Hey everyone! I’m having a tough time getting n8n up and running. When I try to use docker-compose, I keep running into YAML parsing errors. It looks like there are duplicate keys in my config file. Here’s what the error message says:
Error: yaml: unmarshal errors:
- Duplicate 'image' key (line 26 and line 4)
- Duplicate 'restart' key (line 27 and line 5)
- Duplicate 'ports' key (line 28 and line 18)
- Duplicate 'volumes' key (lines 54, 57, and 21)
I’m not sure how to fix this. Has anyone run into something similar? Any tips on how to clean up my docker-compose file would be super helpful. Thanks in advance for any advice!
been there, mate. yaml errors are a pain! try this: open ur file in a text editor with yaml highlighting. it’ll show the structure better. go thru each duplicate key, pick the one u want, delete the other. watch ur indentation too - yaml’s fussy bout that. if ur still stuck, paste it in an online yaml checker. good luck!
I encountered a similar issue when setting up n8n with Docker Compose. The error messages you’re seeing indicate that there are indeed duplicate keys in your YAML file. This is a common problem when combining multiple configuration snippets or copying from different sources.
To resolve this, you’ll need to carefully review your docker-compose.yml file and remove the duplicate entries. Keep only one instance of each key (‘image’, ‘restart’, ‘ports’, ‘volumes’) within each service definition. Make sure the values you keep are the ones you actually want to use.
Additionally, double-check your indentation, as YAML is sensitive to it. Incorrect indentation can sometimes cause parsing errors that look like duplicates. If you’re still having trouble after cleaning up the duplicates, consider using a YAML validator tool online to check for any other syntax issues.
As someone who’s gone through the n8n setup process multiple times, I can relate to your YAML parsing headaches. These errors are frustrating but fixable.
First, open your docker-compose.yml in a good text editor with YAML support. It’ll help highlight structure issues. Go through each error line by line. For each duplicate key, decide which one you actually need and delete the other.
Sometimes these duplicates creep in when copy-pasting from different sources or merging configs. It’s easy to miss them. After cleaning up, double-check your indentation. YAML is picky about that.
If you’re still stuck, try pasting your YAML into an online validator. It can catch subtle issues. And don’t be afraid to start from a clean slate with a basic n8n compose file and build up from there. It’s often quicker than debugging a messy file.
Hope this helps you get n8n running smoothly!