n8n Workflow Automation for DevOps: 10 Essential Workflows
Automate your DevOps workflows with n8n: deployment notifications, backup verification, incident response, onboarding, and more. Self-hosted, no vendor lock-in.
Why n8n for DevOps Automation
n8n is a self-hosted workflow automation platform with 400+ connectors. Unlike Zapier ($50+/month), n8n runs on your own server for free with unlimited workflows.
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At TechSaaS, n8n is the central automation hub connecting all our tools.
10 Essential DevOps Workflows
1. Deployment Notifications
Trigger: Gitea webhook on push to main Action: Send Slack/Discord message with commit details and deployment status
2. Backup Verification
Schedule: Weekly Sunday 6 AM Action: Check backup file exists, verify size > 0, send report
3. SSL Certificate Monitoring
Schedule: Daily Action: Check cert expiry for all domains, alert if < 30 days
4. Uptime Alert Escalation
Trigger: Uptime Kuma webhook on service down Action: Slack alert → wait 5 min → if still down → call PagerDuty → create Plane issue
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5. New Developer Onboarding
Trigger: Webhook from HR form Action: Create Gitea account → add to team → generate SSH key → create Authelia user → send welcome email
6. Security Scan Results
Trigger: Trivy CI webhook Action: Parse results → if critical CVEs → block deployment + Slack alert
7. Resource Monitoring
Schedule: Every 15 minutes Action: SSH to server → check disk/CPU/RAM → alert if thresholds exceeded
8. Database Backup to S3
Schedule: Daily 4 AM Action: pg_dump → compress → upload to S3 → cleanup old backups
9. Incident Response
Trigger: Grafana alert webhook Action: Create Plane issue → assign on-call → send notification → start timer
10. Weekly Report
Schedule: Friday 5 PM Action: Aggregate metrics → generate report → send to Slack/email
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Why Self-Hosted Matters
Self-hosted n8n means:
At TechSaaS, we deploy and manage n8n as part of our platform engineering service. We design custom workflows for your specific DevOps needs. Contact [email protected].
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