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Upgrading Self Hosted n8n Instance
Naturally you will need to update your n8n self hosted instance. In our previous example we setup our n8n instance using Docker on our VPS (virtual private server). If you’re like me you sweat updates, breaking something, losing progress, or spending hours configuring.
Good news, once you installed n8n, it’s easy to back up, it’s easy to upgrade, and easy to restore.
If you’re like me, I had a painless experience.
Follow these simple 6-Steps to upgrade your n8n instance.
Start by logging into your server using your preferred CLI (command line interface):
ssh root@ipaddress
STEP 1 – Stop n8n
cd /home/n8nuser/n8n
docker compose down
This stops:
the n8n container
the Postgres or SQLite container (if you have one)
any other containers in your docker-compose.yml
STEP 2 – Backup your n8n Data Folder
Your live n8n data should be in the /n8n_data/ folder.
Create a compressed backup.
tar -czvf n8n-backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz n8n_data
Move the backup into your backups/ folder:
mv n8n-backup-*.tar.gz backups/
Confirm:
ls -lh backups/
You should now see something like:
n8n-backup-2025-11-29.tar.gz
STEP 3 – Pull the New n8n Image
In our example we are going to upgrade from 1.105.4 → 1.120.0. The same will work for any newer versions (e.g. 1.130.0. 1.15.0, etc.)
To pull the new version:
docker pull n8nio/n8n:1.120.0
STEP 4 – Update docker-compose.yml
Open docker-compose.yml
vim docker-compose.yml
Look for the line:
image: n8nio/n8n:<something>
Update it to version 1.120.0 or the latest version:
image: n8nio/n8n:1.120.0
VIM Commands:
Press “I” to INSERT (edit normally)
Press “ESC” to Go Back to Command Interface
Type “:wq” to Write + Quit
STEP 5 – Start n8n With the New Version
Run:
docker compose up -d
Check running containers:
docker compose ps
Expected result (your result may look slightly different):
NAME IMAGE COMMAND SERVICE CREATED STATUS PORTS
n8n-n8n-1 n8nio/n8n:1.120.0 "tini -- /docker-ent…" n8n 40 seconds ago Up 39 seconds 0.0.0.0:5678->5678/t
STEP 6 — Verify Version
Run inside the container.
Replace<YOUR_CONTAINER_NAME> with “NAME” of the container.
docker exec -it <YOUR_CONTAINER_NAME> n8n --version
Expected output:
1.120.0
⚠️ If Something Breaks — Roll Back Easily
Stop containers:
docker compose down
Restore old data:
rm -rf n8n_data
tar -xzvf backups/n8n-backup-YYYY-MM-DD.tar.gz
Revert docker-compose.yml image to your old version:
image: n8nio/n8n:1.105.4
Start again:
docker compose up -d
You’re back to your old version.
