The place where installing n8n gets stuck is usually not n8n, but the Docker in front of it. This post covers only four terms: image, container, volume, and port, with a set of commands you can run directly, plus six pitfalls you will actually hit—including the one that reports no error and simply leaves all workflows gone the next day.

Docker, Docker Compose, and npm: the three installation methods are explained step by step: how to mount data volumes so data is not lost, why the time zone is still incorrect after being set, what causes login to keep spinning, plus four acceptance criteria for a “successful installation” and common error handling.