Configure Log Rotation to Prevent Disk Fill

Docker's default json-file logging driver stores container logs with no size limit, so a busy n8n instance can fill the disk within weeks. Setting max-size and max-file at the container level caps log storage and rotates logs automatically. This prevents a silent failure where the disk fills and the host becomes unreachable.

Why do n8n container logs fill the disk?

Docker's default json-file logging driver stores container logs with no size limit. On a busy n8n instance with verbose execution logging, container logs can consume tens of gigabytes within weeks, silently filling the disk until the host becomes unresponsive. Setting max-size and max-file at the container level caps log storage with automatic rotation.

Real-world example: You limit each container to 3 log files of 50 MB each, capping total log storage at 150 MB per container.

How do you configure log rotation?

services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n:1.94.1
    restart: unless-stopped
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-size: "50m"
        max-file: "3"
        tag: "n8n"

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-size: "20m"
        max-file: "3"
        tag: "postgres"

Alternatively, set the default for all containers in the Docker daemon configuration file /etc/docker/daemon.json:

{
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "max-size": "50m",
    "max-file": "3"
  }
}

Then apply the daemon configuration change by restarting Docker:

# Apply the daemon configuration change

sudo systemctl restart docker

What happens to existing containers?

Warning: Existing Containers. Changing daemon.json only affects newly created containers. Existing containers keep their original logging configuration. You must recreate them with docker compose up -d --force-recreate to pick up the new defaults.

This prevents a common silent failure where the disk fills up, causing PostgreSQL to crash, n8n to lose data, and the host to become unreachable via SSH.

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