How to Install n8n on a Raspberry Pi 5

Last Update: 5/24/2025

If you’re looking to automate tasks and try out your own self-hosted workflows, n8n is a powerful tool worth checking out. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the exact steps I used to install n8n on a Raspberry Pi 5. This is ideal for personal use, testing, or just learning how automation tools work. It is only intended for use within your own local network and not exposed directly on the internet.

Let’s get started.

Video: How to Setup n8n locally on a Raspberry Pi 5 – Powerful Automation!

Helpful Resources

Q&A

Below are some common Question and Answers that you may find helpful. If you have additional suggestions, recommendations, etc. please comment in the YouTube video above.

  • Q: How secure is running n8n on a Pi 5?
    • A: Running n8n on a Raspberry Pi 5 can be reasonably secure for personal or small-scale use — if you follow basic best practices. However, by default, it’s not hardened for public exposure. Here’s a breakdown of the security considerations:
      • Secure If:
        • Your Pi is only accessible on a local network (e.g. behind a home router).
        • You don’t expose port 5678 to the public internet without proper protections.
        • You use strong passwords and limit physical access to the Pi.
      • Not Secure By Default If:
        • You allow open internet access to http://<your-pi-ip>:5678 without HTTPS.
        • You haven’t configured authentication or access restrictions (n8n is open by default).
        • You rely on OAuth flows (e.g., Google Sheets) without secured redirects.
  • Q: Can I import my workflows from the n8n trial and run them on the Pi 5?
    • A: Yes, that’s exactly why this guide was created. I was running the 14-day trial and was absolutely blown away by what n8n can do. I looked at different hosting options and was about to bite when I wondered if a Pi 5 could run n8n. After some research (and help from ChatGPT), I tried a few things and was extremely pleased with the results. For now, using a Pi 5 made the most sense until I improve my n8n skills and create more automations using the tool.
  • Q: What database is being used by n8n?
    • A: By default, when you install n8n on a Raspberry Pi 5 using npm or Docker without custom configuration, it uses the built-in SQLite database. From a terminal on the Pi, you can issue this command and will see database.sqlite: ls -lh ~/.n8n
  • Q: Why is PM2 a good option for running n8n in the background?
    • A: Primarily because it’s lightweight, reliable, and easy to manage.
      • PM2 ensures that your n8n process keeps running, even if it crashes or your Pi reboots. This is ideal for automation tools like n8n that are expected to run continuously.
      • Unlike setting up a systemd service, PM2 doesn’t require root access or editing service files.
      • n8n is a Node.js app, and PM2 is specifically built for managing Node processes. That means less overhead and more compatibility compared to generic process managers.
  • Q: What are some useful commands for PM2, if I decide to use it?
    • A: Start, stop, restart, and view logs
      • pm2 start n8n
      • pm2 stop n8n
      • pm2 restart n8n
      • pm2 logs n8n

n8n Installation on the Raspberry Pi 5

REMINDER: The following steps are intended only for a local network installation of n8n for your own personal testing. It is not intended for hosting outside your local network as that would require additional setup and not covered in this tutorial.

Below are the steps I used for installing n8n on the Raspberry Pi 5.

🛠️ Step 1: Update Your Raspberry Pi

Before installing anything, make sure your Pi is fully up to date:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

That pulls in the latest security updates and software packages.

🌐 Step 2: Install Node.js

n8n runs on Node.js, so let’s get the correct version installed:

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Check to make sure it installed correctly:

node -v
npm -v

You should see something like Node v18.x and npm v9 or above.

⚙️ Step 3: Install n8n Globally

Now for the good part—installing n8n!

sudo npm install -g n8n

That will install n8n as a global command so you can run it from anywhere.

▶️ Step 4: Start n8n (For Testing)

You can run n8n immediately just to test it out:

n8n

By default, it’ll launch on port 5678. In your browser, visit:

http://<your-pi-ip>:5678

Use hostname -I to find your Pi’s local IP address.

🔁 Step 5: Run n8n in the Background with PM2

If you want n8n to keep running after you close your terminal, I recommend using PM2. It’s a simple process manager that makes this easy.

Install PM2:

sudo npm install -g pm2

Start n8n with PM2:

pm2 start n8n

Save your PM2 configuration so it restarts on boot:

pm2 save
pm2 startup

PM2 will give you a command to run next—copy and paste that to finish setting it up.

🔐 Optional: Fix “Secure Cookie” Error for Local Testing

If you see a message about “secure cookies” when running locally (without HTTPS), disable the secure cookie check:

export N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false

To make that setting permanent, you can add it to your ~/.bashrc or PM2 environment.

✅ You’re Done!

That’s it! You’ve now got a self-hosted version of n8n running on your Raspberry Pi 5. You can build automation workflows, test webhooks, and explore what this tool can do—all without relying on a cloud service.

Bonus Tip: Stop or Restart n8n Anytime

With PM2, it’s easy to manage:

pm2 stop n8n       # Stops the process
pm2 restart n8n    # Restarts the process
pm2 logs n8n       # View logs

🧹 Optional: Uninstalling n8n Completely

If you decide you no longer want to run n8n on your Raspberry Pi, here’s how to fully remove it.

1. Stop and Remove n8n from PM2

If you used PM2 to manage n8n:

pm2 stop n8n
pm2 delete n8n
pm2 save

(Optional) If you’re not using PM2 for anything else, you can remove it:

sudo npm uninstall -g pm2

2. Uninstall n8n

Remove the n8n global installation:

sudo npm uninstall -g n8n

3. (Optional) Remove Node.js (if you no longer need it)

Only do this if you’re not using Node.js for anything else:

sudo apt remove nodejs -y
sudo apt autoremove -y

4. Clean Up Environment Variables

If you previously added any N8N_ environment variables (like N8N_SECURE_COOKIE=false) to your ~/.bashrc or PM2 ecosystem file, you can remove those manually.

OAuth2 from Another Machine

You may find authentication of Google and other services won’t work unless registered directly on the Pi. This is a common issue when authenticating with OAuth2 from another machine’s browser — the key problem is that Google is redirecting back to http://localhost:5678, which refers to your local machine, not the Pi 5, and of course, the browser you’re using can’t connect to the Pi’s localhost.

✅Authenticate Directly on the Pi

You can open a browser on the Pi itself (via Raspberry Pi Connect / VNC or using a monitor/keyboard) and complete the auth there. Since localhost will match, it’ll work. Once credentials have been added directly on the Pi, you’ll be able to reference those credentials for the current and future workflows. Therefore, it will only need to be setup once on the Pi 5. If I find a better solution, I’ll update this section.

Change Log

  • 2025-05-24 – Guide cleanup prior to public availability.
  • 2025-05-18 – Start to this guide.