> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.n8n.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/configure-n8n/basic-configuration/use-environment-variables/database.md).
# Database
Set up and configure databases with environment variables for your self-hosted n8n instance.
{% hint style="info" %}
**File-based configuration**
You can add `_FILE` to individual variables to provide their configuration in a separate file. Refer to [Keeping sensitive data in separate files](/deploy/host-n8n/configure-n8n/basic-configuration.md#keeping-sensitive-data-in-separate-files) for more details.
{% endhint %}
By default, n8n uses SQLite. n8n also supports PostgreSQL. n8n [deprecated support for MySQL and MariaDB](/changelog/v10-migration-guide.md#mysql-and-mariadb) from n8n 1.0.
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. |
| `DB_PING_INTERVAL_SECONDS` | Number | `2` | How often, in seconds, n8n pings the database to check that the connection is still alive. |
| `DB_PING_TIMEOUT_MS` | Number | `5000` | How long, in milliseconds, n8n waits for a single ping to respond before counting it as a failure. Falls back to `N8N_DB_PING_TIMEOUT`, deprecated from n8n 2.35.0, if that's set. |
| `DB_PING_MAX_FAILURES_BEFORE_RECOVERY` | Number | `3` | How many pings in a row must fail before n8n treats the connection as lost and starts recovery. |
| `DB_RECOVERY_BACKOFF_MIN_MS` | Number | `1000` | How long, in milliseconds, n8n waits before its first recovery attempt. Each retry waits longer (exponential backoff). |
| `DB_RECOVERY_BACKOFF_MAX_MS` | Number | `30000` | The longest, in milliseconds, n8n waits between recovery attempts. This caps the backoff. Must be greater than or equal to `DB_RECOVERY_BACKOFF_MIN_MS`. |
| `DB_CONNECTION_ACQUISITION_TIMEOUT_MS` | Number | `30000` | How long, in milliseconds, a query waits while recovery is in progress before failing fast with an error. Set to `0` to wait indefinitely. Applies to PostgreSQL only. |
## 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\_CONNECTION\_TIMEOUT
/\_FILE
| Number | `20000` | Postgres connection timeout (ms). |
| DB\_POSTGRESDB\_IDLE\_CONNECTION\_TIMEOUT
/\_FILE
| Number | `30000` | Amount of time before an idle connection is eligible for eviction for being idle. |
| DB\_POSTGRESDB\_MAX\_CONNECTION\_LIFETIME\_MS
/\_FILE
| Number | `3600000` | How long, in milliseconds, n8n keeps a pooled connection before recycling it. Recycling old connections helps avoid stale connections that the database or network dropped without n8n noticing. The default is one hour. Set to `0` to disable recycling. |
| DB\_POSTGRESDB\_KEEP\_ALIVE
/\_FILE
| Boolean | `true` | Whether to enable TCP keep-alive on connections. Keep-alive lets n8n notice a dead connection without having to run a query first. |
| DB\_POSTGRESDB\_KEEP\_ALIVE\_INITIAL\_DELAY\_MS
/\_FILE
| Number | `10000` | How long, in milliseconds, n8n waits before sending the first TCP keep-alive probe on a connection. |
| DB\_POSTGRESDB\_SCHEMA
/\_FILE
| String | `public` | The PostgreSQL schema. |
| DB\_POSTGRESDB\_SSL\_ENABLED
/\_FILE
| Boolean | `false` | Whether to enable SSL. Automatically enabled if `DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CA`, `DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_CERT` or `DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_KEY` is set to a non-empty value, or if `DB_POSTGRESDB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED` is set to `false`. |
| 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_POOL_SIZE` | Number | `3` | The number of parallel SQL read connections in the SQLite connection pool. Must be at least `1`. Setting it to `0` logs a warning and falls back to the default. n8n opens the SQLite file in [WAL mode](https://www.sqlite.org/wal.html). |
| `DB_SQLITE_VACUUM_ON_STARTUP` | Boolean | `false` | Runs [VACUUM](https://www.sqlite.org/lang_vacuum.html) 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. |
## How database connection recovery works
n8n keeps checking that it can still reach your database. If the connection drops, for example after a database restart or a network blip, n8n can repair it on its own instead of staying broken until you restart n8n.
Here's the cycle the variables on this page control:
1. Every `DB_PING_INTERVAL_SECONDS`, n8n sends a ping. Each ping has `DB_PING_TIMEOUT_MS` to respond.
2. Once `DB_PING_MAX_FAILURES_BEFORE_RECOVERY` pings fail in a row, n8n treats the connection as lost.
3. n8n then rebuilds the connection, retrying with a growing wait between attempts that starts at `DB_RECOVERY_BACKOFF_MIN_MS` and never exceeds `DB_RECOVERY_BACKOFF_MAX_MS`.
4. On PostgreSQL, while recovery is in progress, any new query waits up to `DB_CONNECTION_ACQUISITION_TIMEOUT_MS` for the connection to come back, then fails with an error rather than hanging.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Applies to all databases**
The health checks and the recovery cycle (the `DB_PING_*` and `DB_RECOVERY_BACKOFF_*` variables) apply to every database type. The remaining settings (`DB_CONNECTION_ACQUISITION_TIMEOUT_MS`, `DB_POSTGRESDB_MAX_CONNECTION_LIFETIME_MS`, `DB_POSTGRESDB_KEEP_ALIVE`, and `DB_POSTGRESDB_KEEP_ALIVE_INITIAL_DELAY_MS`) apply to PostgreSQL only. The default values suit most deployments, so you can leave them unchanged unless you run into connection problems.
{% endhint %}
## Related resources
* [Environment variables](/deploy/host-n8n/configure-n8n/basic-configuration/use-environment-variables.md)