Difficulty Level: 🟢 Beginner
Risk Level: 🟢 None
What can be pre-installed on your server
Throughout this documentation, you will find command examples, screenshots and outputs that may not always reflect the exact list of services running on your server.
This is intentional.
The NoCodeNode offer is constantly evolving. New services are being added, configurations are being refined, and the stack you receive today may be richer than what was documented when these guides were first written. Keeping every example, every docker ps output and every configuration snippet perfectly up to date with every possible combination of services would make this documentation harder to read and harder to maintain.
Our priority is clarity. We would rather show you a clean, simple example with five containers than overwhelm you with every possible variation.
💡 What this means for you: If you see a command output in this documentation that shows fewer containers than what is actually running on your server, do not worry. Your server is fine. The documentation is just using a simplified example.
When your server is deployed, two categories of services exist:
This keeps your server clean. You only run what you actually need.
These are always present on your server. You did not need to ask for them.
Traefik is your server's traffic controller. Every request that arrives on your server passes through Traefik first. It handles routing to the right service and manages your SSL certificates automatically, which is what gives you the https:// on all your services without you having to think about it.
On n8n cloud, this layer is completely invisible to you. It exists, but it is managed by n8n's infrastructure team. On your self-hosted server, you have full visibility and control over it.
The core of everything. Your workflow automation platform.
The n8n task runner is a separate process that handles the execution of Code nodes — whether you are writing JavaScript or Python inside your workflows.
Instead of running that code directly inside the main n8n process, the task runner executes it in an isolated environment. This means that if something goes wrong in a Code node, it cannot affect the stability of n8n itself or any other workflow running at the same time.
This is the architecture n8n officially recommends for any production environment. It is worth noting that many self-hosted setups found online skip this entirely — your server does not.
The following services are available on request during your onboarding phase. Each one is pre-configured and ready to deploy — you just need to ask.
A widely used relational database. If your workflows need to read from or write to a structured database, or if you are running an application that requires MySQL, this is your go-to.
Comes with: phpMyAdmin — a web-based interface to browse, manage and query your MySQL database without needing to touch the command line.
On n8n cloud, you would connect to an external database hosted elsewhere. Here, it lives on the same server, inside the same private network as n8n, which makes the connection faster and simpler to configure.
A more powerful relational database, and the one recommended by n8n for production use. If you want your n8n instance to store its own data — workflows, credentials, execution history — in PostgreSQL instead of the default SQLite file, this is what makes that possible.
Comes with: pgAdmin — a web-based interface to manage your PostgreSQL databases visually.
Same advantage as MySQL: it is on the same server, on the same private network.
Redis is an in-memory data store. It is extremely fast and is commonly used for caching, temporary data storage and managing task queues.
If you are running complex workflows at scale or want to use n8n's queue mode for more reliable execution handling, Redis is part of that architecture.
Comes with: RedisInsight — the official Redis visual interface, letting you explore and manage your Redis data without command-line tools.
A clean, powerful self-hosted wiki. If you need internal documentation — for your team, your clients or yourself — WikiJS gives you a private, fully controlled knowledge base.
Comes with: WikiJS Sitemap — a dedicated companion container with one job: generating a proper sitemap for your wiki. This feature is not available natively in the current version of WikiJS, so this small addition fills that gap cleanly.
You are actually reading this documentation on a WikiJS instance right now.
Uptime Kuma is a self-hosted monitoring dashboard. It watches your services and sends you alerts when something goes down.
This one deserves a special mention because it represents something you simply cannot replicate on n8n cloud: full visibility over your own infrastructure.
On n8n cloud, if something is slow or unavailable, you wait for n8n's status page to tell you. On your server, Uptime Kuma can monitor every single service — n8n, your databases, your wiki, your custom applications — and notify you via email, Telegram, Slack, or dozens of other channels the moment something needs your attention.
You are not waiting for someone else to notice. You know first.
We use this tool to monitor our client managed server.
Gotenberg is a PDF generation service. It converts HTML pages, Word documents or web URLs into PDF files through a simple API call.
Inside n8n workflows, this means you can generate invoices, reports, confirmations or any document you need, fully automatically.
On n8n cloud, this kind of functionality requires connecting to a paid third-party API. On your server, Gotenberg is running locally, so every PDF generation is fast, private and does not cost anything per use.
PocketBase is a lightweight self-hosted backend. It provides a database, user authentication and a file storage system, all accessible through a simple API.
In practical terms, it is the missing piece when you want to build something that goes beyond pure automation — for example, a custom web interface that your clients or team members interact with, while n8n handles the logic behind the scenes.
It can replace tools like Google Sheets, Notion or Airtable when they are being used as a frontend layer, and it integrates naturally with frontend tools for those who want to build something more custom.
💡 Honest note: Getting the most out of PocketBase alongside a custom frontend does require some technical knowledge on the frontend side. As a backend and data layer paired with n8n, though, it is genuinely useful even without building a full interface.
This list reflects the services that are currently pre-configured and ready to deploy. It is not a hard ceiling.
If you have a specific need that is not covered here — a particular database, a specific tool, a service you rely on — custom additions can be discussed and arranged.
This is not a free service, but it is a conversation worth having if you have a real need.
Reach out through your usual contact channel to discuss what you have in mind.
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