Handling different services in one compose file

Example: docker-compose.yml with ollama and n8n services


version: "3.8"
 
services:
  ollama:
    image: ollama/ollama:latest
    platform: linux/arm64
    container_name: ollama
    ports:
      - "11434:11434"
    volumes:
      - ollama_data:/root/.ollama
    environment:
      - OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:11434
      - OLLAMA_NUM_PARALLEL=2
      - OLLAMA_MAX_LOADED_MODELS=2
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - ai-network
 
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n:latest
    platform: linux/arm64
    container_name: n8n
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      - N8N_HOST=0.0.0.0
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=http
      - WEBHOOK_URL=http://localhost:5678/
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      - ollama
    networks:
      - ai-network
 
volumes:
  ollama_data:
    driver: local
  n8n_data:
    driver: local
 
networks:
  ai-network:
    driver: bridge

Start only Ollama


docker-compose up -d ollama

Start only n8n


docker-compose up -d n8n

Note: This will also start Ollama because of depends_on. To prevent this, remove the depends_on section.

Start Both Services


docker-compose up -d
# or explicitly
docker-compose up -d ollama n8n

Stop Specific Services


# Stop only Ollama
docker-compose stop ollama
 
# Stop only n8n
docker-compose stop n8n
 
# Stop and remove specific service
docker-compose rm -sf ollama
 
# Stop all
docker-compose down

View Logs for Specific Services


# Ollama logs only
docker-compose logs -f ollama
 
# n8n logs only
docker-compose logs -f n8n
 
# Both
docker-compose logs -f ollama n8n

Restart Specific Services


# Restart Ollama
docker-compose restart ollama
 
# Restart n8n
docker-compose restart n8n

Helper Script

manage.sh


#!/bin/bash
 
case "$1" in
  ollama)
    echo "Starting Ollama..."
    docker-compose up -d ollama
    sleep 3
    docker exec -it ollama ollama pull llama3.2:3b
    docker exec -it ollama ollama pull llama3.1:8b
    echo "✅ Ollama ready at http://localhost:11434"
    ;;
 
  n8n)
    echo "Starting n8n..."
    docker-compose up -d n8n
    echo "✅ n8n ready at http://localhost:5678"
    ;;
 
  full|all)
    echo "Starting full stack..."
    docker-compose up -d
    sleep 3
    docker exec -it ollama ollama pull llama3.2:3b
    docker exec -it ollama ollama pull llama3.1:8b
    echo "✅ Ollama ready at http://localhost:11434"
    echo "✅ n8n ready at http://localhost:5678"
    ;;
 
  stop)
    echo "Stopping services..."
    docker-compose down
    echo "✅ All services stopped"
    ;;
 
  logs)
    if [ -z "$2" ]; then
      docker-compose logs -f
    else
      docker-compose logs -f $2
    fi
    ;;
 
  status)
    docker-compose ps
    ;;
 
  *)
    echo "Usage: $0 {ollama|n8n|full|stop|logs [service]|status}"
    echo ""
    echo "Examples:"
    echo "  $0 ollama          # Start only Ollama"
    echo "  $0 n8n             # Start only n8n"
    echo "  $0 full            # Start everything"
    echo "  $0 stop            # Stop all services"
    echo "  $0 logs ollama     # View Ollama logs"
    echo "  $0 status          # Check service status"
    exit 1
    ;;
esac

Make it executable


chmod +x manage.sh

Usage


./manage.sh ollama    # Start only Ollama
./manage.sh n8n       # Start only n8n
./manage.sh full      # Start everything
./manage.sh stop      # Stop all
./manage.sh logs ollama  # View logs
./manage.sh status    # Check status