n8n Password Reset in Docker

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Environment

Component Details
Application n8n workflow automation tool
Version 1.81.4 (and similar)
Deployment Docker container

Problem

Admin password is lost or forgotten for n8n running in Docker container.

Failed Attempts

Standard n8n commands executed inside the container:

n8n users:update --email=user@example.com --password=newpassword

Error: command users:update not found

n8n user-management:list

Error: command user-management:list not found

n8n user-management:reset

Output: Successfully reset the database to default user state. (but doesn’t work without container restart)

Solution

Execute from host system:

docker exec -it n8n n8n user-management:reset

Restart container:

docker restart n8n

Navigate to n8n web interface where you’ll be prompted to create new credentials.

Why This Works

  1. The reset command executed from the host properly resets the user database
  2. Container restart allows n8n to reinitialize with the reset database
  3. After restart, n8n recognizes the reset state and prompts for new admin credentials

Common Errors

Invalid timestamp warning:

Invalid timestamp value for N8N_RELEASE_DATE: $(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")

Permissions warning:

Permissions 0644 for n8n settings file /home/node/.n8n/config are too wide.

These warnings don’t prevent the password reset process from working.