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Vultr profile image Sanskriti Harmukh
Sanskriti Harmukh for Vultr

Posted on with Aashish Chaurasiya Originally published at docs.vultr.com

Installing Ghost Blogging Platform on Ubuntu 24.04

#linux #node #docker #cms

Ghost is an open-source publishing platform with built-in newsletters, memberships, subscriptions, ActivityPub federation, and Tinybird-powered web analytics. This guide covers two install paths on Ubuntu 24.04: Ghost-CLI for a traditional host install, and Docker Compose for a containerized deployment with analytics.

Prerequisites: an Ubuntu 24.04 server, non-root sudo user, a domain A record (e.g. ghost.example.com).

Option A: Install with Ghost-CLI

Install Node.js

Ghost requires Node v22 LTS — check compatible versions before installing elsewhere.

$ curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x -o nodesource_setup.sh
$ sudo -E bash nodesource_setup.sh
$ sudo apt install -y nodejs
$ node -v
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Install and Configure MySQL 

$ sudo apt install -y mysql-server
$ mysql --version
$ sudo mysql_secure_installation
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Walk through the prompts: enable password validation (y), pick strong policy (2), remove anonymous users (y), restrict root to localhost (y), drop the test database (y), reload privileges (y).

$ sudo mysql
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mysql> CREATE DATABASE ghost_db;
mysql> CREATE USER 'ghostuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'Your_password2!';
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ghost_db.* TO 'ghostuser'@'localhost';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
mysql> EXIT;
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Install Nginx 

$ sudo apt install -y nginx
$ sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
$ sudo systemctl status nginx
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Install Ghost 

$ sudo npm install ghost-cli@latest -g
$ sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/ghost
$ sudo chown $USER:$USER /var/www/html/ghost
$ sudo chmod 775 /var/www/html/ghost
$ cd /var/www/html/ghost
$ ghost install
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The installer prompts for:

  • Blog URL: https://ghost.example.com
  • MySQL hostname: localhost
  • MySQL username/password/database: from the setup above
  • Set up Nginx?: y
  • Set up SSL?: y (installs acme.sh)
  • Email for SSL: your address
  • Set up Systemd?: y
  • Start Ghost?: y

Manage the Config 

$ nano /var/www/html/ghost/config.production.json
$ cd /var/www/html/ghost
$ ghost restart
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Or via systemd (replace ghost-example-com with your domain, dashed):

$ sudo systemctl restart ghost_ghost-example-com.service
$ sudo systemctl status ghost_ghost-example-com.service
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Update Ghost 

$ cd /var/www/html/ghost
$ ghost backup
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ghost backup needs your sudo password and a staff access token (Settings → Staff → View Profile).

$ ghost update
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Or pin a version: ghost update VERSION. Expect brief downtime while migrations run.

Option B: Install with Docker Compose

Runs Ghost in containers with Caddy as the reverse proxy and optional Tinybird analytics.

Install Docker

Install Docker Engine + Compose plugin, then:

$ sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
$ newgrp docker
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Clone and Configure 

$ git clone https://github.com/TryGhost/ghost-docker.git ~/ghost
$ cd ~/ghost
$ cp .env.example .env
$ cp caddy/Caddyfile.example caddy/Caddyfile
$ nano .env
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Set:

  • DOMAIN: ghost.example.com
  • DATABASE_ROOT_PASSWORD / DATABASE_PASSWORD: strong passwords
  • SMTP settings: your transactional email provider (SES, SendGrid, Mailgun)

Deploy 

$ sudo ufw allow http
$ sudo ufw allow https
$ docker compose pull
$ docker compose up -d
$ docker compose ps
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Confirm every container shows Up/healthy.

Enable Web Analytics (Tinybird) 

$ cd ~/ghost
$ docker compose run --rm tinybird-login
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Pick your region, copy the one-time code, complete auth in the browser.

$ docker compose run --rm tinybird-sync
$ docker compose run --rm tinybird-deploy
$ docker compose run --rm tinybird-login get-tokens
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Add the tokens to .env:

$ nano .env
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COMPOSE_PROFILES=analytics
TINYBIRD_API_URL=https://api.<region>.<provider>.tinybird.co
TINYBIRD_WORKSPACE_ID=your-workspace-id
TINYBIRD_ADMIN_TOKEN=your-admin-token
TINYBIRD_TRACKER_TOKEN=your-tracker-token
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$ docker compose pull
$ docker compose up -d
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Enable ActivityPub Federation 

$ nano .env
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COMPOSE_PROFILES=analytics,activitypub
ACTIVITYPUB_TARGET=activitypub:8080
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(Use COMPOSE_PROFILES=activitypub alone if you skipped analytics.)

$ docker compose pull
$ docker compose up -d --force-recreate ghost caddy
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Update via Docker 

$ cd ~/ghost
$ docker compose pull
$ docker compose up -d
$ docker image prune -f
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If you changed .env or Caddy config: docker compose up -d --force-recreate ghost caddy.

Set Up Ghost

Visit https://ghost.example.com/ghost:

  1. Set site title, your name, admin email, and password.
  2. Click Create account & start publishing.
  3. From the admin panel: customize design/branding, write posts, configure membership tiers, add integrations, manage team members.

Next Steps

Ghost is running with TLS, either via Ghost-CLI's built-in setup or Caddy in the Docker Compose stack. From here:

  • Enable Tinybird analytics if you skipped it initially — it's a drop-in profile toggle
  • Turn on ActivityPub to federate your blog with Mastodon and other Fediverse readers
  • Set up scheduled ghost backup (CLI) or volume snapshots (Docker) before major updates

For the full guide, visit the original article on Vultr Docs.

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