Ghost Blog Template on Clever Cloud

This project is a template for a Ghost blog running on Node.js 20 and deployed on Clever Cloud.

It is based on the local installation of Ghost, as well as its source code on Github.

What is Ghost?

Ghost is a modern, open-source publishing platform designed for professional bloggers, writers, and content creators. Built with Node.js, it offers a lightweight, fast, and flexible alternative to traditional CMS platforms.

Ghost provides a clean, distraction-free writing experience, powerful SEO features, and extensive customization options through themes and integrations. It is often used for personal blogs, newsletters, and online publications.

Prérequis

• Node.js 20
• MySQL
• Cellar S3
• Ghost-CLI
• Clever Tools CLI (documentation)
• Git

Installation and configuration

1. Initialize your project

Create the project file and install locally Ghost:

# Create the project file
mkdir myblog && cd myblog
# Install Ghost-CLI
npm install -g ghost-cli@latest
nvm use 20 #to use node 20
# Install Ghost
ghost install local
ghost stop

Remove the default theme and add custom theme submodules:

rm -r content/themes/casper
cp -r current/content/themes/casper/ content/themes/
git init
cd content/themes/
git submodule add https://github.com/curiositry/mnml-ghost-theme
git submodule add https://github.com/zutrinken/attila/
wget https://github.com/TryGhost/Source/archive/refs/tags/<last-version>.zip -O source.zip #check and use the lastest version https://github.com/TryGhost/Source/releases
rm -R source
unzip source.zip -d temp
mkdir source
mv temp/*/* source/
rm -R temp source.zip

Add the S3 module to use Cellar S3:

npm install ghost-storage-adapter-s3
mkdir -p ./content/adapters/storage
cp -r ./node_modules/ghost-storage-adapter-s3 ./content/adapters/storage/s3

2. Create and configure Node application and MySQL

User the clever tools CLI

Create the Node.js app on Clever Cloud:

clever create --type node myblog

Create MySQL addon and link it to your Node.js application:

clever addon create mysql-addon --plan s_sml myblogsql
clever service link-addon myblogsql

Ghost configuration file can't use direct environment variables. Set the following environment variables to connect your app to the database:

clever env set database__connection__host <ADDON_HOST>
clever env set database__connection__user <ADDON_USER>
clever env set database__connection__password <ADDON_PASSWORD>
clever env set database__connection__database <ADDON_DATABASE>
clever env set database__connection__port <ADDON_PORT>
clever env set url https://<domain_URL_blog>

3. Install and configure Cellar S3

Create the Cellar S3 addon on Clever Cloud :

clever addon create cellar-addon --plan s_sml <cellar-app>
clever service link-addon <cellar-app>

On you Cellar S3 addon console, create a bucket for your blog.

Add the environment variables to configure Ghost with Cellar:

clever env set storage__s3__accessKeyId <CELLAR_ACCESS_KEY>
clever env set storage__s3__secretAccessKey <CELLAR_SECRET_KEY>
clever ens set storage__s3__assetHost <CELLAR_ADDON_HOST>
clever env set storage__s3__bucket <your-bucket>
clever env set storage__s3__region fr

Set the public read access policy for your Cellar bucket (documentation) :

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "s3:ListBucket",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::<bucket>"
        },
        {
            "Sid": "VisualEditor1",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "s3:PutObject",
                "s3:GetObject",
                "s3:PutObjectVersionAcl",
                "s3:DeleteObject",
                "s3:PutObjectAcl"
            ],
            "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::<bucket>/*"
        },
        {
            "Sid": "PublicReadAccess",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "s3:GetObject",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::<bucket>/*",
            "Principal": "*"
        }
    ]
}

4. Create pre run hook

In the project's root folder, create file .clevercloud-pre-run-hook.sh :

#!/bin/sh
npm install -g ghost-cli 
mkdir ghost 
cd ghost
ghost install local 
ghost stop
cp ../config.production.json .
npm install ghost-storage-adapter-s3
mkdir -p ./content/adapters/storage
cp -r ../content/adapters/storage/s3 content/adapters/storage/s3
rm -R content/themes/source
cp -r ../content/themes/source content/themes/

Grant execution permission to the script:

sudo chmod +x clevercloud.sh

5. Configure Ghost

Create the file config.production.json in the project's root folder:

{
  "url": "https://<your-url-app>/",
  "server": {
    "port": 8080,
    "host": "0.0.0.0"
  },
  "database": {
    "client": "mysql"
  },
  "storage": {
    "active": "s3"
  },
  "mail": {
    "transport": "SMTP"
  },
  "process": "local",
  "logging": {
    "level": "debug",
    "transports": ["stdout"]
  },
  "paths": {
    "contentPath": "../../../content/"
  }
}

6. Create package.json and .gitignore

Create package.json:

{
    "name": "ghost",
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "description": "",
    "scripts": {
        "start": "ghost run --dir ghost"
    },
    "devDependencies": {},
    "dependencies": {}
}

Create .gitignore :

.ghost-cli
config.development.json
current
versions
node_modules

7. Set other environment variables for your application

Before deploying your application on Clever Cloud, make sure to set the following environment variables:

clever env set CC_NODE_BUILD_TOOL yarn2
clever env set CC_NODE_VERSION 20
clever env set CC_PRE_RUN_HOOK "./.clevercloud-pre-run-build.sh"
clever env set NODE_ENV production

Optional: Configure email service

Ghost allows you to configure an SMTP service for sending emails (such as invitations, password resets, etc.). You can set it up using the following environment variables:

clever env set mail__from "[email protected]"
clever env set mail__options__service "your-mail-service" # e.g. Mailgun, Gmail, etc.
clever env set mail__options__host "smtp.yourmail.com"
clever env set mail__options__port "587"
clever env set mail__options__secureConnection "false"
clever env set mail__options__auth__user "your-smtp-username"
clever env set mail__options__auth__pass "your-smtp-password"

💡 Note: These environment variables allow Ghost to connect to your email service automatically.
For more details and supported options, see the official Ghost SMTP configuration docs.

8. Deploy on Clever Cloud

Initialize git, add files and push:

git add clevercloud.sh package.json config.production.json content
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git remote add clever <CLEVER_GIT_URL>
git push

More information

For a small blog, you can use XS or S Node.js plan.