N8N Upgrade Script

This script automates upgrading a non-Docker n8n installation on Debian by stopping the systemd service, backing up your n8n data, upgrading n8n via npm to n8n@latest, then starting the service again with clear colored status messages at each step.

What the script does

• Checks it is running as root (requires sudo) and aborts if not.
• Verifies the systemd service exists (default service name is n8n) and stops it before upgrading.
• Creates a timestamped backup of the .n8n directory into ~/n8n_backups/ for the configured N8N_USER (default root), then proceeds even if backup fails.
• Runs npm install -g n8n@latest --unsafe-perm=true, prints the new n8n --version, starts the service, and performs a final systemctl is-active health check.

Install + run (one line)

Host the script at a URL (for example https://YOUR-DOMAIN/n8n-upgrade.sh) and run it with a one-liner like this (downloads and executes immediately):

curl -fsSL https://docs.greenhome.stream/attachments/63 | sudo bash

Alternative with wget:[^1]

wget -qO- https://docs.greenhome.stream/attachments/63 | sudo bash

Before first use (important)

Edit the variables at the top of the script so they match your system: set SERVICE_NAME to your systemd unit name (default n8n) and set N8N_USER to the Linux user that owns the n8n data directory you want to back up (default root).

If you don’t set N8N_USER correctly, the script may not find ~N8N_USER/.n8n and will skip the backup step.

How to verify and troubleshoot

If the script ends with “Update Complete”, it has verified the service is active via systemd.

If something fails or n8n doesn’t start, check logs exactly as the script suggests: journalctl -u n8n -f (replace n8n with your SERVICE_NAME).

If you tell me your actual systemd service name and which user owns the n8n data folder, I can tailor the description and the one-liner command to your exact setup.