Ayyaztech

You have spent hours building workflows and automations that save you time every single day. And then one day, everything is gone. All of it. Workflows, credentials, execution history—everything is wiped out.

So what if I told you I could bring all of it back in under 60 seconds? That's what proper backups give you.

In this tutorial, I'll show you:

Two backup methods for n8n
A full disaster recovery demo where I actually delete everything and restore it
How to automate it all with a simple cron job

This is Part 3 of my n8n series. If you haven't deployed n8n to a VPS yet, watch Part 2 first.

Watch the full video tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as5EXB1JKjA

Why JSON Export Isn't Enough

You might already know about JSON export in n8n. Let me show you why it's not sufficient for complete backups.

How JSON Export Works

Go to Workflows and open any workflow
Click the three dots on the top right
Click "Download"
You get a JSON file with the workflow structure

This JSON file contains your workflow structure. You can import it back easily:

Click the three dots menu
Select "Import from file"
Pick your JSON file
Your workflow is restored instantly

The Problem with JSON Export

JSON export only saves the workflow structure. It doesn't save:

Credentials (API keys, passwords, tokens)
Execution history
Variables
Settings

If your server dies and you restore from JSON, you'll need to re-enter every single credential manually. For a complete backup, we need the Docker volume.

Method 2: Docker Volume Backup (The Complete Solution)

Everything n8n stores—workflows, credentials, execution history, everything—lives in a Docker volume. Let's back that up.

Step 1: Find Your Volume

SSH into your server and run:

docker volume ls

You'll see your n8n volume. Important: Your volume name might be different depending on your folder name. Mine is n8n_n8n_data, but yours could be my-project_n8n_data or something else.

Step 2: Create Backup Directory

mkdir -p /opt/n8n/backups

Step 3: Run the Backup Command

docker run --rm \
  -v n8n_n8n_data:/data:ro \
  -v /opt/n8n/backups:/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/n8n-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).tar.gz -C /data .

What this does:

Spins up a tiny Alpine container
Mounts your n8n volume as read-only
Creates a compressed tar ball with timestamp
Saves it to your backups folder

Step 4: Verify the Backup

ls -lh /opt/n8n/backups

There it is! A complete backup of everything. Usually just a few megabytes. Easy to store, easy to transfer.

Disaster Recovery Demo: Delete Everything & Restore

Now for the fun part—let's destroy everything and bring it back.

Current State

I have 4 workflows and several credentials configured. Let me note these so we can verify after recovery.

Step 1: Stop n8n

docker compose down

Verify everything stopped:

docker ps | grep n8n

Nothing returned—all containers are down.

Step 2: Delete the Volume (The Scary Part)

docker volume rm n8n_n8n_data

The data is gone. There's no going back without a backup.

Step 3: Start n8n (Fresh Install)

docker compose up -d

This is what data loss looks like. No workflows, no credentials. Everything is gone.

Step 4: Stop n8n Again

docker compose down

Step 5: Recreate the Volume

docker volume create n8n_n8n_data

Step 6: Restore from Backup

First, check available backups:

ls /opt/n8n/backups

Then restore from the backup file:

docker run --rm \
  -v n8n_n8n_data:/data \
  -v /opt/n8n/backups:/backup \
  alpine tar xzf /backup/n8n-backup-20251216-143022.tar.gz -C /data

Step 7: Start n8n

docker compose up -d

Step 8: Verify Everything is Back

Everything is back! Same workflows, same credentials, same execution history. This is a complete recovery.

This is what JSON export can't do. Same workflows. Same credentials. Same execution history. Complete recovery.

Automate Backups with Cron

Manual backups are great, but you'll forget sometime and lose your hard work. Let's automate this.

Step 1: Create Backup Script

nano /opt/n8n/backup.sh

Paste this script:

#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="/opt/n8n/backups"
VOLUME_NAME="n8n_n8n_data"
TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)

# Create backup
docker run --rm \
  -v ${VOLUME_NAME}:/data:ro \
  -v ${BACKUP_DIR}:/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/n8n-backup-${TIMESTAMP}.tar.gz -C /data .

# Delete backups older than 7 days
find ${BACKUP_DIR} -name "n8n-backup-*.tar.gz" -mtime +7 -delete

echo "Backup completed: n8n-backup-${TIMESTAMP}.tar.gz"

Save and exit (Ctrl+X, Y, Enter).

Step 2: Make It Executable

chmod +x /opt/n8n/backup.sh

Step 3: Test the Script

/opt/n8n/backup.sh

Check that a new backup was created:

ls -lh /opt/n8n/backups

Perfect! The script works.

Step 4: Schedule with Cron

crontab -e

Select option 1 (nano editor).

Add this line at the end:

0 3 * * * /opt/n8n/backup.sh

Cron breakdown:

0 - Minute (0 = top of the hour)
3 - Hour (3 AM)
* - Day of month (every day)
* - Month (every month)
* - Day of week (every day)

Save and exit.

Now, every night at 3:00 AM, your n8n gets backed up automatically. You'll always have the last 7 days of backups ready.

Critical: Off-Server Backups

Important tip: These backups are on the same server as your n8n. If your server dies (hardware failure, provider issue, whatever), your backup dies with it.

Solution: Copy backups off the server.

Use one of these methods:

rsync to another machine
rclone to cloud storage (S3, Google Drive, etc.)
Simple SCP to your local machine

It doesn't have to be fancy. Just get them somewhere else.

Example with SCP (run from your local machine):

scp user@your-server:/opt/n8n/backups/n8n-backup-*.tar.gz ~/n8n-backups/

Quick Recap

Here's what we covered:

1. JSON Export

Quick backup from the UI
Works for workflow structure only
Doesn't save credentials or settings

2. Docker Volume Backup

Complete backup of everything
Includes workflows, credentials, history
Can be automated

3. Disaster Recovery

Delete volume → Restore from backup
Full recovery in under 60 seconds
Everything restored exactly as it was

4. Automated Backups

Created bash script for backups
Scheduled with cron (daily at 3 AM)
Automatic cleanup (keeps 7 days)

5. Off-Server Storage

Critical for true protection
Use rsync, rclone, or SCP
Protect against server failure

What's Next?

In Part 4, I'll show you how to update n8n safely:

Pull new versions without breaking workflows
Version pinning and rollback strategies
Zero-downtime updates

Watch Part 4: n8n Updates & Rollbacks

Resources

If this saves you from future data loss, share it with someone running n8n without backups. Drop any questions in the comments below—I read and reply to all of them.