Deploy Ghost CMS on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx (2026)

Introduction

Deploy Ghost CMS on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx by installing the official Ghost production stack, configuring MySQL, installing Node.js 22, running Ghost-CLI, enabling HTTPS, and verifying the site through your domain. This tutorial shows you how to run Ghost CMS on a Raff Technologies Linux VM as a production-ready publishing platform.

Ghost CMS is an open-source publishing platform built for blogs, newsletters, memberships, and modern content websites. In production, Ghost runs as a Node.js application behind Nginx, stores content in MySQL, and uses systemd to stay online after reboots. Ghost-CLI handles most of the operational setup, including Nginx, SSL, systemd, database configuration, and service management.

In this tutorial, you will prepare an Ubuntu 24.04 VM, install Nginx, MySQL, Node.js, and Ghost-CLI, deploy Ghost into /var/www/ghost, configure SSL, create your admin account, and verify that Ghost is running cleanly. We tested this workflow on a Raff CPU-Optimized Tier 2 VM because Ghost is light enough for a small server, but production publishing still deserves predictable CPU, NVMe storage, backups, and unmetered bandwidth.

Step 1 — Point Your Domain to the Raff VM

Ghost’s production installer expects a real domain name. Before installing Ghost, create a DNS A record that points your domain to your Raff VM’s public IPv4 address.

For example:

If your domain is example.com, you might use:

textblog.example.com

Wait for DNS to propagate, then verify it from your local computer or from the VM:

bashdig +short blog.example.com

Expected output:

text203.0.113.10

Replace 203.0.113.10 with your actual Raff VM public IP.

You can also test with curl:

bashcurl -I http://blog.example.com

At this stage, the request may fail or return a default Nginx page later. What matters now is that the domain resolves to the correct server.

Step 2 — Update Ubuntu and Install Base Packages

Log in to your Raff VM as your non-root sudo user:

bashssh raffadmin@your_server_ip

Update the package index and upgrade installed packages:

bashsudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Install base tools required for repository setup, package downloads, and troubleshooting:

bashsudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release ufw unzip

Verify the Ubuntu version:

bashlsb_release -a

Expected output:

textDistributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Release:        24.04
Codename:       noble

This tutorial is written for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. If you are starting from a fresh server, complete basic hardening first using Raff’s Secure Ubuntu 24.04 Server Setup before exposing the site to the public internet.

Step 3 — Configure the Firewall for HTTP and HTTPS

Ghost needs web traffic on ports 80 and 443. If UFW is already enabled, allow OpenSSH first so you do not lock yourself out:

bashsudo ufw allow OpenSSH

Allow Nginx traffic:

bashsudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'

Enable UFW if it is not already active:

bashsudo ufw enable

Check the firewall status:

bashsudo ufw status

Expected output:

textStatus: active

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere
Nginx Full                 ALLOW       Anywhere
OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
Nginx Full (v6)            ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)

This opens only SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS. That is the right starting point for a public Ghost site.

Step 4 — Install Nginx

Ghost uses Nginx as the production reverse proxy. Ghost-CLI can create the final Nginx site configuration for Ghost, but Nginx must be installed first.

Install Nginx:

bashsudo apt install -y nginx

Verify the service is running:

bashsudo systemctl status nginx

You should see active (running) in the output.

Check the installed version:

bashnginx -v

Expected output on Ubuntu 24.04 is similar to:

textnginx version: nginx/1.24.0 (Ubuntu)

Open your domain in a browser:

texthttp://blog.example.com

You should see the default Nginx welcome page. If you want a deeper Nginx walkthrough, Raff’s Install Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04 tutorial explains server blocks, service commands, and common file paths.

Step 5 — Install MySQL 8

Ghost uses MySQL as the recommended production database. Install MySQL Server from Ubuntu’s package repository:

bashsudo apt install -y mysql-server

Verify MySQL is running:

bashsudo systemctl status mysql

Expected status:

textactive (running)

Check the MySQL version:

bashmysql --version

Expected output should show MySQL 8.x:

textmysql  Ver 8.0.x for Linux on x86_64

Run the MySQL secure installation helper:

bashsudo mysql_secure_installation

Recommended answers:

textVALIDATE PASSWORD COMPONENT: Y
Password strength: 2
Remove anonymous users: Y
Disallow root login remotely: Y
Remove test database: Y
Reload privilege tables: Y

Ghost-CLI can create the Ghost database and a dedicated Ghost database user during installation, but it needs a MySQL account with sufficient permissions. On Ubuntu, MySQL root commonly uses socket authentication. Set a MySQL root password that Ghost-CLI can use during setup:

bashsudo mysql

Inside the MySQL shell, run:

sqlALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'change_this_mysql_root_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Replace change_this_mysql_root_password with a long password stored in your password manager.

Test MySQL password login:

bashmysql -u root -p

Enter the password you just set. If the MySQL prompt opens, exit:

sqlEXIT;

Step 6 — Install Node.js 22

Ghost requires a supported Node.js version. For current Ghost production installs on Ubuntu 24.04, use Node.js 22 from NodeSource.

Install the NodeSource signing key and repository:

bashsudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/gpgkey/nodesource-repo.gpg.key \
  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg

Add the Node.js 22 repository:

bashNODE_MAJOR=22

echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg] https://deb.nodesource.com/node_${NODE_MAJOR}.x nodistro main" \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list

Install Node.js:

bashsudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Verify Node.js and npm:

bashnode -v
npm -v

Expected output:

textv22.x.x
10.x.x

Ghost is strict about supported Node.js versions. Do not install random Node versions through nvm for this production setup; Ghost’s recommended install expects a system-wide Node.js installation.

Step 7 — Install Ghost-CLI

Ghost-CLI is the official command-line tool for installing, configuring, starting, stopping, updating, and maintaining Ghost.

Install Ghost-CLI globally with npm:

bashsudo npm install ghost-cli@latest -g

Verify the installation:

bashghost --version

Expected output:

textGhost-CLI version: 1.x.x

Check available commands:

bashghost help

You should see commands such as install, start, stop, restart, ls, doctor, and update.

Step 8 — Create the Ghost Install Directory

Ghost must be installed in its own directory with the right owner and permissions.

Create the directory:

bashsudo mkdir -p /var/www/ghost

Set ownership to your non-root user. Replace raffadmin with your actual username:

bashsudo chown raffadmin:raffadmin /var/www/ghost

Set directory permissions:

bashsudo chmod 775 /var/www/ghost

Move into the directory:

bashcd /var/www/ghost

Verify ownership:

bashls -ld /var/www/ghost

Expected output:

textdrwxrwxr-x 2 raffadmin raffadmin 4096 May  4 12:00 /var/www/ghost

If the directory is owned by root, Ghost-CLI will fail or create permission problems later.

Step 9 — Install Ghost in Production Mode

Run the Ghost installer from inside /var/www/ghost:

bashghost install

Ghost-CLI will ask several questions. Use the following answers as a guide.

When asked for the blog URL, enter your HTTPS domain:

texthttps://blog.example.com

For MySQL hostname, use:

textlocalhost

For MySQL username, use:

textroot

For MySQL password, enter the MySQL root password you created earlier.

For the Ghost database name, use a clear name:

textghost_prod

When asked whether Ghost-CLI should create a Ghost MySQL user, choose:

textY

When asked whether to set up Nginx, choose:

textY

When asked whether to set up SSL, choose:

textY

When asked for your email address for Let’s Encrypt notifications, enter a real email address.

When asked whether to set up systemd, choose:

textY

When asked whether to start Ghost, choose:

textY

A successful install ends with output similar to:

textGhost was installed successfully!
Your site is now available on https://blog.example.com

Step 10 — Verify Ghost, Nginx, and systemd

Check Ghost status:

bashghost status

Expected output:

text┌─────────────┬────────────────────┬─────────┬──────────────────────┐
│ Name        │ Location           │ Version │ Status               │
├─────────────┼────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────────────────┤
│ ghost       │ /var/www/ghost     │ 6.x.x   │ running              │
└─────────────┴────────────────────┴─────────┴──────────────────────┘

List Ghost installations:

bashghost ls

Check the systemd service created by Ghost:

bashsystemctl status ghost_blog-example-com

The exact service name depends on your domain. If you are unsure, list Ghost services:

bashsystemctl list-units 'ghost_*'

Check Nginx configuration:

bashsudo nginx -t

Expected output:

textnginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful

Reload Nginx:

bashsudo systemctl reload nginx

Finally, check the site from the command line:

bashcurl -I https://blog.example.com

Expected output:

textHTTP/2 200
server: nginx

If the site returns 200, Ghost is running behind Nginx with HTTPS.

Step 11 — Create the Ghost Admin Account

Open your browser and go to:

texthttps://blog.example.com/ghost

Ghost will show the setup screen for the site owner account. Create your admin account with:

• Site title
• Owner name
• Email address
• Strong password

After setup, Ghost takes you to the admin dashboard.

From there, you can:

• Write your first post
• Choose or upload a theme
• Configure staff users
• Set publication settings
• Configure newsletter and membership options
• Add custom navigation

For production use, create a strong admin password and enable good account hygiene immediately. A CMS login page is a public target.

Step 12 — Add Basic Maintenance Commands

Ghost-CLI gives you useful operational commands. Run them from the Ghost install directory:

bashcd /var/www/ghost

Check the installation:

bashghost doctor

Restart Ghost:

bashghost restart

Stop Ghost:

bashghost stop

Start Ghost:

bashghost start

View logs:

bashghost log

Update Ghost when you are ready:

bashghost update

You can also check Ghost’s runtime configuration:

bashcat /var/www/ghost/config.production.json

Do not paste this file publicly. It can include database credentials and mail configuration.

Step 13 — Verify SSL Renewal

Ghost-CLI uses Let’s Encrypt when it sets up SSL. Let’s Encrypt certificates expire every 90 days, so automatic renewal must work.

Check Certbot timers:

bashsystemctl list-timers | grep certbot

You should see a scheduled Certbot renewal timer.

Test renewal without changing the certificate:

bashsudo certbot renew --dry-run

Expected successful output includes:

textCongratulations, all simulated renewals succeeded

If you want a deeper SSL hardening walkthrough, use Raff’s Secure Nginx with Let’s Encrypt on Ubuntu 24.04 tutorial after Ghost is working.

Step 14 — Back Up Ghost Content and Database

A Ghost site has two important backup targets:

• MySQL database content
• Uploaded images and themes under /var/www/ghost/content

Start with a manual Ghost backup from the admin dashboard when needed. For server-level backups, you can also dump the database and copy the content directory.

Find the database name:

bashcat /var/www/ghost/config.production.json | grep database -A 12

For a simple database dump, run:

bashmysqldump -u root -p ghost_prod > ~/ghost_prod_$(date +%F).sql

Back up the content directory:

bashtar -czf ~/ghost_content_$(date +%F).tar.gz -C /var/www/ghost content

Verify the files:

bashls -lh ~/ghost_prod_*.sql ~/ghost_content_*.tar.gz

Expected output:

text-rw-r--r-- 1 raffadmin raffadmin 2.1M May  4 12:45 ghost_prod_2026-05-04.sql
-rw-r--r-- 1 raffadmin raffadmin 8.4M May  4 12:45 ghost_content_2026-05-04.tar.gz

For production, do not leave backups only on the VM. Store them off-server using Raff Object Storage, another secure backup target, or Raff’s backup features. For a broader backup strategy, read Cloud Server Backup Strategies: Snapshots, RPO, and Recovery Planning.

Step 15 — Test the Final Ghost Site

Run these final checks before considering the deployment complete.

Check Ghost:

bashcd /var/www/ghost
ghost status

Check Nginx:

bashsudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl status nginx

Check HTTPS:

bashcurl -I https://blog.example.com

Check HTTP-to-HTTPS redirection:

bashcurl -I http://blog.example.com

Expected redirect output:

textHTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://blog.example.com/

Check the admin path:

bashcurl -I https://blog.example.com/ghost

Expected output should include a valid HTTP response from Nginx/Ghost.

Finally, open both pages in your browser:

texthttps://blog.example.com
https://blog.example.com/ghost

You should see the public Ghost site and the Ghost admin login/dashboard.

Step 16 — Roll Back or Remove Ghost

If you need to stop Ghost temporarily:

bashcd /var/www/ghost
ghost stop

To start it again:

bashghost start

To restart after configuration changes:

bashghost restart

If you need to remove Ghost completely, first create a backup. Then run from the install directory:

bashcd /var/www/ghost
ghost uninstall

Ghost-CLI will remove the Ghost service and related configuration. After uninstalling, you can remove the directory if you are certain you no longer need the files:

bashsudo rm -rf /var/www/ghost

Conclusion

You deployed Ghost CMS on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx, MySQL, Node.js 22, Ghost-CLI, HTTPS, and systemd on a Raff VM. Your Ghost site now runs as a production service behind Nginx, uses MySQL for content storage, redirects through HTTPS, and can be managed with Ghost-CLI.

This setup is a good fit for founders, developers, technical writers, newsletters, documentation-style blogs, and content teams that want a faster publishing system than a heavy plugin-based CMS. On Raff, Ghost benefits from NVMe storage, unmetered bandwidth, DDoS protection, snapshots, and the ability to add off-server backups as the site grows.

Next, secure the server with Secure Ubuntu 24.04 Server Setup, review Secure Nginx with Let’s Encrypt, and define a real recovery plan using Cloud Server Backup Strategies.

This tutorial was prepared in Serdar’s infrastructure-first style: install the official stack, verify every layer, back up before risky changes, and do not call a publishing site production-ready until DNS, SSL, systemd, Nginx, and restore paths are all understood.