n8n-nodes-contabo

Official Contabo community node for n8n

Manage your Contabo VPS, VDS, Object Storage, Private Networks, Firewalls, and more — all from your n8n workflows.

📋 Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
• Authentication
• Resources & Operations
  • Instance
  • Snapshot
  • Image
  • Object Storage
  • Private Network
  • Firewall
  • Secret
  • Tag
  • VNC
• Usage Examples
• Troubleshooting
• License

✨ Features

• 9 Resources — Instances, Snapshots, Images, Object Storage, Private Networks, Firewalls, Secrets, Tags, VNC
• 50+ Operations — Complete CRUD coverage for all resources
• Auto-authentication — Token fetched and cached automatically per execution
• Pagination — Automatically handles paginated responses for list operations
• Expression Support — All ID fields support n8n expressions ({{ $json.instanceId }})
• Dynamic Dropdowns — Instances, Images, Secrets, Tags, Object Storages, Private Networks, and Firewalls all load dynamically from your account
• AI Tool Ready — Node is marked usableAsTool: true for use in AI agent workflows

📦 Installation

In n8n Cloud or Self-hosted n8n

1. Go to Settings → Community Nodes
2. Click Install
3. Enter: n8n-nodes-contabo-anub
4. Click Install
5. Restart n8n if prompted

Via npm (self-hosted)

npm install n8n-nodes-contabo-anub

🔑 Authentication

This node uses Contabo's OAuth2 password flow. You'll need 4 credentials from the Contabo Customer Control Panel:

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | Client ID | OAuth2 Client ID from Control Panel | | Client Secret | OAuth2 Client Secret from Control Panel | | API User | Your Contabo account email address | | API Password | The API password you set in Control Panel (different from your login password) |

How to get your credentials:

1. Log in to my.contabo.com
2. Navigate to API → API Details
3. Copy your Client ID and Client Secret
4. Set your API Password on the same page

Note: The API Password is separate from your Contabo login password. You set it specifically for API access.

🗂️ Resources & Operations

Instance

Manage your Contabo Cloud VPS and VDS servers.

| Operation | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Get Many | List all compute instances with optional name filter | | Get | Get details of a specific instance by ID | | Create | Create a new VPS or VDS instance | | Update | Update the display name of an instance | | Reinstall | Reinstall an instance with a new OS image | | Action | Perform actions: start, stop, restart, shutdown, rescue, resetPassword |

Parameters for Create:

• Product ID (VPS/VDS plan)
• Image (OS)
• Region
• Optional: Display Name, Root Password, Default User, SSH Keys, User Data (cloud-init)

Parameters for Action:

• Instance ID
• Action Name (start / stop / restart / shutdown / rescue / resetPassword)
• Root Password (only for rescue and resetPassword)

Snapshot

Create and manage snapshots of your instances.

| Operation | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Get Many | List all snapshots for an instance | | Get | Get a specific snapshot by ID | | Create | Create a new snapshot | | Update | Update snapshot name or description | | Delete | Delete a snapshot | | Rollback | Revert an instance to a specific snapshot |

Image

Manage OS images (standard and custom).

| Operation | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Get Many | List available images (standard and/or custom) | | Get | Get details of a specific image | | Create (Custom) | Upload a custom image from a URL (.qcow2 or .iso) | | Update (Custom) | Update the name of a custom image | | Delete (Custom) | Delete an uploaded custom image |

Object Storage

Manage your S3-compatible object storage.

| Operation | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Get Many | List all purchased object storages | | Get | Get details of a specific object storage | | Create | Purchase a new object storage | | Update | Update the display name | | Resize | Upgrade storage size or configure auto-scaling | | Cancel | Cancel object storage at the next possible date |

Tip: Object Storage provides S3-compatible storage. Use it with the AWS S3 node in n8n for file operations using the credentials from your Contabo Control Panel.

Private Network

Manage private networks (VPC) between your instances.

| Operation | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Get Many | List all private networks | | Get | Get details of a specific private network | | Create | Create a new private network | | Update | Update network name or description | | Delete | Delete a private network | | Add Instance | Add a compute instance to a private network | | Remove Instance | Remove a compute instance from a private network |

Note: Adding an instance to a private network requires a reinstallation of the instance.

Firewall

Manage firewall rules for your instances.

| Operation | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Get Many | List all firewalls | | Get | Get details of a specific firewall | | Create | Create a new firewall definition | | Update | Update firewall name or description | | Delete | Delete a firewall | | Add Instance | Assign an instance to a firewall | | Remove Instance | Remove an instance from a firewall |

Secret

Store and manage passwords and SSH keys.

| Operation | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Get Many | List all secrets (filterable by type) | | Get | Get a specific secret by ID | | Create | Create a new password or SSH key secret | | Delete | Delete a secret |

Secret Types:

• password — Store a password
• ssh — Store an SSH public key

Tag

Organize your resources with tags.

| Operation | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Get Many | List all tags | | Get | Get a specific tag by ID | | Create | Create a new tag with name and color | | Update | Update tag name, color, or description | | Delete | Delete a tag |

VNC

Access VNC console details for an instance.

| Operation | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Get | Get VNC access URL and credentials for an instance |

💡 Usage Examples

Example 1: Stop a Running Instance

[Contabo - Get Many Instances]
        ↓ (filter: status = running)
[Contabo - Action: Stop]
   Resource:   Instance
   Operation:  Action
   Instance:   {{ $json.instanceId }}
   Action:     Stop

Example 2: Create a Daily Snapshot

[Schedule Trigger - Daily at 2 AM]
        ↓
[Contabo - Get Many Instances]
        ↓
[Contabo - Create Snapshot]
   Resource:        Snapshot
   Operation:       Create
   Instance:        {{ $json.instanceId }}
   Snapshot Name:   {{ "backup-" + $json.displayName + "-" + $now.format("yyyy-MM-dd") }}

Example 3: Start Instance → Wait → Check Status

[Contabo - Action: Start]
        ↓
[Wait - 30 seconds]
        ↓
[Contabo - Get Instance]
   → Check {{ $json.status }} === "running"

Example 4: Rollback to Snapshot on Failure

[Monitor Node]  →  [If: status = error]
                              ↓
               [Contabo - Rollback Snapshot]
                  Instance:   {{ $json.instanceId }}
                  Snapshot:   {{ $json.lastGoodSnapshotId }}

Expression Reference

When chaining nodes, use these expressions to pass data:

| Field | Expression | |-------|-----------| | Instance ID | {{ $json.instanceId }} | | Instance Name | {{ $json.displayName }} | | IP Address | {{ $json.ipConfig.v4.ip }} | | Status | {{ $json.status }} | | Region | {{ $json.region }} |

🔧 Troubleshooting

"Could not get parameter" error

This happens when a required field is empty. Make sure:

• Instance Name or ID is filled when performing actions on instances
• You're using {{ $json.instanceId }} (not $json.name) in the Instance field
• The expression mode (= button) is enabled for the field

Instance Name or ID field not visible

• Confirm Resource = Instance and Operation = Action (or Get, Update, etc.)
• The Instance field does not appear for Create or Get Many operations (not needed)

Authentication fails

• Double-check all 4 credentials: Client ID, Client Secret, API User (email), API Password
• The API Password is different from your login password — set it at my.contabo.com/api/details
• Make sure your API user has the required permissions in the Customer Control Panel

Node not found after installation

1. Make sure you installed n8n-nodes-contabo-anub (not another package)
2. Restart n8n after installation
3. Check Settings → Community Nodes to confirm it's listed

Custom Request ID

The Custom Request ID field is optional. Leave it blank — a UUID will be generated automatically for each request. Only set it manually if you need to track specific requests in Contabo support logs.

📄 License

MIT

🙏 Credits

Built with the n8n Node Starter.
Uses the Contabo API — see the official API documentation.