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Project N8N - Thoughts & Ideas

Leon SCOTT

• 2 min read
Project N8N - Thoughts & Ideas
n8n

Beginning to build up ideas. Need to be familiar with this tool and its capabilities

Let’s break it down into practical, modular workflows you can build in n8n:

🔧 Core Capabilities You Can Automate with n8n


1. Network Maintenance (Ubiquiti + Proxmox)

  • Ubiquiti API integration: n8n can poll UniFi Controller/UDM APIs to:
    • Monitor device health (APs, switches, gateways).
    • Track client connections and bandwidth usage.
    • Alert on rogue devices or unusual traffic spikes.
  • Proxmox API integration:
    • Query VM/LXC status and resource usage.
    • Restart or migrate containers if thresholds are exceeded.
    • Trigger snapshots before risky changes.

2. Firewall / iptables Maintenance

  • Use n8n SSH node to:
    • Periodically pull current iptables rules (iptables-save).
    • Compare against a baseline (stored in Git or JSON).
    • Auto-revert or alert if unauthorized changes appear.
  • Optionally, integrate with fail2ban logs:
    • Parse bans/unbans.
    • Push alerts to Slack/Telegram/Email.

3. Docker Service Monitoring

  • Docker node in n8n can:
    • Poll container health (docker ps --format).
    • Trigger alerts if a container is exited or unhealthy.
  • Combine with healthcheck logs:
    • Parse logs for failures.
    • Restart containers automatically if needed.

4. Critical Service Alerts

  • Systemd journal or Docker logs → n8n webhook.
  • Parse for keywords like ERROR, CRITICAL, PANIC.
  • Send structured alerts:
    • Email with log snippet.
    • Push notification to your phone.
    • Create a ticket in your task tracker.

5. UDM External Scan Detection

  • Enable IDS/IPS logs on UDM.
  • n8n can:
    • Poll UniFi Security Gateway/UDM logs via API.
    • Detect repeated port scans, brute force attempts.
    • Auto-block offending IPs via iptables or UDM firewall API.
    • Notify you with attacker IP + GeoIP lookup.

6. Extra AI + Cybersecurity Use Cases

  • Threat intelligence enrichment:
    • When a suspicious IP is detected, query VirusTotal, AbuseIPDB, or Shodan APIs.
    • Return a risk score and recommended action.
  • Automated compliance evidence:
    • Store firewall changes, service restarts, and alerts in a Git repo or database.
    • Generate daily/weekly compliance reports.
  • AI-assisted log triage:
    • Pipe logs into Copilot (via API) for summarization.
    • Highlight anomalies or unusual patterns.
  • Self-healing workflows:
    • If a container dies → restart → log event → notify.
    • If CPU spikes → snapshot VM → throttle service → alert.

🚀 How to Start Building This

  1. Baseline integrations:
    • Add SSH node (for iptables, Proxmox commands).
    • Add HTTP Request node (for Ubiquiti + Proxmox APIs).
    • Add Docker node (for container monitoring).
  2. Notification channels:
    • Decide on Slack, Telegram, Email, or even SMS.
    • Build a central “Notify” workflow that other workflows call.
  3. Security workflows:
    • Start with IDS/IPS log polling from UDM.
    • Add enrichment (GeoIP, threat intel).
    • Automate block + alert.

🧩 Example Workflow Ideas

  • Workflow A: Every 5 minutes → Check Docker health → If unhealthy → Restart → Notify.
  • Workflow B: Daily → Pull iptables rules → Compare with baseline → If drift → Alert + Git commit diff.
  • Workflow C: On IDS alert → Enrich IP → If malicious → Block via iptables + Notify.
  • Workflow D: Weekly → Generate compliance report (services uptime, firewall changes, IDS events) → Email PDF.

This is going to take a while.

#enoughsaid