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Chapter 17: Creating the Ghost Project with Docker Compose

Now that Docker and Docker Compose are installed and working, it’s time to deploy your blog platform — Ghost!

Ghost is modern, fast, and perfect for personal blogs or professional content. With Docker Compose, you’ll have it running in just a few commands.

Step 1: Create the Project Directory

We’ll keep everything organized in one folder.

mkdir ~/ghost
cd ~/ghost


Step 2: Create the docker-compose.yml File

Inside the ~/ghost folder, create the file:

vim docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'  # Compose file format version

services:
  ghost:
    image: ghost:5-alpine  # Use Ghost CMS version 5 based on Alpine Linux (lightweight)
    container_name: ghost  # Name the container "ghost"
    restart: always        # Automatically restart the container if it crashes or the server reboots

    ports:
      - 8080:2368          # Map host port 8080 to container port 2368 (Ghost default)

    environment:
      url: https://root.hexacats.cloud  # Public URL where Ghost will be accessible
      database__client: mysql           # Database type: MySQL
      database__connection__host: dockerlab-mariadb  # Hostname of the MariaDB/MySQL container
      database__connection__user: ghostuser          # Database username
      database__connection__password: <db_password>  # Database password (replace with real one)
      database__connection__database: ghost          # Database name to be used by Ghost
      NODE_ENV: production                           # Run in production mode
      mail: '{"transport":"SMTP","options":{"host":"smtp.gmail.com","port":587,"secure":false,"auth":{"user":"<mail_account>","pass":"<mail_password>"}},"from":"mail_account"}'
      # Mail settings in JSON format for sending emails via Gmail SMTP

    volumes:
      - ghost-data:/var/lib/ghost/content  # Persist Ghost content (images, themes, etc.) in a named volume

    networks:
      - dockerlab-network  # Attach this container to an external network for communication with the DB

volumes:
  ghost-data:  # Define the named volume used to persist Ghost content

networks:
  dockerlab-network:
    external: true  # Use an existing Docker network named "dockerlab-network"

Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain.

docker-compose up -d     # Start the container in detached mode
docker ps                # Check running containers




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