Ghost on your own server, in one click.
Publish a blog, a newsletter or a paid membership site with Ghost, on a server you own. ServerAvatar runs it in Docker with its own MySQL and sets up the passwords, storage and HTTPS for you.
- Ghost + MySQL
- HTTPS on its own
- Your server, your members
Section 01What is Ghost
What is Ghost?
Ghost is an open-source platform for publishing, built for writers and independent media. It brings a fast editor, a website, email newsletters and paid memberships together in one app.
Readers can sign up for free or paid plans, and you send each post to their inbox right from the editor. Running Ghost on your own server means no platform fee on your subscriptions, and your list of members stays with you.
- Free and open source (MIT)
- Website, newsletter and memberships in one app
- Built on Node.js, fast by default
Section 02Features
What you can do with Ghost
A distraction-free editor
Write in a clean editor with cards for images, galleries, video, bookmarks, buttons and code.
Email newsletters
Send any post as an email newsletter to your members, and keep several newsletters on one site.
Members and sign-ups
Let readers sign up with just their email. No passwords to forget: they log in with a magic link.
Paid subscriptions
Connect Stripe to sell monthly or yearly plans and gate posts for paying members.
Themes
Pick a free or paid theme, or edit one to make the site look exactly the way you want.
SEO built in
Meta tags, social cards, structured data and a sitemap come out of the box, with no plugins.
Section 03Requirements
What you need
A fresh Ubuntu server you can log in to as root. The installer checks all of this before it changes anything.
| Requirement | Ghost on Docker |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04 LTS (x86-64) |
| CPU | 1 core or more |
| RAM | 1 GB or more |
| Disk | 10 GB or more (25 GB recommended) |
| Containers | Ghost 5 + MySQL 8.0 |
| SMTP or Mailgun, to send newsletters | |
| Ports | 80 and 443 open |
RAM from Ghost's documentation. Disk: about 8 GB is in use once the panel and Ghost are installed on our test server; 25 GB is Ubuntu's recommendation.
Section 04Install
How to install Ghost
Every step happens in the ServerAvatar panel. No terminal needed.
Pick Ghost in 1-Click Recipes
On your server, open Applications, click Create application and search for Ghost under 1-Click Recipes.
Name it and choose a domain
Give the site a name and use your own domain, or a temporary one that works right away. The panel creates a system user for the site.
Create it
Click Create application. The panel starts Ghost and MySQL, turns HTTPS on and shows the database passwords it generated. Copy them somewhere safe.
Create your owner account
Open your-domain/ghost and fill in Ghost's setup: site title, your name, email and a password. That account becomes the site's owner.
Section 05FAQ
Questions,answered.
Can't find the answer you're looking for? Reach out to our customer support.
Contact supportRisk free
Deploy your first appin 10 minutes.
Connect a server, pick an application and go live, with SSL and backups already in place.
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