n8n Workflow: Generate Nginx Config via Web Form + SSH + Cloudflare

Turn a web form into a deployed Nginx site—securely, automatically, and with optional Cloudflare + HTTPS

This n8n workflow lets you submit domain and route settings through a Basic Auth–protected web form, generates an Nginx server configuration, optionally creates a Cloudflare DNS A record, and then connects to your server over SSH to install prerequisites, deploy the config, and optionally enable TLS with Certbot.

What this workflow does

• Receives requests on a protected webhook—serves an HTML form on GET and accepts configuration payloads on POST.
• Validates inputs—checks the domain, routes (proxy/static), ports, filesystem paths, and any optional custom Nginx snippet. If validation fails, it returns a 400 response.
• Generates an Nginx server block—builds location rules for proxy and static routes and appends your custom configuration inside the server block.
• Optionally provisions DNS—if enabled, calls the Cloudflare API to look up the zone ID and create an A record pointing the domain to the provided server address.
• Deploys via SSH—connects to the target server to install and configure nginx, Certbot, firewall rules, and required tooling. It can also apply filesystem ACL/SELinux changes for static paths if needed.
• Activates the configuration—writes the generated config to the proper Nginx directory, tests and reloads Nginx, optionally requests a TLS certificate with Certbot, and returns the deployment result to the webhook caller.

Use cases

• Provisioning Nginx configurations for new SaaS environments using a controlled self-service form.
• Automating reverse-proxy and static site deployments with consistent Nginx structure and validation.
• Enabling HTTPS (Certbot) and DNS (Cloudflare) as part of the same request workflow.

Technical details

• n8n nodes / stack: Webhook, Code, IF, HTTP Request, SSH (plus supporting nodes such as Sticky Note).
• Security: HTTP Basic Auth–protected webhook endpoint.
• Integrations: Cloudflare API for zone lookup + DNS A record creation; SSH for remote deployment and nginx/certbot setup.
• Setup prerequisites: an SSH private key credential with sudo access; an HTTP Basic Auth credential for the form endpoint.