Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover

Ghost CMS is a simpler and faster WordPress alternative with a big problem: the price ($29 - 299/month!). In this guide, I share an easy way to set up Ghost CMS on your own server using CapRover.

At the end of this guide, you can have a website like Buffer's blog or this website (deletosh.com) without the high-cost.

Before you start, confirm you have:

1. A steady internet connection. If you don't have a steady connection, this process will fail in random places—save yourself the stress.
2. You've installed CapRover on a server. I recommend a cheap server from SSDNodes.

Got those? Let's start.

Install Ghost CMS on CapRover using a custom template

Open your CapRover Dashboard.

Go to Apps > One-Click Apps/Database

Type in template and select >> TEMPLATE <<

In the text-box, copy the content of this file into the box and tap "Next"

Give your app a name, in my case, I enter: "ghost-cms-test" and hit Deploy

Give this process a few minutes to run. You should now see this:

Hit Finish.

Give the process about 5 - 10 mins to complete the full setup. If you're curious, you can check the progress by going to Apps > your app name> Deployment

Go to the HTTP Settings", in the Container HTTP Port change the "80" to "2368", then "Save & update"

After that saving completes, you should now have access to the site.

To login, go to http://your-new-captain-url/ghost with these default credentials:

username: [email protected]"

password: bitnami123

My Ghost Installation on CapRover Failed! What next?

CapRover Installation Failed Before Seeing the Last Screen

Tap the "Go Back & Try Again", delete all the related apps and start the process again.

Everything seems to work on "Deployment" but things are not looking right?

Restart CapRover. To do this, login to your server with ssh and run docker service update captain-captain --force.

You should know have your Ghost website installed and saved yourself $29 - $199 every month. If that's not enough reason for you, enjoy how simple and fast Ghost is comparable to WordPress. Now pick a theme and enjoy!

Got questions? Drop it in the comment and share this article with friends and colleagues that will find this need a free ghost setup.