# Config File Not Valid JSON **URL:** \ **Category:** Developer help\ **Created:** [November 4, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/config-file-not-valid-json/33901 "2022-11-04T22:22:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vanessa\_Taylor](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/vanessa_taylor/32/20142_2.png) [@Vanessa\_Taylor](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Vanessa_Taylor)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/config-file-not-valid-json/33901/1 "2022-11-04T22:22:20Z")
Hello, I ran into issues earlier with my website’s subscription button. If someone tried to subscribe, it wouldn’t load. Tried sorting it out myself. Because I use DigitalOcean, a website told to set up STMP with my Mailgun details. However, the subscription button is still not working. And now, when I try to restart ghost, I receive this message: > Ghost instance is not running! Starting… > ✖ Starting Ghost > A SystemError occurred. > > Message: The content folder is not owned by the current user. > Ensure the content folder has correct permissions and try again. > > Debug Information: > OS: Ubuntu, v22.04.1 LTS > Node Version: v16.17.0 > Ghost Version: 5.22.6 > Ghost-CLI Version: 1.23.1 > Environment: production > Command: ‘ghost restart’ When I run ghost doctor, I get: > One or more errors occurred. > > 1. Validating config > > Error detected in the production configuration. > > Message: Config file is not valid JSON I’m very new to this so I tried running the config through a validator. But I don’t even know how to read JSON so not sure how to correct it. Here it is: { > “url”: “[https://mydomain.com](https://mydomain.com)”, > “server”: { > “port”: 2368, > “host”: “127.0.0.1” > }, > “database”: { > “client”: “mysql”, > “connection”: { > “host”: “localhost”, > “user”: “ghost-456”, > “password”: “REDACTED”, > “port”: 3306, > “database”: “ghost\_production” > } > }, > “mail”: > {“from”: “vanessa \”, > “transport”: “SMTP”, > “options”: { > “service”: “Mailgun”, > “host”: “[smtp.mailgun.org](http://smtp.mailgun.org)”, > “port”: 465, > “secureConnection”: true, > “auth”: { > “user”: [TKTKTK@gmail.com](mailto:TKTKTK@gmail.com)", > “pass”: “REDACTED” > } > } > }, > “transport”: “Direct” > }, > “logging”: { > “transports”: [ > “file”, > “stdout”} > > ``` > ] > > ``` > > }, > “process”: “systemd”, > “paths”: { > “contentPath”: “/var/www/ghost/content” > } ---
**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 12:30am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/config-file-not-valid-json/33901/2 "2022-11-05T00:30:46Z")
A bunch of your quotes are slanted quotes rather than straight up and down quotes. That /might/ be the result of posting on the forum, but I’d check your file really closely. WRONG: ```auto “process”: “systemd”, ``` RIGHT: ```auto "process": "systemd", ``` ---
**Author:** ![Vanessa\_Taylor](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/vanessa_taylor/32/20142_2.png) [@Vanessa\_Taylor](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Vanessa_Taylor)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 11:47am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/config-file-not-valid-json/33901/3 "2022-11-05T11:47:46Z")
Ah yeah, I checked and that’s just from posting on the forum :/ In the file, they’re all straight. ---
**Author:** ![mjw](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/mjw/32/30781_2.png) [@mjw](https://forum.ghost.org/u/mjw)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/config-file-not-valid-json/33901/4 "2022-11-05T15:14:34Z")
The transactional email settings for Mailgun should look like this: ```auto }, "mail": { "from": "noreply@yourdomain", "transport": "SMTP", "options": { "host": "smtp.mailgun.org", "port": 587, "service": "Mailgun", "secure": false, "requireTLS": true, "auth": { "user": "postmaster@yourdomain", "pass": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx" } } }, ``` Remove `"transport": "Direct"}`, which incidently has a missing brace. The user credentials and pass are from Mailgun Domains Settings \> SMTP Credentials. ---
**Author:** ![mjw](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/mjw/32/30781_2.png) [@mjw](https://forum.ghost.org/u/mjw)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/config-file-not-valid-json/33901/5 "2022-11-10T22:59:39Z")
2 posts were split to a new topic: [Mailgun config setup](https://forum.ghost.org/t/mailgun-config-setup/34042) ---
**Author:** ![naike](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/naike/32/20206_2.png) [@naike](https://forum.ghost.org/u/naike)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/config-file-not-valid-json/33901/6 "2022-11-10T15:57:33Z")
That’s not valid JSON. A json objects start with { and end with } e.g. ```auto { "mail": { "transport": "test" } } ``` I went ahead and fixed the initial json you posted, there were a bunch of syntax errors: ```auto { "url": "https://mydomain.com", "server": { "port": 2368, "host": "127.0.0.1" }, "database": { "client": "mysql", "connection": { "host": "localhost", "user": "ghost-456", "password": "REDACTED", "port": 3306, "database": "ghost_production" } }, "mail": { "from": "vanessa ", "transport": "SMTP", "options": { "service": "Mailgun", "host": "smtp.mailgun.org", "port": 465, "secureConnection": true, "auth": { "user": "TKTKTK@gmail.com", "pass": "REDACTED" } } }, "transport": "Direct", "logging": { "transports": [ "file", "stdout" ] }, "process": "systemd", "paths": { "contentPath": "/var/www/ghost/content" } } ```