How To Install Ghost On Windows XP

Note: This page will not document steps outside the scope of Ghost and makes a few assumptions including:
  • Windows XP is has service pack 3 installed.
  • A network interface is setup with a static IP address.
  • Any reference to the servers IP address will be 192.168.0.10 but will need to be replaced with your servers IP address.
  • Any reference to Ghost's domain name will be www.ghostblog.com but will need to be replaced with your domain name.

Installing Node.js and Other Dependencies

Go to nodejs.org and download the Windows Installer (.msi), either the 32-bit or 64-bit depending on your architecture.

Run through the installer with all the defaults.

Reboot your computer.

Download python 2.7.3 (32-bit , 64-bit)

Install Python with all of the defaults.

Open command prompt as Administrator (not needed if your account is an administrator account) and execute

 set PATH=%PATH%;C:Python27;C:Python27Scripts;
To open cmd.exe as administrator go to C:Program Filessystem32 and hold down shift as you right click on cmd.exe

Download and install Visual C++ 2010 Express with all of the defaults.

Download and Install Ghost

Go to the Ghost and download the latest build of Ghost and unpack it wherever you would like.

Install Ghost

Now open cmd.exe and cd into your ghost directory and run the following command:

 npm install

Configure Ghost

Open up the config.example.js in Notepad or any other text editor and change the following:

host: '127.0.0.1',
port: '2368'

to

host: 'your_ip_address',
port: '80'

Once you made those changes, save the file as config.js instead of config.example.js.

Start Ghost

npm start

Troubleshooting

If you see the message:

python is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file

make sure you have downloaded and installed python and then run the following command

 set PATH=%PATH%;C:Python27;C:Python27Scripts;