ActivityPub Error: "Site not configured correctly" after recreating site on the same domain

Developer help Self-hosting
1

Hi everyone,

I’m encountering a persistent “Site not configured correctly” error with the ActivityPub integration, and I suspect it’s related to my site’s history.

Background:

  1. I had a Ghost instance (let’s call it Site A) running successfully on [yourdomain.com] on a DigitalOcean Droplet. ActivityPub was enabled and working perfectly on this site.

  2. Due to an unrelated server issue, I was forced to destroy the Droplet for Site A.

  3. I have now deployed a brand new Ghost instance (Site B) on a new DigitalOcean Droplet, using the exact same domain name ([``yourdomain.com``]).

The Problem:

On the new instance (Site B), everything works except for ActivityPub. When I try to use the feature, I get the following error message:

Site not configured correctly This feature can’t be used because the site isn’t set up correctly. If you manage this site, check your settings or server logs, or contact support.

My theory is that the Fediverse still associates my domain with the identity (keys, etc.) of the old, destroyed Site A, causing an identity mismatch with the new Site B.

My Questions:

  1. Is my assumption correct? Is this a known issue when a domain is reused for a new Ghost instance in the Fediverse?

  2. Is there a recommended procedure to force the Fediverse to “forget” the old instance and accept the new one for my domain?

  3. Is there anything I need to manually reset or check in the database of my new instance?

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated!

2

It would be helpful if you shared how you set up activitypub in the first place. Are you self hosting, or using the Ghost-provided version?

3

I’m self-hosting. Specifically, I’m using the Ghost 1-Click Droplet from the Digital Ocean Marketplace. Here’s the link to the exact one: https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/ghost

My stack is:

  • Ghost: Latest Version

  • OS: Ubuntu 24.04

  • Web Server: Nginx 1.18.0

  • Database: MySQL 8.0.29

  • Node.js: v22.x

I didn’t do any special configuration for ActivityPub itself.

Here’s the strange part: this is the second site I’ve set up this way. On my first site, with this exact same setup, ActivityPub worked perfectly right out of the box. On this new site, following the same steps, it’s giving me the “Site not configured correctly” error.

So, the process was identical, but the result is different, which is why I’m a bit confused.

4

So I think you are using the Ghost-hosted activitypub, since that page references using the Ghost-CLI. But that might or might not be the case. One of the things I dislike about the DO one-click is that there’s not much information provided about how it’s configured, which can make it harder for you to troubleshoot it when it doesn’t work.

Hang on… ‘exact same’? You aren’t using the same domain name, by any chance?

5

Yes, I am using the same domain name.

I had a previous installation on an old Digital Ocean Droplet. I destroyed that old Droplet completely, spun up a brand new one using the same 1-Click installer, and then pointed the same domain to the new server’s IP address.

Is there a way to “deregister” or reset the domain’s record on the federation side so my new server can connect properly? :flushed_face:

6

There was another user on the forum in a similar situation recently, and I think @sag needed to reset something for them. Hey Sag, is there a preferred way for users in this state to make contact with someone on the Ghost team? :slight_smile:

7

Thanks for the ping @Cathy_Sarisky!

There is indeed a limitation currently with using the shared ActivityPub service (ap.ghost.org) and pointing a domain registered in ActivityPub to a new site. The ActivityPub database has an entry for each Ghost site/domain registered on ActivityPub, and pointing that domain to a new site will make that entry invalid. The best workaround at the moment is remembering to disable “Network” from Ghost settings before switching to a new site, which will take care of removing the entry for that domain from the ActivityPub database. I appreciate that this is not a real solution, as it’s 1) undocumented and 2) not something that the user is reminded of in the product - so read this more as a workaround while we work on a real solution to that problem. :slight_smile:

For now, @Bard could you write a message to Ghost (Pro) support at support@ghost.org with your site domain, so that we can remove the outdated entry from the ActivityPub database?

2 Likes
8

Awesome, thanks so much to both of you. Really appreciate the quick and effective help!

9

Hey all, hope it’s okay to tag on here — I think I’m having a similar issue. I had first created a self-hosted Ghost site on Digital Ocean using their preconfigured image, but it suddenly stopped working after I clicked on ActivityPub (I was getting 502-ed from the entire site) and so I decided to start fresh and use the Docker method for self-hosting instead.

At first ActivityPub seemed to work well and I was able to see it working, but after drafting a post and coming back to the Network tab it is now giving the same error message:

I am wondering if this is because I also used the exact same domain for the first Ghost-CLI based install, and the now Docker based one.

I don’t see anything amiss in docker logs , so I’m wondering if it’s the same issue and if I should also email support@ghost.org for this?

Thanks in advance!

10

@gentlycurious , assuming you are using Ghost Pro’s activitypub instance (you’re proxying ap.ghost.org, NOT running your own docker for activitypub), then emailing support seems to currently be the way to go.

1 Like
11

Thanks Cathy, yes indeed I’m using Ghost Pro’s AP instance (i.e. the Docker defaults). Will go ahead and email them, though I should note that I’m not on Ghost Pro so hopefully I can still get some support!

1 Like