n8n Azure Configuration Skill

Application-specific configuration for deploying n8n to Azure Container Apps with PostgreSQL.

When to Use

•Deploying n8n to Azure
•Troubleshooting n8n on Azure
•Configuring n8n environment variables

Note: This skill is n8n-specific. Use azure-bicep-generation for generic Azure patterns.

Official Documentation

•n8n Docker Installation: https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/docker/
•n8n Environment Variables: https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/

Quick Start (Verified)

bash

# 1. Register providers (one-time per subscription)
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.App
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.DBforPostgreSQL
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.OperationalInsights

# 2. Create environment
azd env new my-n8n-env

# 3. Set required variables
azd env set AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID "$(az account show --query id -o tsv)"
azd env set AZURE_LOCATION "westus"
azd env set POSTGRES_PASSWORD "$(openssl rand -base64 16)"
azd env set N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD "$(openssl rand -base64 16)"

# 4. Deploy (~7 minutes)
azd up

# 5. Access n8n
azd env get-value N8N_URL
# Login: admin / <your N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD>

Deployment time breakdown:

•Resource Group: ~4s
•Log Analytics: ~25s
•Container Apps Environment: ~38s
•PostgreSQL Flexible Server: ~4-5 min
•n8n Container App: ~20s
•Total: ~7 minutes

Key Configuration Files

File	Purpose
`config/environment-variables.md`	All n8n environment variables for Azure
`config/health-probes.md`	Health probe timing for n8n startup
`troubleshooting.md`	Common issues and solutions

Architecture

code

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Azure Container Apps                      │
│  ┌─────────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │
│  │  n8n Container App  │────│  Log Analytics Workspace    │ │
│  │  (0-3 replicas)     │    │  (monitoring)               │ │
│  └─────────┬───────────┘    └─────────────────────────────┘ │
└────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
             │ SSL/TLS (port 5678)
             ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server              │
│  (B_Standard_B1ms, 32GB, version 16)                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

n8n-Specific Requirements

Container Configuration

Setting	Value	Reason
Image	`docker.io/n8nio/n8n:latest`	Official Docker Hub image
Port	5678	n8n default port
CPU	1.0 cores	Minimum for responsive UI
Memory	2Gi	n8n recommended minimum
Min Replicas	0	Scale-to-zero for cost
Max Replicas	3	Handle traffic spikes

Health Probes (CRITICAL)

n8n requires 60+ seconds to start. See config/health-probes.md.

Without proper health probes, containers will crash before n8n initializes!

Database Requirements

•PostgreSQL 15 or 16 (Flexible Server)
•SSL enabled (required by Azure)
•FQDN connection (not internal hostname)

Cost Estimate (Dev Environment)

Resource	Monthly Cost
Container Apps (scale-to-zero)	~$5-15
PostgreSQL Flexible Server	~$15
Log Analytics	~$2-5
Total	~$25-35/month

Verification Checklist

After azd up completes:

bash

# 1. Get URL
N8N_URL=$(azd env get-value N8N_URL)

# 2. Test HTTP response
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$N8N_URL"  # Should be 200

# 3. Verify n8n page loads
curl -s "$N8N_URL" | grep -o "<title>[^<]*</title>"
# Expected: <title>n8n.io - Workflow Automation</title>

# 4. Check WEBHOOK_URL is set (by post-provision hook)
azd env get-value N8N_CONTAINER_APP_NAME
az containerapp show --name <app-name> --resource-group <rg-name> \
  --query "properties.template.containers[0].env[?name=='WEBHOOK_URL'].value" -o tsv

# 5. Check container logs
az containerapp logs show --name <app-name> --resource-group <rg-name> --tail 20

Tear Down

bash

azd down --force --purge

Note: Teardown takes 5-10 minutes (PostgreSQL deletion is slow).

Differences from Generic Patterns

n8n has specific quirks not covered by generic Azure skills:

•Slow startup - Needs 60s+ initial delay on liveness probe
•SSL configuration - Requires SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=false for Azure
•WEBHOOK_URL - Must be set post-deployment (circular dependency via post-provision hook)
•Encryption key - Auto-generated via newGuid() parameter default
•Port 5678 - Non-standard port for health checks and ingress

Reproducibility Notes

This deployment has been tested multiple times and is verified working:

•✅ Clean environment deployment
•✅ Teardown and redeploy
•✅ Parameter interpolation via ${VAR} syntax in main.parameters.json
•✅ Post-provision hook correctly sets WEBHOOK_URL