# Running Ghost on MySQL 9.5 (Docker) - Experiences and Logs

**URL:** <https://forum.ghost.org/t/running-ghost-on-mysql-9-5-docker-experiences-and-logs/61270>\
**Category:** Installation\
**Created:** [December 24, 2025, 9:45pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/running-ghost-on-mysql-9-5-docker-experiences-and-logs/61270 "2025-12-24T21:45:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Can](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/can/32/38845_2.png) [@Can](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Can)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 9:45pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/running-ghost-on-mysql-9-5-docker-experiences-and-logs/61270/1 "2025-12-24T21:45:17Z")

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Hello everyone,

I wanted to share my experience regarding the MySQL version requirements. While the official documentation recommends MySQL 8.0, I have successfully set up and am currently running Ghost with **MySQL 9.5.0** in a Docker environment (aaPanel) for my personal blog.

Despite the warnings about version compatibility, everything seems to be working perfectly. I’ve checked the logs, and the initialization process was flawless.

**Here are some key points from my setup:**

- **Environment:** Docker on Enterprise Linux 9.

- **MySQL Version:** 9.5.0-1.el9.

- **System Resources:** 2 logical CPUs and 4GB RAM.

- **Status:** Database `ghost_prod_db` was created successfully, and the server is “ready for connections” on port 3306.

**Logs Snippet:**

[System] [MY-015015] [Server] MySQL Server - start.  
[System] [MY-010116] [Server] /usr/sbin/mysqld (mysqld 9.5.0) starting as process 1  
[System] [MY-010931] [Server] /usr/sbin/mysqld: ready for connections. Version: ‘9.5.0’ socket: ‘/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock’ port: 3306

Since this is a personal blog, I haven’t encountered any issues so far. The logs are clean, and InnoDB initialized without any errors.

Is there any specific reason to downgrade to 8.0 for a small-scale personal site, or is it safe to continue with 9.5 as long as the logs remain stable? I’d love to hear if anyone else is experimenting with 9.x versions.

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**Author:** ![KBExit](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/kbexit/32/38359_2.png) [@KBExit](https://forum.ghost.org/u/KBExit)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 10:12pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/running-ghost-on-mysql-9-5-docker-experiences-and-logs/61270/2 "2025-12-24T22:12:12Z")

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I think it’s best to downgrade to MySQL 8 strictly because it’s tested on scale whereas yours is just 1 instance. Many factors are at play.  
I could see it working no problem, but it’s a wildcard.  
With selfhosting, you can do what you want. Just make sure to check everything twice and keep good backups.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Can](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/can/32/38845_2.png) [@Can](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Can)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/running-ghost-on-mysql-9-5-docker-experiences-and-logs/61270/3 "2025-12-24T23:07:11Z")

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For example, when posting a comment it sometimes gets stuck. I can’t clearly tell whether this is caused by MySQL 9 or something on the browser/client side.

Would you recommend moving to MySQL 8.0 or 8.4 in this case, or should I stay where I am for now? What would you do?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KBExit](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/kbexit/32/38359_2.png) [@KBExit](https://forum.ghost.org/u/KBExit)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 11:19pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/running-ghost-on-mysql-9-5-docker-experiences-and-logs/61270/4 "2025-12-24T23:19:40Z")

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I personally would do a MySQL dump and migrate. But that’s just me.  
You’re free to do what you want man lol.

There’s no logs at all when it gets stuck?