futurminds
commented
1 week ago You can follow the instructions here to update the version: https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/docker/#updating
Important: Take a backup of ~/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n To create a backup, you can copy ~/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n to your local or another directory on the same VM even before deleting the container. And then, after updating and spinning up a new container, if you see the data getting lost, you can replace ~/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n with the one you saved earlier.
Ensure that your n8n instance is using a persistent volume or a mapped directory for its data storage. This is crucial because the workflows, user accounts, and configurations are stored in the database file (typically database.sqlite), which should be located in a directory that remains intact even when the container is removed. In your docker-compose.yml, you should have something like this:
volumes: - ~/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n
This mapping ensures that the .n8n directory on your host machine is used for data storage, preserving your workflows and configurations across container updates.
When you stop and remove the n8n container, you are only deleting the container instance itself, not the data stored in the persistent volume. As long as the volume is correctly configured, your workflows and accounts should remain unaffected.
But to avoid any chance of data loss you should take a backup of ~/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n before removing the container.
Hi, I followed your clear and concise tutorial and write up and now need to know how to update the instance when n8n has an update. Cheers!