Self-host Ghost on blitz.cloud

To self-host Ghost on blitz.cloud, install it from the App Store: pick Ghost, choose an address and click Put it online. blitz.cloud sets the address Ghost uses for every link it prints, puts its content in a SQLite file on 2 GB of storage, and gives it HTTPS. On the free plan Ghost sleeps after 30 minutes without a visit, and the first visit after that takes a few seconds to wake it. On Pro you can keep it awake, so a reader who opens a link right after you publish never waits.

Install it

1. In the dashboard, open the App Store and pick Ghost, or click Host something new and choose "A ready-made app".
2. Give it an address such as blog and click Put it online.
3. Open https://blog.yourname.blitz.cloud/ghost and create your account. The first person to open that page becomes the owner, so do this right after the install: until then, anyone who finds the address could.

What the App Store entry sets for you:

Ghost needs no managed database. It keeps its own SQLite file in the storage the install reserves.

Your own domain

Ghost writes every link in your posts and newsletter from whatever address it is told to run on, so they read blog.yourname.blitz.cloud until you connect a domain you own. Connecting a domain, like www.yourblog.com, is part of Pro at 7 EUR a month: add it on the Domains page, and once it is verified, make it the app's main address. Ghost's url setting updates to the new domain and the app restarts to pick it up, so every link it writes from then on uses it. See Addresses and HTTPS for the steps.

Backups: on Pro, not on the free plan

Ghost keeps its posts, members and uploaded images in /var/lib/ghost/content: a SQLite database file plus an images folder. On the free plan blitz.cloud backs up databases every night, but Ghost doesn't use a managed database, so none of that applies: on the free plan, nothing about your blog is backed up. On Pro the files apps keep are copied every night and kept for 30 nights, and you can put them back from the app's Settings tab.

Either way, export your content regularly: in Ghost, go to Settings, then Labs, and use Export under "Migration options" to download a JSON file of your posts, pages and settings (not the images). Keep a copy of your images too, for example by downloading them through a file manager app like FileBrowser Quantum from the App Store.

Moving an existing Ghost blog over

If you already run Ghost somewhere else, move the content without redoing the writing:

1. On the old site, go to Settings, then Labs, and use Export under "Migration options" to download the JSON file.
2. On the new blitz.cloud install, open the same Labs page and use Import to upload it. Posts, pages, tags and members come across; the export is content only, so theme and images don't.
3. Copy your theme's files into Ghost's content folder, or reinstall it from Ghost's theme marketplace if you used a stock one, and re-upload the images your posts reference.
4. Point your domain at blitz.cloud last, once the new site looks right. See your own domain above, or keep the blitz.cloud address if you don't have one yet.

Sending newsletters

Ghost sends its newsletter through an email provider's HTTP API, not through a mail server on the usual SMTP ports, so blitz.cloud's block on outgoing ports 25, 465 and 587 doesn't get in the way. Set this up under Settings, then Email newsletter, with a provider Ghost supports.

Size

Ghost runs in the small size: 128 MB of memory reserved from your plan's 512 MB, with room to grow to 512 MB. That covers a personal or small team blog. A blog with heavy traffic or a large back catalog of images may want more; write to hallo@blitzworks.io if Ghost is running out of room.