I have a shared hosting with ssh access. This runs under apache. I managed to install ghost—at least I think so, because npm start --production runs flawlessly.
I cannot access the running instance, however. Probably because the instance is listening on localhost:2368.
According to these instructions, a ProxyPAss must be set up in the VirtualHost configuration when using Apache:
ProxyPreserveHost On
# Servers to proxy the connection, or
# List of application servers Usage
ProxyPass / http: // localhost: 2368 /
ProxyPassReverse / http: // localhost: 2368 /
Unfortunately I have no access to the vhost configuration file, but can only use .htaccess files. Is there a way to complete the installation and make ghost publicly available?
a- You are making life too hard on yourself using ghost with shared hosting. Some shared hosting that runs with plesk has a one click ghost install through docker in plesk, but thats not the best way to go.
b- You did not provide nearly enough info. Moreover, the answers to your questions depend on how your specific server is set up, and it sounds like you did not install ghost properly. There is an install guide on this site, which says ubuntu, node.js and nginx are the prerequisites. The ONLY place I know of that uses apache for ghost is serverpilot-dot-io , but they only use apache to pass the url to the port - and Nginx is in front of apache as a reverse proxy.
c- By default for self installs ghost uses nginx- which is far superior (faster loading and more secure) than apache for static sites like ghost.
d- You want a no bs answer? Dump your shared host. Stop the insanity. Close your account with your shared host. Go to digitalocean.com make an account. They have a ONE CLICK GHOST INSTALL on any server. By any server it means a 6 dollar a month server or any other one. There are lots of video tutorials on youtube that show how to setup the one click ghost install on digitalocean. It is by far the easiest way to go that gives the fastest server. The one click install on digitalocean takes caree of ALL the complicated stuff- it is the best way to go on the FASTEST and most secure server. Digitalocean is comparable to AWS or Google hosting- the 3 top hosting sites on the planet. In sharp contrast, yes, ghost.org offers its own hosting, that certainly is the EASIEST WAY TO START USING GHOST but its too expensive and you get charged by the amount of page views which is absurdly predatory behavior. It is like charging you for the air you breathe. Ghost (node.js) by default runs on very little CPU power and also little memory so ghost is not overly taxing a server or memory with page views. So to charge a person by page views is predatory. And the SMALL amount of server power and memory you get on ghost.org for the price is absurdly expensive. (Even Node.js has limits, it is NOT magic) Ghost does not use up much memory, so they stack a bunch of people on the same low memory server, then have the audacity to charge by page views. Of particular interest, you are NOT charged by the amount of server cores or memory- any sane hosting place uses the amount of cpu’s and memory dedicated to you in order to determine price. Alarmingly, i ghostorg does not even specify what hardware they put your ghost blog on - AND they do not specify how many other blogs are competing against you on the server that YOU are paying for! You want a vps where the cpu and memory is YOURS- no one else takes away from it like on shared hosting. Why? Because even ghost blog powered by node.js does have a point where the server can not handle the load. And when you are on shared hosting, too many people on the same server could reach the server limits of failure or slow down. If you want a no nonsense super fast ghostblog- go with digitalocean with the “one click ghost install” - like i say lots of youtube vids guide you through the whole process. No shared hosting can come close to matching the speed and power of hosting ghost through a vpn one click droplet. YES, the ghost dot org hosting is absolutely the easiest, but others like a digitalocean one click droplet require that you do a bit of work pointing your domain to the right place, but in the end it is lightnling fast and you are NOT competing with others on your shared server- so your ghost blog will not be slowed down like it can be on shared servers.
a) probably, but that are the means I currently have at hand.
b) What do you need to know? I’ll gladly give you the info you need.
d) Thanks for the hint. I’ll consider it.
Additionally, if you say ghost is not resource intensive:
Would it be practical to host it on a raspi? That’ll give me the opportunity to build a small community (if I’m successful) at a very low cost.
I guess, I could host the bandwith consuming parts on a CDN…
In order to answer your original question - specify the hosting stack you are working with and what exactly you did to set it up. What company, what environment is set up etc. The install instructions from ghost are here… ghost -dot- org/docs/install/ and if you click on, say, ubuntu, it says you need ubuntu, nginx, ghost 14.x to start. What you described on your shared hosting seems no where near the requirements. Ghost devs recommend ubuntu- people DO run ghost on a lot of different types of servers, and use things like plesk, docker or another linux distro- yes, it can be done but it takes tweaking and maintenance. To keep the known reliability, stability and speed of ghost is is unwise to NOT follow the recommended ghost setup specs. If you want to be hard headed and do a non traditional ghost install, yes, it may be possible but you have to specify exactly what environment you are trying to install ghost on. So eexplain in detail what you are doing- like what company, what distro, are you using- are you on cpanel or plesk or what?
Sure, ppl run ghost off a raspi …ive read articles about it. In terms of technology, that is not going forward tho. If the entire world ran sites on a raspi it would actually be a huge step backwards. The cloud is far superior. One can have a cloud vps for 5 or 10 dollars a month that has 50x more computing power than a raspi.
You want a one click ghost install droplet on digital ocean if you want the fastest, cheapest most secure and reliable ghost install. If you want the easiest, there is hosting right from ghost itself. Lastly, yes, node js apps require very little server power and memory. They are NOT magic with unlimited power tho. A raspi with little resources will never be as reliable or as fast as a super fast and solid cloud vps droplet from digital ocean. And by the way ghost can run fine on very little ram, BUT the recommended amount of ram of 1g should be followed, because it is needed for the install and upgrade process.
I’d like to clear up some of the misinformation in this thread around Ghost(Pro) and managed hosting in general.
Ghost(Pro)'s pricing is based around number of members and staff users, not page views, you can see that on the pricing page. In the past there were soft page view limits, they were soft in that they didn’t mean much unless you were repeatedly going over considerably each month.
Ghost(Pro) doesn’t publish server specs because they are irrelevant. You’re paying for a professional service to keep your site online and running at it’s fastest speed possible, not for arbitrary server specifications. Sites aren’t throttled and have access to far more CPU power and ram than you’d have available from a VPS without getting into similar pricing levels before you even get to the specialist knowledge and services on top that can speed your site up even further.
Outside of raw server specs on Ghost(Pro) you get your email sending included (extra cost when self-hosting), backups included (extra cost when self-hosting), support (non-existent when self-hosting), worldwide CDN and specialist caching (extra cost when self-hosting), and managed continuous upgrades (non-existent when self-hosting).
So, comparing a self-hosted VPS to a managed service solely on price is not a reasonable comparison.
Does managed hosting pricing work for a developer who wants to micro manage all the technical details and trade their time for slightly lower monthly costs? Maybe not.
Does managed hosting pricing work for a small business that never wants to be concerned with keeping their site online and wants to focus on their own business? Absolutely.
However, all this is massively side-tracking from the original question. @Tobias I would suggest asking your shared host’s support about setting up proxy directive, they are the ones who can tell you if it’s possible. What I can tell you is that it’s not possible using .htaccess alone as Apache doesn’t support that.