Ghost 6 - open-source publishing platform on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by cloudimg. Node.js 22 LTS + MySQL 8 + nginx. Per-VM credentials at first boot.
## Ghost 6 Publishing Platform on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by cloudimg
Ghost is the leading open-source publishing platform for professional bloggers, online publications, newsletters, and creator businesses. Built as a modern Node.js alternative to legacy CMS stacks, Ghost powers some of the world's most-read independent publications and is used by Buffer, Mozilla, OpenAI, Tinder, NASA, DuckDuckGo, and tens of thousands of independent writers. The cloudimg image installs Ghost 6 via the official ghost-cli onto a production-typical Node.js 22 LTS + MySQL 8 + nginx stack on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, with per-VM database credentials rotated at first boot.
Why Choose cloudimg?
* 24/7 Expert Support with guaranteed 24 hour response. support@cloudimg.co.uk
* Production Ready from Launch Pre-configured, security-patched, validated end-to-end
* Azure Native Integration Azure Linux Agent, cloud-init, Gen2 Hyper-V, TrustedLaunch
* Per VM database credentials Every deployed VM rotates the MySQL ghost_user and root passwords at first boot
* Native owner setup Ghost's first-visit setup wizard at /ghost/setup/ creates the OWNER account interactively in your browser
What is Included
* Ghost 6.36.0 from the official Ghost CDN, installed via ghost-cli at /var/www/ghost (owned by the ghost system user)
* Node.js 22 LTS from NodeSource (deb.nodesource.com/node_22.x)
* MySQL 8 from Ubuntu noble main, bound to 127.0.0.1 with the ghost_prod database and ghost_user role (per-VM password)
* nginx 1.24 from Ubuntu noble main, reverse-proxying :80 to the Ghost upstream on 127.0.0.1:2368
* ghost-cli 1.29+ installed globally for Ghost lifecycle management (ghost ls, ghost log, ghost update, ghost backup)
* ghost_localhost.service systemd unit (Type=simple, NODE_ENV=production, Restart=on-failure, User=ghost)
* ghost-6-firstboot.service rotating MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD and GHOST_DB_PASSWORD on first boot, recreating ghost_prod from scratch
* /stage/scripts/ghost-credentials.log (0600 root:root) holding storefront URL, admin URL, setup URL, MySQL credentials
* Customer-facing storefront at http://VM-IP/ and Admin UI at http://VM-IP/ghost/. First visit triggers Ghost's native owner-setup wizard at /ghost/setup/
* Ubuntu 24.04 LTS base with the latest security patches via apt dist-upgrade
* 24/7 cloudimg support with guaranteed 24 hour response SLA
Use Cases
* Independent professional publication - newsletters, journalism, opinion writing, niche analysis with paid subscription tiers
* Company blog and content marketing - SEO-driven product blog, engineering blog, customer-stories hub with a clean editorial workflow
* Membership and subscription business - paid newsletters, member-only content, recurring revenue via Ghost's native Stripe integration
* Headless content API - drive a Next.js, Gatsby, Astro, or Eleventy front-end from Ghost's Content API while editors work in the Ghost admin
* Creator platform - newsletter, blog, podcast show notes, and a paid-tier community for individual writers, podcasters, and educators
* Multi-author online magazine - editorial workflows, drafts, scheduled publishing, role-based access for staff writers and editors
* Email-first publishing - send newsletters direct from Ghost to subscribers using Mailgun integration, with full open-rate and click-rate analytics