How to Install Ghost on CentOS – UltraLinux Home Page

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for installing Ghost, a powerful open-source blogging platform, on a CentOS 8 server. Tailored for users interested in the UltraLinux project (https://ultralinux.org/) or those seeking to set up a modern CMS on CentOS, this tutorial uses Nginx as a reverse proxy, MariaDB as the database, and Node.js, following best practices for a production environment. Note that Ghost officially recommends Ubuntu, but this guide ensures compatibility with CentOS 8. For CentOS 7, some steps may differ slightly.

Prerequisites

CentOS 8 server with at least 1 GB RAM.
Sudo privileges.
Internet connection.
A domain name with DNS configured (e.g., example.com).
Basic terminal familiarity.

Step-by-Step Installation

1. Update the System

Ensure your system is up-to-date:

sudo dnf -y update
sudo reboot

2. Set SELinux to Permissive Mode

Ghost may encounter permission issues with SELinux in enforcing mode. Set it to permissive:

sudo setenforce 0
sudo sed -i 's/^SELINUX=.*/SELINUX=permissive/g' /etc/selinux/config

3. Install EPEL Repository

Add the Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) repository for additional dependencies:

sudo dnf -y install epel-release

4. Install and Configure MariaDB

Ghost requires a database. Install MariaDB:

sudo dnf module install mariadb
sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb

Secure the MariaDB installation:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow prompts to set a root password, remove anonymous users, disable remote root login, and remove test databases.

Create a database and user for Ghost:

mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE ghost;
CREATE USER 'ghost'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword';
GRANT ALL ON ghost.* TO 'ghost'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
QUIT;

Replace StrongPassword with a secure password.

5. Install Node.js

Ghost requires Node.js (version 16.x recommended for stability). Install it:

sudo dnf remove -y @nodejs
curl --silent --location https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_16.x | sudo bash -
sudo dnf install -y nodejs

Verify Node.js version:

node -v

Ensure it’s around v16.x (e.g., v16.15.0).

Install PM2 to manage Ghost processes:

sudo npm install pm2 -g

6. Install Ghost-CLI

Install the Ghost command-line interface:

sudo npm install -g ghost-cli@latest

Verify installation:

ghost --version

7. Create a Ghost User and Directory

Create a dedicated user for Ghost:

sudo useradd ghostadmin
sudo passwd ghostadmin
sudo usermod -aG wheel ghostadmin

Create the Ghost installation directory (avoid /root or /home to prevent permission issues):

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/ghost
sudo chown ghostadmin:ghostadmin /var/www/ghost
sudo chmod 775 /var/www/ghost

8. Install Ghost

Switch to the ghostadmin user and navigate to the Ghost directory:

sudo su - ghostadmin
cd /var/www/ghost
mkdir blog.example.com
cd blog.example.com

Run the Ghost installer with MySQL:

ghost install --db=mysql

Follow the prompts:

Blog URL: Enter http://blog.example.com (replace with your domain).
MySQL hostname: localhost
MySQL username: ghost
MySQL password: Your StrongPassword
Ghost database name: ghost
Set up Systemd?: Yes

Ignore warnings about non-Ubuntu systems or MariaDB; select Yes to continue. The installer sets up Ghost as a systemd service.

Verify the service:

ghost ls
systemctl status ghost_blog-example-com

9. Install and Configure Nginx

Install Nginx as a reverse proxy:

sudo dnf install @nginx
sudo systemctl enable --now nginx

Create directories for Nginx configuration:

sudo mkdir /etc/nginx/{sites-available,sites-enabled}

Create a configuration file for Ghost:

sudo vi /etc/nginx/sites-available/ghost

Add:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name blog.example.com;
    root /var/www/ghost/blog.example.com/system/nginx-root;
    location / {
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:2368;
    }
    location ~ /.well-known {
        allow all;
    }
    client_max_body_size 50m;
}

Replace blog.example.com with your domain.

Link the configuration:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/ghost /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ghost

Update the Nginx configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf to include sites-enabled:

http {
    ...
    include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
    include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
    server_names_hash_bucket_size 64;
}

Test and restart Nginx:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

10. Open Firewall Ports

Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic:

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service={http,https} --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

11. Complete Ghost Setup

Access the Ghost admin interface at http://blog.example.com/ghost. Create an admin account to start configuring your blog.

Troubleshooting

Ghost-CLI warnings: CentOS is not officially supported, so you may see warnings. Proceed with Yes unless errors occur.
Nginx errors: Verify the configuration syntax with sudo nginx -t. Check paths and permissions.
MariaDB connection issues: Ensure the database user and password match the ghost database credentials.
SPARC considerations: For UltraLinux on SPARC, ensure Node.js and MariaDB are compatible. Use source builds if precompiled packages are unavailable.
Service not starting: Check logs in /var/www/ghost/blog.example.com/content/logs/ or use ghost doctor.

Conclusion

You’ve successfully installed Ghost on CentOS 8 with Nginx and MariaDB. This setup is robust for blogging and content management, even on non-standard hardware like SPARC for UltraLinux users. For further assistance, consult the UltraLinux FAQ (https://ultralinux.org/faq.html), Ghost documentation (https://ghost.org/docs/), or community mailing lists.