Why does n8n hang on initialization when binding to port 80 on AWS ECS?

I'm running a self-hosted version of n8n on AWS ECS and have encountered an initialization hang when setting N8N_PORT to 80.

Problem Description

When using docker-compose locally or the default port 5678 on AWS ECS, everything runs fine. However, once I switch N8N_PORT to 80, the container fails to initialize. I enabled debug logs, but they didn't indicate the root cause.

Setup Details

• n8n version: latest
• Database: Postgres
• n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting: (default: own, main)
• Deployment: AWS ECS/Docker
• Operating System: Amazon Linux 2023 (ARM64)

Environment Variables Used

• GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Europe/Berlin
• TZ=Europe/Berlin
• DB_TYPE=postgresdb
• DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n
• DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=some_host.aws.com
• DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432
• DB_POSTGRESDB_USER=my_db_username
• DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=my_db_password
• DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA=public
• DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_ENABLED=true
• DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CA=my_db_ca
• DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=true
• N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY=my_n8n_encryption_key
• N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL=https://n8n.mydomain.com
• N8N_HOST=n8n.mydomain.com
• N8N_PORT=80
• N8N_LOG_LEVEL=debug
• DEBUG=*

Logs from AWS ECS Task

BASHCopied
timestamp,message
1739217942311,2025-02-10T20:05:42.309Z oclif:main process.execPath: /usr/local/bin/node
1739217942311,2025-02-10T20:05:42.311Z oclif:main process.execArgv: 
1739217942313,"2025-02-10T20:05:42.313Z oclif:main process.argv: [ '/usr/local/bin/node', '/usr/local/bin/n8n', 'start' ]"
1739217942314,2025-02-10T20:05:42.314Z oclif:find-root:root-plugin Finding root plugin using /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/bin
1739217942314,2025-02-10T20:05:42.314Z oclif:find-root:root-plugin Finding root starting at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/bin
1739217942314,2025-02-10T20:05:42.314Z oclif:find-root:root-plugin Checking /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/bin/package.json
1739217942315,2025-02-10T20:05:42.315Z oclif:find-root:root-plugin Checking /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/package.json
1739217942317,2025-02-10T20:05:42.317Z oclif:find-root:root-plugin Found root by traversing up from starting point!
1739217942317,2025-02-10T20:05:42.317Z oclif:find-root:root-plugin Found root at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n
1739217942317,2025-02-10T20:05:42.317Z oclif:config loading core plugin from /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n
1739217942318,2025-02-10T20:05:42.318Z oclif:read-pjson found oclif config in /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/package.json
1739217942318,2025-02-10T20:05:42.318Z oclif:config:n8n command discovery options {
1739217942318,  globPatterns: [
1739217942318,"    '**/*.+(js|cjs|mjs|ts|tsx|mts|cts)',"
1739217942318,    '!**/*.+(d.ts|test.ts|test.js|spec.ts|spec.js|d.mts|d.cts)?(x)'
1739217942318,"  ],"
1739217942318,"  strategy: 'pattern',"
1739217942318,  target: './dist/commands'
1739217942318,}
1739217942320,"2025-02-10T20:05:42.320Z oclif:config:ts-path Skipping typescript path lookup for /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n because NODE_ENV is NOT "test" or "development""
1739217942320,2025-02-10T20:05:42.320Z oclif:config:n8n loading IDs from /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/dist/commands
1739217942347,2025-02-10T20:05:42.346Z oclif:config:n8n found commands [
1739217942347,"  'audit',                 'base-command',"
1739217942347,"  'execute-batch',         'execute',"
1739217942347,"  'start',                 'webhook',"
1739217942347,"  'worker',                'db:revert',"
1739217942347,"  'export:credentials',    'export:workflow',"
1739217942347,"  'import:credentials',    'import:workflow',"
1739217942347,"  'ldap:reset',            'license:clear',"
1739217942347,"  'license:info',          'list:workflow',"
1739217942347,"  'mfa:disable',           'update:workflow',"
1739217942347,  'user-management:reset'
1739217942347,]
1739217943813,"2025-02-10T20:05:43.812Z | e[33mwarne[39m | e[33mPermissions 0644 for n8n settings file /home/node/.n8n/config are too wide. This is ignored for now, but in the future n8n will attempt to change the permissions automatically. To automatically enforce correct permissions now set N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS=true (recommended), or turn this check off set N8N_ENFORCE_SETTINGS_FILE_PERMISSIONS=false.e[39m {"file":"instance-settings.js","function":"ensureSettingsFilePermissions"}
...

The Issue in Context

The logs show that n8n is initializing and loading commands correctly, but nothing further happens when using port 80. One probable culprit is that binding to privileged ports (i.e., below 1024) on Unix-like systems (like Amazon Linux) requires elevated privileges, and n8n runs as a non-root user in the container. This likely prevents n8n from binding to port 80 and causes the process to hang.

What I've Tried

• Running n8n with docker-compose locally works fine on port 5678
• Using the default port 5678 on AWS ECS works as expected
• Enabling debug logs did not reveal any further insights

Desired Outcome

I need to run n8n on port 80 for my deployment on AWS ECS. Based on the troubleshooting documentation and community feedback, I understand the recommended solution is to use a reverse proxy that listens on port 80 (and/or 443) and forwards traffic to n8n running on a higher port like 5678. Alternatively, if binding directly to port 80 is absolutely necessary, I may need to grant the container the necessary privileges (e.g., --cap-add=NET_BIND_SERVICE in Docker), though this is less secure.

Any insights or alternative approaches to resolve this port binding issue would be appreciated.