n8n-docs/docs/hosting/configuration/environment-variables/database.md

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Database environment variables	Set up and configure databases with environment variables for your self-hosted n8n instance.	reference	environment variables	toc tags

Database environment variables

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By default, n8n uses SQLite. n8n also supports PostgreSQL. n8n removed support for MySQL and MariaDB in v1.0.

This page outlines environment variables to configure your chosen database for your self-hosted n8n instance.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
DB_TYPE /_FILE	Enum string: sqlite, postgresdb	sqlite	The database to use.
DB_TABLE_PREFIX	*	-	Prefix to use for table names.

PostgreSQL

Variable	Type	Default	Description
DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE /_FILE	String	n8n	The name of the PostgreSQL database.
DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST /_FILE	String	localhost	The PostgreSQL host.
DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT /_FILE	Number	5432	The PostgreSQL port.
DB_POSTGRESDB_USER /_FILE	String	postgres	The PostgreSQL user.
DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD /_FILE	String	-	The PostgreSQL password.
DB_POSTGRESDB_POOL_SIZE /_FILE	Number	2	Control how many parallel open Postgres connections n8n should have. Increasing it may help with resource utilization, but too many connections may degrade performance.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SCHEMA /_FILE	String	public	The PostgreSQL schema.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CA /_FILE	String	-	The PostgreSQL SSL certificate authority.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CERT /_FILE	String	-	The PostgreSQL SSL certificate.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_KEY /_FILE	String	-	The PostgreSQL SSL key.
DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED /_FILE	Boolean	true	If n8n should reject unauthorized SSL connections (true) or not (false).

SQLite

Variable	Type	Default	Description
DB_SQLITE_VACUUM_ON_STARTUP	Boolean	false	Runs VACUUM{:target="_blank" .external-link} operation on startup to rebuild the database. Reduces file size and optimizes indexes. This is a long running blocking operation and increases start-up time.