# Ghost

Ghost is an open-source publishing platform for blogs, newsletters, and membership sites. It pairs a fast editor and built-in email delivery with a clean, theme-driven front end.

## Software included

| Component | Version |
| --- | --- |
| Ghost | 6.51.0 |
| Node.js | 22.x |
| MySQL | 8.0 |
| nginx | Latest |
| Ubuntu | 24.04 LTS |

## Requirements

| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
| --- | --- | --- |
| vCPU | 1 | 2 |
| RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB |
| Storage | 20 GB | 40 GB |

The storage figure is your root disk size. Choose it on the OS Disk Offering step when you create the instance. You pay for it per GB, separate from the plan.

Ghost requires a domain name. It does not run against a bare IP address. Provide `GHOST_URL` at deploy time (see below) and point that domain’s DNS at the VM.

## Environment variables

You can optionally set these when deploying Ghost from the marketplace. Leave `GHOST_DB_PASSWORD` blank to have a secure random value generated automatically.

| Variable | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `GHOST_URL` | Full site URL, for example `https://blog.example.com` |
| `GHOST_DB_PASSWORD` | Password for the MySQL `ghost` database user |

If `GHOST_URL` is not set, the VM serves a placeholder page and leaves Ghost unconfigured until you provide a domain.

## Getting started

### 1. Connect to your VM

```bash
ssh ubuntu@<your-vm-ip>
```

### 2. Wait for first-boot configuration

On the first boot, a setup script creates the MySQL database, configures Ghost for your `GHOST_URL`, writes the nginx virtual host, and starts the site as a systemd service. This takes 1-2 minutes. Track progress:

```bash
journalctl -u ghost-first-boot.service -f
```

The login message (MOTD) confirms when Ghost is ready.

### 3. Finish admin setup

Open the admin area in a browser and create the first administrator account:

```text
https://your-domain.com/ghost
```

The generated database credentials are written to a root-only file:

```bash
sudo cat /etc/ghost/credentials.txt
```

### 4. Enable HTTPS

TLS is not configured automatically, because it requires your domain’s DNS to point at the VM first. Once that resolves, provision a free Let’s Encrypt certificate:

```bash
cd /var/www/ghost
ghost setup ssl
```

## Managing Ghost

Ghost runs as a per-site systemd service named `ghost_<hostname>` (for example `ghost_blog-example-com`). Manage it from the install directory:

```bash
# Show the running instance and its service name
cd /var/www/ghost && ghost ls


# Restart, stop, and start
ghost restart
ghost stop
ghost start
```

Install directory: `/var/www/ghost`. Content (themes, images, and data) lives under `/var/www/ghost/content`.

## Security

Ports 80 and 443 are open on the VM’s network interface. UFW is enabled and allows SSH (port 22), HTTP (80), and HTTPS (443).

For production use, complete the Let’s Encrypt step above so the site is served over HTTPS, and restrict SSH access to known IP ranges.

## Next steps

- [Ghost documentation](https://ghost.org/docs/)
- [Configuring Ghost](https://ghost.org/docs/config/)