n8n Enterprise Unlock — Self-Hosted Full Feature Access

Unlock ALL enterprise features on any self-hosted n8n instance by patching the compiled license checks at runtime — no paid license required. Works on any VPS: Hostinger, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, Oracle, AWS, etc.

📌 What This Does

n8n's enterprise features (External Secrets, SSO/SAML, LDAP, Log Streaming, Advanced Permissions, Source Control, etc.) are locked behind a paid enterprise license. On a self-hosted instance where you own the server and the code, these restrictions are enforced via compiled JavaScript checks.

This repository documents how to:

Patch license.js to make all feature checks return true (except the non-prod banner)
Dismiss the "not licensed for production" banner permanently via n8n's own REST API
Apply the patch persistently using Docker volume mounts (no rebuild, no custom image needed)

🖥️ Compatible VPS Providers

Provider	IPv4	Works Out of Box
Hostinger VPS	✅	✅ Yes
DigitalOcean Droplet	✅	✅ Yes
Vultr	✅	✅ Yes
Linode / Akamai	✅	✅ Yes
Hetzner	✅	✅ Yes
AWS EC2	✅	✅ Yes
Oracle Cloud Free Tier	✅*	⚠️ IPv6-only issue with Supabase direct URL — use Session Pooler
Google Cloud	✅	✅ Yes

Oracle Cloud Note: Oracle Free Tier VMs have link-local IPv6 only. If using Supabase, use the Session Pooler URL (aws-X-region.pooler.supabase.com) instead of the direct db.*.supabase.co URL which is IPv6-only.

🔓 Features Unlocked

Feature	Before	After
External Secrets (HashiCorp Vault / AWS SM / GCP SM)	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
SSO / SAML 2.0 / OpenID Connect	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
LDAP / Active Directory	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Log Streaming (to Splunk, Datadog, etc.)	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Advanced Execution Filters	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Advanced Permissions (RBAC)	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Debug in Editor	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Source Control (Git Integration)	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Variables	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Project Roles (Admin / Editor / Viewer)	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Binary Data via S3	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Worker View	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Custom NPM Registry for Nodes	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Folders	🔒 Enterprise	✅ Unlocked
Plan Name shown in UI	Community	Enterprise
"Not licensed for production" Banner	⚠️ Visible	✅ Permanently Dismissed

🏗️ Prerequisites

A VPS running Ubuntu 20.04 / 22.04 (or any Linux with Docker)
Docker + docker-compose installed
n8n v2.26.9 running in Docker (other versions may need line number adjustments)
A domain with SSL (Nginx + Let's Encrypt recommended) OR direct HTTP access

Install Docker (if not already)

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
sudo apt install docker-compose -y

🔧 How It Works

The License Check Mechanism

n8n uses a License class at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/dist/license.js. Every enterprise feature check flows through a single method:

// ORIGINAL code in license.js (line ~229)
isLicensed(feature) {
    return this.manager?.hasFeatureEnabled(feature) ?? false;
}

All enterprise feature methods call this:

isExternalSecretsEnabled() { return this.isLicensed(LICENSE_FEATURES.EXTERNAL_SECRETS); }
isSamlEnabled()            { return this.isLicensed(LICENSE_FEATURES.SAML); }
isLdapEnabled()            { return this.isLicensed(LICENSE_FEATURES.LDAP); }
isLogStreamingEnabled()    { return this.isLicensed(LICENSE_FEATURES.LOG_STREAMING); }
// ... and 12+ more

The manager is @n8n_io/license-sdk which validates via RSA signature against n8n's server. You cannot forge a license cert — the RSA public key is hardcoded in the SDK binary.

The Patch Strategy

We patch the isLicensed() method itself to always return true, except for feat:showNonProdBanner which controls the warning banner (that one returns false to hide it).

Patched code:

isLicensed(feature) {
    if (feature === "feat:showNonProdBanner") return false;
    return true; // PATCHED — all enterprise features enabled
}

The patched file is mounted into the running container via Docker volume — no image rebuild needed.

📋 Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: SSH into your VPS

ssh user@YOUR_VPS_IP
# or with key:
ssh -i ~/.ssh/your_key.pem ubuntu@YOUR_VPS_IP

Step 2: Make sure n8n is running

sudo docker ps | grep n8n
# Should show n8n container as "Up"

Step 3: Copy `license.js` from the running container

cd /path/to/your/n8n/directory   # where your docker-compose.yml is

sudo docker cp n8n:/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/dist/license.js \
  ./license_patched.js

Note: Replace n8n with your container name if different. Check with sudo docker ps.

Step 4: Apply the 3 patches

# Patch 1: isLicensed() — always true except banner
sed -i 's/return this.manager?.hasFeatureEnabled(feature) ?? false;/if (feature === "feat:showNonProdBanner") return false; return true; \/\/ PATCHED/g' \
  ./license_patched.js

# Patch 2: isCertValid() — always valid
sed -i 's/return this.manager?.isValid(false) ?? false;/return true; \/\/ PATCHED/g' \
  ./license_patched.js

# Patch 3: getPlanName() — show Enterprise
sed -i "s/return this.getValue('planName') ?? 'Community';/return 'Enterprise'; \/\/ PATCHED/g" \
  ./license_patched.js

Step 5: Verify patches applied (should show 3 lines)

grep -n "PATCHED" ./license_patched.js
# Expected output:
# 229:   if (feature === "feat:showNonProdBanner") return false; return true; // PATCHED
# 232:   return true; // PATCHED
# 352:   return 'Enterprise'; // PATCHED

Step 6: Add volume mount to `docker-compose.yml`

volumes:
  - ./n8n-data/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n
  - ./license_patched.js:/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/dist/license.js:ro  # ← ADD THIS

Step 7: Restart n8n

sudo docker-compose down && sudo docker-compose up -d

Step 8: Dismiss the production banner (permanent)

Wait ~20 seconds for n8n to start, then:

# Replace with your actual values
N8N_URL="https://your-n8n-domain.com"
EMAIL="your@email.com"
PASSWORD="YourPassword"

# Login
curl -s -c /tmp/n8n_cookies.txt -X POST "$N8N_URL/rest/login" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"emailOrLdapLoginId\":\"$EMAIL\",\"password\":\"$PASSWORD\"}"

# Dismiss banner (saves to database, persists across restarts)
curl -s -b /tmp/n8n_cookies.txt -X POST "$N8N_URL/rest/owner/dismiss-banner" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"banner":"NON_PRODUCTION_LICENSE"}'
# Expected output: {}

Step 9: Verify everything works

Open your n8n URL → Settings → External Secrets — should show configuration form, not "Available on Enterprise plan".

🚀 One-Command Quick Start

Use the automated scripts in this repo:

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/OfficialTech-X-JT/N8N-ENTERPRISE.git

# Go to your n8n directory
cd /path/to/your/n8n/

# Run patcher
bash /path/to/N8N-ENTERPRISE/scripts/patch_license.sh n8n .

# Restart n8n
sudo docker-compose down && sudo docker-compose up -d

# Wait and dismiss banner
sleep 25
bash /path/to/N8N-ENTERPRISE/scripts/dismiss_banner.sh \
  https://your-n8n-domain.com \
  your@email.com \
  YourPassword

# Verify
bash /path/to/N8N-ENTERPRISE/scripts/verify_patches.sh n8n https://your-n8n-domain.com

📁 Repository Structure

N8N-ENTERPRISE/
├── README.md                    ← This file — full guide
├── TROUBLESHOOTING.md           ← Failed methods, crashes & lessons
├── LICENSE                      ← Apache 2.0
├── docker-compose.yml           ← Reference config (generic, all placeholders)
├── scripts/
│   ├── patch_license.sh         ← Automated patcher
│   ├── dismiss_banner.sh        ← Banner dismiss via REST API
│   └── verify_patches.sh        ← Verify everything is working
└── patches/
    └── license.patch            ← Unified diff of changes

🔄 After Updating n8n

When you run docker-compose pull to update n8n, the new image will have the original unpatched license.js. Re-apply the patch:

# Pull new image and start temporarily
sudo docker-compose pull && sudo docker-compose up -d

# Re-copy and re-patch
sudo docker cp n8n:/usr/local/lib/node_modules/n8n/dist/license.js ./license_patched.js
bash scripts/patch_license.sh n8n .

# Restart with patch applied
sudo docker-compose restart n8n

⚠️ Important Notes

Version Specific: Tested on n8n v2.26.9. Line numbers may differ in other versions. Always verify with grep -n "isLicensed" ./license_patched.js first.
Persistence: The patched file survives container restarts (it's a host-side file mounted into the container). Re-patching only needed after docker pull.
Database: The banner dismissal is stored in the database and persists permanently across all restarts.
Ethical Use: For personal self-hosted instances only. Do not use on commercial deployments or client servers without their knowledge.

🗄️ Database Options

Database	Compatibility	Notes
SQLite	✅ Default	Built-in, no setup. Fine for personal use.
PostgreSQL (local)	✅ Recommended	Install on same VPS
PostgreSQL (Supabase)	✅ Works	Use Session Pooler URL for IPv4 VPS compatibility
MySQL/MariaDB	✅ Supported	Set `DB_TYPE=mysqldb`

Supabase Session Pooler URL format:

postgresql://postgres.YOUR_PROJECT_REF:YOUR_PASSWORD@aws-0-REGION.pooler.supabase.com:5432/postgres

Use aws-0 for most regions, aws-1 for ap-southeast-1

📞 Contributing

PRs welcome! If you test this on a different n8n version, please open an issue with:

n8n version
Which line numbers the patterns appear on
Whether the sed commands worked or needed adjustment

Created by JamberTech — Apache 2.0 Licensed

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Repository files navigation

n8n Enterprise Unlock — Self-Hosted Full Feature Access

📌 What This Does

🖥️ Compatible VPS Providers

🔓 Features Unlocked

🏗️ Prerequisites

Install Docker (if not already)

🔧 How It Works

The License Check Mechanism

The Patch Strategy

📋 Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: SSH into your VPS

Step 2: Make sure n8n is running

Step 3: Copy `license.js` from the running container

Step 4: Apply the 3 patches

Step 5: Verify patches applied (should show 3 lines)

Step 6: Add volume mount to `docker-compose.yml`

Step 7: Restart n8n

Step 8: Dismiss the production banner (permanent)

Step 9: Verify everything works

🚀 One-Command Quick Start

📁 Repository Structure

🔄 After Updating n8n

⚠️ Important Notes

🗄️ Database Options

Supabase Session Pooler URL format:

📞 Contributing

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
patches		patches
scripts		scripts
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
TROUBLESHOOTING.md		TROUBLESHOOTING.md
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml

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n8n Enterprise Unlock — Self-Hosted Full Feature Access

📌 What This Does

🖥️ Compatible VPS Providers

🔓 Features Unlocked

🏗️ Prerequisites

Install Docker (if not already)

🔧 How It Works

The License Check Mechanism

The Patch Strategy

📋 Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: SSH into your VPS

Step 2: Make sure n8n is running

Step 3: Copy license.js from the running container

Step 4: Apply the 3 patches

Step 5: Verify patches applied (should show 3 lines)

Step 6: Add volume mount to docker-compose.yml

Step 7: Restart n8n

Step 8: Dismiss the production banner (permanent)

Step 9: Verify everything works

🚀 One-Command Quick Start

📁 Repository Structure

🔄 After Updating n8n

⚠️ Important Notes

🗄️ Database Options

Supabase Session Pooler URL format:

📞 Contributing

About

Resources

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Step 3: Copy `license.js` from the running container

Step 6: Add volume mount to `docker-compose.yml`