Blog Post covering additional details about this project

About

This script aims to facilliate setting up a self-hosted Ghost.org instance on Google Cloud without a lot of hassle. I recently embarked on learning more about Google's Cloud and decided to automate this process, using the Google Cloud Command Line Interface (CLI) and various Google services. Google Cloud has a free-tier E2-Micro instance server ideal for running low traffic websites or blogs. I figured why not make it accessible to more people?

While attempting to run this installer on an E2-Micro (1GB) instance, I encountered frequent timeouts and maxed-out memory. Even upgrading to an E2-Small (2GB) didn't solve the issue. Ultimately, I opted for an E2-Medium (4GB) instance to ensure stability for setup. And, downgraded to an E2-Micro post setup. This involves a minimal one-time fee, amounting to just a few cents, but if you have free credits, there will be no cost.

At time of writing an E2-Micro instance has up to 1GB RAM, 30GB storage, 1TB monthly transfer, can run 24/7 and falls under Google Cloud's Always Free Tier, which means you won't incur any costs running it, subject to Google's terms and usage limits.

Requirements

• A Google account
• The gcloud CLI must be installed (the script will guide you through the installation if it's not already installed)
• macOS with git (install by running xcode-select --install in the terminal)
• (Optional) A Mailgun.com account for email configuration (username and password will be required)
• A domain already registered and hosted (required for SSL setup)

Pre-requisites

1. Visit Google Cloud in a browser
2. Agree to GCP terms
3. Add payment info to GCP

Usage

git clone https://github.com/danielraffel/gcloud_ghost_instancer.git
cd gcloud_ghost_instancer
bash gcloud_ghost_instancer.sh

Instructions

Follow the on-screen instructions for customization. If this is your initial use of GCP, you will need to authorize your account with Google and activate API services for your project. Respond with Yes to the prompts and wait, as this step confirms that your account can create the required services on GCP through the CLI. The details of these prompts are outlined in the Post Setup Screen Action Items section below. After API services are activated, the Secret Manager will be enabled, passwords will be generated and securely stored in the cloud, and a local RSA public/private key pair will be created on your machine.

Troubleshooting

File issues to report problems.

Security & Secrets

• Generates local SSH keys stored at $HOME/.ssh/ for
  • root root_key-YOUR.INSTANCE.NAME-ghost
  • service-account service_account_key-YOUR.INSTANCE.NAME-ghost
• Passwords and setup params stored in Google Secret Manager. They are labeled as follows:
  • mysql root password mysql-password-YOUR.INSTANCE.NAME-ghost
  • service-account service-account-password-YOUR.INSTANCE.NAME-ghost
  • root root-password-YOUR.INSTANCE.NAME-ghost
• The script gcloud_ghost_instancer.sh asks how you want to customize your Ghost install. The parameters you define during setup are stored in ghost_install_setup_parameters-YOUR.INSTANCE.NAME-ghost in Google Secret Manager and appended to the Ghost installer on your VM at runtime as follows. This is a complate list of the parameters that are passed:

ghost install $ghost_install_setup_parameters --setup-mysql --setup-nginx --setup-ssl --setup-systemd --db mysql --dbhost localhost --dbuser root --dbpass $mysql_password --dbname ghost_prod --process systemd --enable --log file --no-stack --port 2368 --ip 127.0.0.1

• The content of ghost_install_setup_parameters will always include:
  • the URL where you will host Ghost --url $url
  • the email address LetsEncrypt will use to register your sites SSL cert --sslemail $email
  • a modified version of your sites DNS name in the format site-domain-com --pname $pname
  • Optionally may include Mailgun settings if you opt to share your mailgun_username and mailgun_username with the installer:

--mail SMTP --mailservice Mailgun --mailuser $mailgun_username --mailpass $mailgun_username --mailhost $smtp_mailgun --mailport 2525

• Post-setup to SSH into your machine to do things like edit your config.production.json file and more go to your terminal and run:

ssh -i $HOME/.ssh/service_account_key-INSTANCE_NAME -o IdentitiesOnly=yes service-account@INSTANCE_IP

• Note: You will need to update your instance Name and External IP
  • You can obtain these details under "Name" and "External IP" in the GCP Console
• Or, you can run a gcloud command to fetch them in the terminal

gcloud compute instances list --format="table(name, networkInterfaces[0].accessConfigs[0].natIP)"

Cleanup

It's entirely possible the script may fail, leaving you with a running VM. While I do not expect that to occur I advise you to check GCP Console to ensure you end up with an E2-Micro. You can also run this gCloud command after the script runs to see what's running.

gcloud compute instances list

A temp file is generated on your local machine to store variables the script needs access to after exiting the SSH session. You can search the code to see what is stored. On your local machine the script gcloud_ghost_instancer.sh creates and removes this file:

$HOME/temp_vars.sh

Temp files are created on your VM to generate some SQL commands that run to optimize your DB without opening the mysql prompt. The script install_on_server.sh creates and removes these files:

sql_file
sql_file2

Known Issues

• Installer is not optimized to be installed on a free-tier E2-Micro
• Not tested on Linux / Windows. To run this on platforms you will need the Google Cloud CLI. The script checks and installs this for macOS but doesn't do that for other platforms.
• SSL was setup with a no-prompt installer. And, this may only supports https. I don't know that for certain so for now the script doesn't currently block setting up http Blog URLs.
• I have not personally tested end-to-end Mailgun setup with these flows (but it likely works since it leans on the script just collecting parameters and passing them to Ghost installer to generate the config correctly.)

Additional Information

• This script is provided for informational purposes only. It is not officially supported by me or Google Cloud.
• The script likely contain bugs. Please use it at your own risk.
• Learn about Google Secret Manager

Potential Future Enhancements

• Explore ways to customize additional install options such as using Cloudflare Tunnels.

Setup Screen Action Items Below are the steps you'll be walked through in the script.

Step 1) This script will help you set up and run a Google Compute Engine E2-Micro virtual machine with Ghost.org installed.

An E2-Micro instance has up to 1GB RAM, 30GB storage, 1TB monthly transfer, can run 24/7 and falls under Google Cloud's Always Free Tier, which means you won't incur any costs, subject to Google's terms and usage limits. Learn more: https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features#free-tier-usage-limits

Do you want to proceed? (y/n): y

Step 2) To create a free E2-Micro instance, you'll need to setup your VM in a colocation facility that supports free-tiers. Pick the one closest to you.

1. Oregon: us-west1
2. Iowa: us-central1
3. South Carolina: us-east1

Select a zone that sounds like it's located closest to you: 1

Step 3) Enter your blog URL (include http:// or https://): https://ketchup.com

• You entered: https://ketchup.com. Is this URL correct? (y/n): y
• Will setup Ghost with https://ketchup.com. Continuing...

Step 4) Enter your email address for SSL configuration with Let's Encrypt: username@domain.com

• You entered: username@domain.com. Is this URL correct? (y/n): y
• Email address confirmed. Continuing...

Step 5) Do you want to setup Ghost to send emails using Mailgun? (y/n):

• Note: if you select yes you'll need to have your mailgun username and password handy

Step 6) This script will create a VM named 'ghost' you have the option to add a custom prefix (eg daniel-ghost)

• Do you want to add a customize prefix to your VM? (y/n): y
• Customize the prefix for your VM (e.g. 'yourprefix-ghost'):: ketchup
• Your VM will be named: ketchup-ghost

Step 7) Creates SSH keys for service-account VM user on your local machine @ $HOME/.ssh/service_account_key-ketchup-ghost

• Note: you'll be asked to simply press return (no need to enter a password)
  • Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
  • Enter same passphrase again:

Step 8) Creates SSH keys for root VM user on your local machine @ $HOME/.ssh/root_key-ketchup-ghost

• Note: similar to step 6 you'll be asked to simply press return (no need to enter a password)
  • Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
  • Enter same passphrase again:

Remaining Bits Assuming all runs smoothly the rest of the installer is mostly automated. You'll be asked to configure your DNS to your Virtual Machines static IP address before continuing so that LetsEncrypt can access and verify the hostname for your site. Upon completion your site should end with these things being installed

Blog URL: https://ketchup.com
MySQL hostname: localhost
MySQL username: root
MySQL password: <mysql-password-YOUR.INSTANCE.NAME-ghost -- accessible in Google Secret Manager>
Ghost database name: ghost_prod
Set up Ghost MySQL user? — Y
Set up NGINX? — Y
Set up SSL? — Y
Set up systemd? — Y
Start Ghost? — Y

At the very end

• You'll be briefly SSH'd into your E2-Micro instance where you'll see the status of your server.
• The script completes and the SSH session exits.