Database environment variables#
File-based configuration
You can add _FILE
to individual variables to provide their configuration in a separate file. Refer to Keeping sensitive data in separate files for more details.
By default, n8n uses SQLite. n8n also supports PostgreSQL. n8n removed support for MySQL and MariaDB in v1.0.
This page outlines environment variables to configure your chosen database for your self-hosted n8n instance.
Variable | Type | Default | Description |
---|---|---|---|
DB_TYPE / _FILE |
Enum string:sqlite , postgresdb |
sqlite |
The database to use. |
DB_TABLE_PREFIX |
* | - | Prefix to use for table names. |
PostgreSQL#
Variable | Type | Default | Description |
---|---|---|---|
DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE / _FILE |
String | n8n |
The name of the PostgreSQL database. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST / _FILE |
String | localhost |
The PostgreSQL host. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT / _FILE |
Number | 5432 |
The PostgreSQL port. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_USER / _FILE |
String | postgres |
The PostgreSQL user. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD / _FILE |
String | - | The PostgreSQL password. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_POOL_SIZE / _FILE |
Number | 2 |
Control how many parallel open Postgres connections n8n should have. Increasing it may help with resource utilization, but too many connections may degrade performance. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT / _FILE |
Number | 20000 |
Postgres connection timeout (ms). |
DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA / _FILE |
String | public |
The PostgreSQL schema. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CA / _FILE |
String | - | The PostgreSQL SSL certificate authority. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CERT / _FILE |
String | - | The PostgreSQL SSL certificate. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_KEY / _FILE |
String | - | The PostgreSQL SSL key. |
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED / _FILE |
Boolean | true |
If n8n should reject unauthorized SSL connections (true) or not (false). |
SQLite#
Variable | Type | Default | Description |
---|---|---|---|
DB_SQLITE_VACUUM_ON_STARTUP |
Boolean | false |
Runs VACUUM operation on startup to rebuild the database. Reduces file size and optimizes indexes. This is a long running blocking operation and increases start-up time. |