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.
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 1 Buffer blog, hosted on Ghost](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/9cOethZ.png)
Before you start, confirm you have:
- A steady internet connection. If you don’t have a steady connection, this process will fail in random places—save yourself the stress.
- 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
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 2 JWEPhms](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/JWEPhms.gif)
Type in template and select >> TEMPLATE <<
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 3 P6DnZfL](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/P6DnZfL.gif)
In the text-box, copy the content of this file into the box and tap “Next”
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 4 zbVwqul](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/zbVwqul.gif)
Give your app a name, in my case, I enter: “ghost-cms-test” and hit Deploy
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 5](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/3nshZnx.gif)
Give this process a few minutes to run. You should now see this:
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 6 Finish CapRover installation](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/ZH7govq.png)
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
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 7 How to check the progress of a new Caprover Ghost App](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/UghUTLn.gif)
Go to the HTTP Settings“, in the Container HTTP Port change the “80” to “2368”, then “Save & update”
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 8 How to set Ghost container port on CapRover](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/Wy5EJn7.png)
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
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 9 How to login to Ghost install with bitnami docker](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/vt7iC2Q.gif)
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.
![Setup a self-hosted Ghost CMS on CapRover 10 rsN5Nr4](https://deletosh.com/app/uploads/2024/02/rsN5Nr4.gif)
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.