronounce-it)
|
|
- [Support](#support)
|
|
- [Upgrading](#upgrading)
|
|
- [License](#license)
|
|
- [Development](#development)
|
|
<!-- /TOC -->
|
|
|
|
## Demo
|
|
|
|
[:tv: A short demo (< 3 min)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w7xIMKLVAg)
|
|
which shows how to create a simple workflow which automatically sends a new
|
|
Slack notification every time a Github repository received or lost a star.
|
|
|
|
## Give n8n a spin
|
|
|
|
To spin up n8n to have a look you can run:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
npx n8n
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
It will then download everything which is needed and start n8n.
|
|
|
|
You can then access n8n by opening:
|
|
[http://localhost:5678](http://localhost:5678)
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Installation
|
|
|
|
To fully install n8n globally execute:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
npm install n8n -g
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Start
|
|
|
|
After the installation n8n can be started by simply typing in:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
n8n
|
|
# or
|
|
n8n start
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
|
|
### Start with tunnel
|
|
|
|
> **WARNING**: This is only meant for local development and testing. Should not be used in production!
|
|
|
|
To be able to use webhooks which all triggers of external services like Github
|
|
rely on n8n has to be reachable from the web. To make that easy n8n has a
|
|
special tunnel service (uses this code: [https://github.com/localtunnel/localtunnel](https://github.com/localtunnel/localtunnel)) which redirects requests from our servers to your local
|
|
n8n instance.
|
|
|
|
To use it simply start n8n with `--tunnel`
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
n8n start --tunnel
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Securing n8n
|
|
|
|
By default, n8n can be accessed by everybody. This is OK if you have it only running
|
|
locally but if you deploy it on a server which is accessible from the web you have
|
|
to make sure that n8n is protected!
|
|
Right now we have very basic protection via basic-auth in place. It can be activated
|
|
by setting the following environment variables:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true
|
|
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=<USER>
|
|
N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=<PASSWORD>
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
|
|
### Start with other Database
|
|
|
|
By default, n8n uses SQLite to save credentials, past executions and workflows.
|
|
n8n however also supports MongoDB and PostgresDB. To use them simply a few
|
|
environment variables have to be set.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#### Start with MongoDB as Database
|
|
|
|
> **WARNING**: Use Postgres if possible! Mongo has problems with saving large
|
|
> amounts of data in a document and causes also other problems. So support will
|
|
> may be dropped in the future.
|
|
|
|
To use MongoDB as database you can provide the following environment variables like
|
|
in the example bellow:
|
|
- `DB_TYPE=mongodb`
|
|
- `DB_MONGODB_CONNECTION_URL=<CONNECTION_URL>`
|
|
|
|
Replace the following placeholders with the actual data:
|
|
- MONGO_DATABASE
|
|
- MONGO_HOST
|
|
- MONGO_PORT
|
|
- MONGO_USER
|
|
- MONGO_PASSWORD
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
export DB_TYPE=mongodb
|
|
export DB_MONGODB_CONNECTION_URL=mongodb://MONGO_USER:MONGO_PASSWORD@MONGO_HOST:MONGO_PORT/MONGO_DATABASE
|
|
n8n start
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
|
|
#### Start with PostgresDB as Database
|
|
|
|
To use PostgresDB as database you can provide the following environment variables
|
|
- `DB_TYPE=postgresdb`
|
|
- `DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE` (default: 'n8n')
|
|
- `DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST` (default: 'localhost')
|
|
- `DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT` (default: 5432)
|
|
- `DB_POSTGRESDB_USER` (default: 'root')
|
|
- `DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD` (default: empty)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
export DB_TYPE=postgresdb
|
|
export DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
|
|
export DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=postgresdb
|
|
export DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
|
|
export DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=n8n
|
|
export DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=n8n
|
|
|
|
n8n start
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Passing Sensitive Data via File
|
|
|
|
To avoid passing sensitive information via environment variables "_FILE" may be
|
|
appended to some environment variables. It will then load the data from a file
|
|
with the given name. That makes it possible to load data easily from
|
|
Docker- and Kubernetes-Secrets.
|
|
|
|
The following environment variables support file input:
|
|
- DB_MONGODB_CONNECTION_URL_FILE
|
|
- DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE_FILE
|
|
- DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST_FILE
|
|
- DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD_FILE
|
|
- DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT_FILE
|
|
- DB_POSTGRESDB_USER_FILE
|
|
- N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD_FILE
|
|
- N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER_FILE
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Execute Workflow from CLI
|
|
|
|
Workflows can not just be started by triggers, webhooks or manually via the
|
|
Editor it is also possible to execute them directly via the CLI.
|
|
|
|
Execute a saved workflow by its ID:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
n8n execute --id <ID>
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Execute a workflow from a workflow file:
|
|
```bash
|
|
n8n execute --file <WORKFLOW_FILE>
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Create Custom Nodes
|
|
|
|
It is very easy to create own nodes for n8n. More information about that can
|
|
be found in the documentation of "n8n-node-dev" which is a small CLI which
|
|
helps with n8n-node-development.
|
|
|
|
[To n8n-node-dev](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/tree/master/packages/node-dev)
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Keyboard Shortcuts
|
|
|
|
The following keyboard shortcuts can currently be used:
|
|
|
|
### General
|
|
|
|
- **Ctrl + Left Mouse Button**: Move/Pan Node View
|
|
- **Ctrl + a**: Select all nodes
|
|
- **Ctrl + Alt + n**: Create new workflow
|
|
- **Ctrl + o**: Open workflow
|
|
- **Ctrl + s**: Save the current workflow
|
|
- **Ctrl + v**: Paste nodes
|
|
- **Tab**: Open "Node Creator". Type to filter and navigate with arrow keys. To create press "enter"
|
|
|
|
|
|
### With node/s selected
|
|
|
|
- **ArrowDown**: Select sibling node bellow the current one
|
|
- **ArrowLeft**: Select node left of the current one
|
|
- **ArrowRight**: Select node right of the current one
|
|
- **ArrowUp**: Select sibling node above the current one
|
|
- **Ctrl + c**: Copy nodes
|
|
- **Ctrl + x**: Cut nodes
|
|
- **d**: Deactivate nodes
|
|
- **Delete**: Delete nodes
|
|
- **F2**: Rename node
|
|
- **Shift + ArrowLeft**: Select all nodes left of the current one
|
|
- **Shift + ArrowRight**: Select all nodes right of the current one
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Run n8n on own server
|
|
|
|
To run n8n on your webserver with own domain some environment variables
|
|
should be set to the appropriate values.
|
|
|
|
A possible configuration to run n8n on `https://n8n.example.com/` would look
|
|
like this:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
N8N_HOST: "n8n.example.com"
|
|
N8N_PROTOCOL: "https"
|
|
N8N_PORT: "443"
|
|
VUE_APP_URL_BASE_API: "https://n8n.example.com/"
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
***Important***: Make sure that you secure your n8n instance like described above in "Securing n8n"!
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Additional Configuration
|
|
|
|
It is possible to change some of the n8n defaults via special environment variables.
|
|
The ones that currently exist are:
|
|
|
|
|
|
### EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS
|
|
|
|
Normally executions which got started via the Editor UI will not be saved as
|
|
they are normally only for testing and debugging. That default can be changed
|
|
with this environment variable.
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_MANUAL_EXECUTIONS=true
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
This setting can also be overwritten on a per workflow basis in the workflow
|
|
settings in the Editor UI.
|
|
|
|
|
|
### EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_ERROR / EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_SUCCESS
|
|
|
|
When a workflow gets executed it will save the result in the database. That is
|
|
the case for executions that did succeed and for the ones that failed. That
|
|
default behavior can be changed like this:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_ERROR=none
|
|
EXECUTIONS_DATA_SAVE_ON_SUCCESS=none
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Possible values are:
|
|
- **all**: Saves all data
|
|
- **none**: Do not save anything (recommended if a workflow runs a very often and/or processes a lot of data, setup "Error Workflow" instead)
|
|
|
|
These settings can also be overwritten on a per workflow basis in the workflow
|
|
settings in the Editor UI.
|
|
|
|
|
|
### GENERIC_TIMEZONE
|
|
|
|
The timezone is set by default to "America/New_York". It gets for example used by the
|
|
Cron-Node to know at what time the workflow should be started at. To set a different
|
|
default timezone simply set `GENERIC_TIMEZONE` to the appropriate value like for example
|
|
for Berlin (Germany):
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
GENERIC_TIMEZONE="Europe/Berlin"
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
You can find the name of your timezone here:
|
|
[https://momentjs.com/timezone/](https://momentjs.com/timezone/)
|
|
|
|
|
|
### NODES_EXCLUDE
|
|
|
|
It is possible to not allow users to use nodes of a specific node type. If you, for example,
|
|
do not want that people can write data to disk with the "n8n-nodes-base.writeBinaryFile"
|
|
node and can not execute commands with the "n8n-nodes-base.executeCommand" node you can
|
|
set the following:
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
NODES_EXCLUDE="[\"n8n-nodes-base.executeCommand\",\"n8n-nodes-base.writeBinaryFile\"]"
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Hosted n8n
|
|
|
|
If you are interested in a hosted version of n8n on our infrastructure please contact us via:
|
|
[hosting@n8n.io](mailto:hosting@n8n.io)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## What does n8n mean and how do you pronounce it
|
|
|
|
**Short answer:** It means "nodemation"
|
|
|
|
**Long answer:** I get that question quite often (more often than I expected)
|
|
so decided it is probably best to answer it here. While looking for a
|
|
good name for the project with a free domain I realized very fast that all the
|
|
good ones I could think of were already taken. So, in the end, I choose
|
|
nodemation. "node-" in the sense that it uses a Node-View and that it uses
|
|
Node.js and "-mation" for "automation" what the project is supposed to help with.
|
|
Did however not like how long the name was and could not imagine writing
|
|
something that long every time in the CLI. That is when I then ended up on
|
|
"n8n". Sure does not work perfectly but does neither for Kubernetes (k8s) and
|
|
did not hear anybody complain there. So I guess it should be ok.
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Support
|
|
|
|
If you have problems or questions go to our forum, we will then try to help you asap:
|
|
|
|
[https://community.n8n.io](https://community.n8n.io)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Upgrading
|
|
|
|
Before you upgrade to the latest version make sure to check here if there are any breaking changes which concern you:
|
|
[Breaking Changes](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/packages/cli/BREAKING-CHANGES.md)
|
|
|
|
|
|
## License
|
|
|
|
[Apache 2.0 with Commons Clause](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/packages/cli/LICENSE.md)
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Development
|
|
|
|
When developing n8n can be started with `npm run start:dev`.
|
|
It will then automatically restart n8n every time a file changes.
|