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Cloud server with n8n

n8n Virtual Machine is a pre-configured cloud server with a platform for automating business processes using AI tools. The tool allows you to integrate AI tools into workflows and automate processes without writing code or with minimal code usage.

The image from which the server is deployed contains:

  • n8n — a platform for business process automation using AI tools;

  • Ollama — a platform for locally loading and running LLMs. Ollama is installed automatically only when creating a server with a GPU. Read more in the Minimum resource requirements subsection;

  • Docker — a platform for running containerized applications;

  • Docker Compose — a tool for running multi-container applications in Docker;

  • nginx — a web server and reverse proxy;

  • drivers required for working with graphical processing units (GPU).

Before creating a server, review the software license agreements included in the image.

Features

  • automating business processes between services, for example: CRM, ERP, email, chats;
  • automating marketing scenarios: mailing lists, reactions to user actions, audience segmentation by behavior or data;
  • processing and transforming data between sources (ETL-like workflows);
  • creating workflows using a visual editor — no coding required.

Minimum resource requirements

Number of vCPUs2
RAM4 GB
Boot volume25 GB
GPUOptional *

* Ollama is installed automatically only when creating a server with a GPU. Using Ollama, you can download a local LLM and integrate it with n8n. On a server without a GPU, you can only connect to external LLMs — running on other servers or via an API.

Start working with n8n

For n8n to work, the cloud server must be accessible from the internet. To do this, when creating a server, you must create a private subnet and attach a public floating IP address.

  1. Create a public floating IP address.

  2. Create a cloud server with n8n.

  3. Create an account.

  4. Run n8n.

1. Create a public floating IP address

Create a public floating IP address so the cloud server with n8n is accessible from the internet.

Use the Create a public floating IP address section of the Public floating IP addresses instruction.

2. Create a cloud server with n8n

  1. In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.

  2. Click Create server.

  3. Fill in the blocks:

  4. Check the cloud server price.

  5. Click Create.

Name and location

  1. Enter the server name. It will be set as the hostname in the operating system.

  2. Select a location where the server will be created. The available server configurations and resource costs depend on the location. You cannot change the location after the server is created.

Source

  1. Open the tab Applications.

  2. Select n8n VM.

  3. Optional: if you need a different current or archived version of the application, in the Version field, select the required version.

Configuration

Select a configuration from the GPU line starting 2 vCPU, RAM от 4 ГБ and размером загрузочного диска от 25 ГБ. Two types of server configurations are available for this line:

  • fixed configurations — line configurations with different specifications in which the resource ratio is fixed;
  • custom configurations — configurations in which any resource ratio can be specified.

Configurations use different processors depending on the line and pool segment. You can customize the selected configuration. After the server is created, you will be able to change the configuration.

  1. Open the tab with the GPU line.

  2. Click Fixed.

  3. Optional: you can customize the configuration if you create a server in a segment of the multi-zone pool ru-6 or pool segments ru-3b, ru-7a, and ru-7b:

    3.1. Expand the block with the description of configuration settings.

    3.2. Optional: select the processor manufacturer. Choosing a manufacturer is not available in all pools.

    3.3. Optional: if you do not want physical processor cores to be pinned to the cloud server vCPUs, uncheck the Dedicated Cores checkbox. For more details, see the Dedicated Cores tutorial.

    3.4. Optional: if you want to disable Hyper-Threading for a server with dedicated cores, clear the checkbox Hyper-Threading (SMT).

    3.5. Optional: if you are creating a server with dedicated cores and want to host a multiprocessor server on a single NUMA node, select the Mandatory hosting on a single NUMA node. You can host a server with 4 vCPUs or more on a single NUMA node. If the cloud server resources cannot be placed on one node, it will not be created. For more information, see the Placing on a single NUMA node section of the Dedicated Cores tutorial.

  4. Select a GPU.

  5. Select a configuration.

  6. If both local and network volumes are available in the selected configuration, select the disk to be used as the boot disk:

    • local disk — select the Local SSD NVMe disk checkbox. A server with a local disk can only be created from images and applications;
    • network volume — do not select the checkbox Local SSD NVMe disk.

    The amount of RAM allocated to the server may be less than the amount specified in the configuration — the operating system kernel reserves a portion of the RAM depending on the kernel version and distribution. You can check the allocated volume on the server using the sudo dmesg | grep Memory command.

Volumes

  1. If you did not check the Local SSD NVMe disk checkbox when setting up the configuration, the first specified network volume will be used as the server boot disk. To configure it:

    1.1. Select the network boot volume type.

    1.2. Specify the network boot volume size in GB or TB. Mind the network volume limits on the maximum size.

    1.3. If you selected the Universal v2 or SSD Fast v2 disk type, specify the total number of read and write operations in IOPS. After the disk is created, you can change the IOPS count — reduce or increase it. There is no limit on the number of IOPS changes.

  2. Optional: add an additional network volume of the server :

    2.1. Click Add.

    2.2. Select the network volume type.

    2.3. Specify the size of the network disk in GB or TB. Mind the network volume limits on the maximum size.

    2.4. If you selected the Universal v2 or Fast SSD v2 volume type, specify the total number of read and write operations in IOPS. After creating the volume, you can change the number of IOPS — decrease or increase it. The number of IOPS changes is unlimited.

    After creating the server, you will be able to attach new additional volumes.

Internet

Configure public access to the server.

The cloud server will be added to a private subnet that is connected to a cloud router with 1:1 NAT and internet access. Access to and from the internet will be provided through the cloud router. The server will be accessible from the internet via a public floating IP address.

  1. In the Internet connection field, select the access type Public floating IP address.

  2. Select the public floating IP address that you created in step 1.

Private network

A cloud server can be added to an existing or new private subnet.

  1. In the Subnet field, select a private subnet.

  2. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

  3. In the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one.

    If the router is not connected to the internet, it will be automatically connected to the internet after the server is created.

Security

Select security groups to filter traffic on server ports. Without security groups, traffic will be denied. If the block is absent, traffic filtering (port security) is disabled on the server network. With traffic filtering disabled, all traffic will be allowed.

Access

  1. Place an SSH key for the project on the server for secure connection:

    1.1. If the project SSH key has not been added to the cloud platform, click Add SSH key, enter the key name, paste the public key in OpenSSH format, and click Add.

    1.2. If an SSH key for the project has been added to the cloud platform, select an existing key in the SSH key field. The SSH key is only available in the pool where it is stored.

  2. Optional: in the Password for "root":

    2.1. Copy the password for the root user — a user with unrestricted privileges for all system actions.

    2.2. Save the password in a secure place and do not transfer it in plaintext.

Additional settings

  1. If you plan to create multiple servers and want to improve infrastructure fault tolerance, add the server to a placement group:

    1.1. To create a new group, in the Placement group field, click Create.

    1.2. Select New group and enter the group name.

    1.3. Select the placement policy on different hosts:

    • desirable — soft-anti-affinity. The system will try to place servers on different hosts. If there is no suitable host when creating the server, it will be created on the same host;
    • mandatory — anti-affinity. Servers in the group must be located on different hosts. If there is no suitable host when creating the server, the server will not be created.

    1.4. Once the group is created, in the Placement group field, select the placement group.

  2. To add additional information or filter servers in the list, add server tags. OS and configuration tags are added automatically. To add a new tag, in the Tags field, enter the tag.

  3. To add a script that will run using the cloud-init agent on first boot of the operating system, in the Automation block, in the field User data:

    • open the Text tab and paste the script as text;
    • or open the File tab and upload the file with the script.

3. Create an account

  1. Open the http://<ip_address> page in your browser;.

    Specify <ip_address> — the public floating IP address of the cloud server that you created in step 1.

  2. In the Email field, enter an email address.

  3. In the First Name field, enter a first name.

  4. In the Last Name field, enter a last name.

  5. In the Password field, enter a password.

  6. Click Next.

4. Run n8n

  1. In a browser, open the page http://<ip_address>.

    Specify <ip_address> — the public floating IP address of the cloud server that you created in step 1.

  2. Enter the email address you specified in step 3 when creating an account in step 3.

  3. Enter the password you specified in step 6 when creating an account in step 3.

  4. Click Sign in.