Guide: Migrating Your Ghost Blog to a Docker Container

In this guide, we’ll cover how to migrate a Ghost blog from a server where it was installed directly on the file system to a new server where Ghost is hosted in a Docker container. This is the third article in our Ghost blog management series:

1. How to Host Multiple Ghost Blogs with Docker and Nginx on One Server
2. How to Host a Ghost Blog in a Subdirectory Instead of a Subdomain

Prerequisites

• Access to the old server with Ghost installed directly on the file system.
• A new server where Ghost is hosted in a Docker container (ghost-blog1).
• SSH access to both servers.

In this example:

• Ghost container name: ghost-blog1
• Blog URL: https://blog.mydomain1.com

Step 1: Create a Backup on the Old Server

1. Log in to your old server.
2. Identify the working directory for Ghost: ghost ls
   This will display all installed Ghost instances. In this example, the working directory is /var/www/ghost.
3. Navigate to the working directory and create a backup:

cd /var/www/ghost
ghost backup

This generates a .zip backup file (e.g., backup-from-v[version]-on-[timestamp].zip) in the content folder.

Step 2: Transfer the Backup File to the New Server

Use scp to transfer the backup file to your new server. Replace placeholders with your details:

scp -i ~/.ssh/<your_ssh_key> /var/www/ghost/content/<ghost_backup>.zip root@<remote_server_ip>:/root/docker-dir/

Step 3: Copy the Backup into the Docker Container

1. Log in to the new server.
2. Copy the backup file into the Ghost container:

docker cp /root/docker-dir/<ghost_backup>.zip ghost-blog1:/var/lib/ghost/

Step 4: Unzip the Backup Inside the Container

1. Enter the Ghost container:

docker exec -it ghost-blog1 bash

2. Navigate to the Ghost content directory:

cd /var/lib/ghost

3. Unzip the backup into the content folder:

unzip <ghost_backup>.zip -d content

If unzip is not installed, run:

apt-get update && apt-get install -y unzip

Step 5: Import the Content

The official Ghost documentation suggests importing the JSON file directly using the ghost-cli:

ghost import content/data/<ghost_backup>.json

However, running ghost import within a Docker container may be tricky due to ghost-cli limitations. Instead, use the Ghost Admin panel to import the content:

1. Download the JSON file to your local machine.
2. Open the Ghost Admin panel (https://blog.mydomain1.com/ghost).
3. Go to Settings → Import/Export → Universal Import.
4. Upload the JSON file (e.g., <ghost_backup>.json).

Step 6: Verify the Migration

1. Check that your blog content is live at https://blog.mydomain1.com.
2. Log in to the Ghost Admin panel and verify that all posts, pages, and settings have been restored.

You’ve successfully migrated your Ghost blog to a Docker container!

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