Google Cloud Self-Hosted n8n Auto-Update Triggers /setup Redirect and Inaccessible Data

It sounds like n8n is treating your instance as a fresh install (redirecting you to /setup) because it can’t correctly read or decrypt your existing data. Here are a few things to check:

1. Encryption Key Consistency:
   If you haven't explicitly set the N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY environment variable, every time you recreate the container n8n may be generating (or expecting) a new key. Even though your data is still present in the mounted folder, without the same encryption key the credentials and workflows can’t be decrypted and are therefore “lost” to the app. Make sure to pass the same, persistent encryption key in your docker run command (or via your .env file).

2. Quoting Issues in the Shell Script:
   Your script appears to be using “curly quotes” instead of standard straight quotes. This can cause issues with how bash interprets variables and parameters. For example, replace
   • $(date +‘%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S’)
   with
   • $(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S")
   Also, ensure that environment variable values (e.g. for N8N_HOST) are using proper quotes.

3. Proper Docker Volume Mounting:
   It looks like you’re mounting the local directory /home/myname/.n8n to /home/node/.n8n. Confirm that file permissions are not an issue and that the user running the container has permission to read/write to those files.

Below is a revised version of your script that addresses these points:

BASHCopied
#!/bin/bash

# Use standard quotes for date formatting
BACKUP_DATE=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S")

# Backup the current .n8n folder
cp -r /home/myname/.n8n /home/myname/.n8n-backup-$BACKUP_DATE

# Pull the latest image
sudo docker pull n8nio/n8n:latest

# Stop and remove existing n8n container
sudo docker stop n8n  
sudo docker rm n8n

# Run n8n with proper quoting and include the encryption key
sudo docker run -d --restart unless-stopped -it \
  --name n8n \
  -p 5678:5678 \
  -e N8N_HOST="automations.domain.com" \
  -e WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL="https://automations.domain.com/" \
  -e WEBHOOK_URL="https://automations.domain.com/" \
  -e N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY="<YOUR_PERSISTENT_ENCRYPTION_KEY>" \
  -v /home/myname/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n \
  n8nio/n8n

# Clean up unused Docker images
sudo docker image prune -af

What to do:

• Replace <YOUR_PERSISTENT_ENCRYPTION_KEY> with an encryption key of your choice. Use the same key for all container restarts/updates to ensure your credentials remain accessible.
• Make sure that all quotes in your script are standard (straight) quotes.
• Verify that your volume mount works correctly and that file permissions allow n8n inside the container to access the data in /home/myname/.n8n.

After making these changes your container should be able to read your saved workflows and credentials without redirecting to the setup page.