Install ghost with docker + MySQL 8 [New Install]

Ghost is dropping support for MySQL5 for the next major release. If you are thinking to install ghost 4.x.x via docker choosing MySQL 8 would be a wise decision to avoid issues with future updates of the ghost version.

Ghost is already pushing a notice to, those who are currently using MySQL 5 to upgrade the MySQL version

Without further delay let's jump on to the tutorial. To install ghost with docker make sure you have docker & docker-compose installed in your system.

to install docker on your system follow the guide (We are using Ubuntu 20.04 for the tutorial)

Step 1: Creating the Docker Compose File & start the Container

Access to your Server via Terminal

your-server-user@your-server-ip-or-host

Create a folder to contain the docker-compose.yaml & docker volumes.

cd
mkdir yourdomain.com

Create a file called docker-compose.yaml into the folder, you have just created

nano docker-compose.yaml

& paste the following

version: '3'

services:

  ghost:
    container_name: yourdomain.com
    image: ghost:latest
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 2368:2368
    volumes:
      - ./content:/var/lib/ghost/content
    environment:
      url: https://www.yourdomain.com
      database__client: mysql
      database__connection__host: db
      database__connection__user: root
      database__connection__password: mysqulrootp@ssworD
      database__connection__database: yourdomain_prodction
      mail__transport: SMTP
      mail__from: "YourSite <name@yourdomain.com>"
      mail__options__host: "smtp.sendgrid.net"
      mail__options__port: 587
      mail__options__auth__user: "apikey"
      mail__options__auth__pass: "sendgrid_api_key"

  db:
    container_name: yourdomain_db
    image: mysql:latest
    command: mysqld --default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password
    restart: always
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: mysqulrootp@ssworD
    volumes:
      - ./data:/var/lib/mysql

Adjust the container_name url databas__connection__pasword database__connection__databse & SendGrid API with your original credentials, Save the file by pressing Ctrl+O.

Now start the container. run the following command to start the container.

docker-compose up -d

Step 2: Configure Nginx Server Block

sudo apt install nginx

Create a file in /etc/nginx/sites-available/ directory using the following command.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com

& paste the following

server {
  listen 80;
  listen [::]:80;
  server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;
  location / { return 301 https://yourdomain.com$request_uri; }
}
server {
  listen 443 ssl http2;
  listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
  server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;

  ssl_protocols TLSv1.2;
  ssl_ciphers HIGH:!MEDIUM:!LOW:!aNULL:!NULL:!SHA;
  ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
  ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;

  ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/domainn/cert.pem; #define your ssl cert path
  ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/domain/key.pem; #define your private key path

  location / {
    proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    proxy_pass http://0.0.0.0:2368; #define the port as your container
    
 }

}

Save the file by pressing Ctrl+O & exit

Next, we have to create a symlink of the file to sites-enabled directory.

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

check the Nginx configuration

sudo nginx -t

restart Nginx

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Now your blog should be up & running. Hope this helps.

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