Ghost Web App Installer Upgrade Removes Proxy

[itmustbe]

I appreciate that I’m already talking to the folks who wrote the code, for sure! Over the years I’ve used Virtualmin Pro (since 2012 or so?), I’ve tried to solve my own issues and only come here in times when I really can’t find another solution.

Granted, Ghost isn’t so commonly used. However, this issue is not Ghost-specific, but rather an issue with Virtualmin’s proxying of Node websites… at least I think so, judging by the error logs I posted in my most recent unanswered question above. I had already removed the Ghost install on this site via Virtualmin, and then set up a fresh Ghost install in the root directory, and it was working perfectly.

Then I did that one upgrade as above, via the Web App Installers UI, and all of a sudden proxy errors began occurring. Not with the public-facing site, but anytime I tried to log into the back-end of Ghost (via its dashboard URL link), which hangs and does not let me log in anymore. It’s so very strange, and in the console of my browser I also see the errors resulting from proxy issues

[Joe]

So, am I understanding correctly that you applied the patch @Ilia posted above, but you still have the problem?

[itmustbe]

It’s a different but related problem, as far as I can tell. If I understood proxying better, I would be more helpful. Definitely the proxy does not get removed anymore (that was the bug), but there’s some residual proxying issues somewhere.

After applying the patch updating to Virtualmin 8.1.0 and then setting up a fresh Ghost install via Virtualmin, everything worked perfectly. After updating from Ghost 6.17.0 to 6.19.3 via Virtualmin, the proxy was not removed (as in the original bug), and the public Ghost website was error-free (unlike in the original bug), but the administrative Ghost dashboard now generates these proxying errors that I see in the Apache logs for this website, and which explain the console errors that I see when I am no longer able to log into the Ghost dashboard (that screen now hangs while the proxy errors are generated in Apache).

[itmustbe]

Here are the new proxying issues quoted from above:

@itmustbe

However when I tried to log into the Ghost dashboard, I was unable to do so. The Ghost dashboard login screen loads just fine, but appears to keep hanging, with 403 errors logged in the console. When I checked the Apache error logs for the website in question, I see a large number of errors in this form, referencing proxy errors:

[Wed Mar 04 08:49:12.920016 2026] [proxy_http:error] [pid 2637851:tid 2637913] [remote 49.13.167.123:0] AH01114: HTTP: failed to make connection to backend: 127.0.0.1, referer: https://REDACTED.com
[Wed Mar 04 08:49:12.920007 2026] [proxy:error] [pid 2637851:tid 2637913] AH00959: ap_proxy_connect_backend disabling worker for (127.0.0.1:3000) for 60s
[Wed Mar 04 08:49:12.919882 2026] [proxy:error] [pid 2637851:tid 2637913] (111)Connection refused: AH00957: http: attempt to connect to 127.0.0.1:3000 (127.0.0.1:3000) failed

[itmustbe]

Oh, and I should have noted, I didn’t apply the patch Ilia posted, instead I waited until Virtualmin 8.1.0 came out.

[Stegan]

@itmustbe

However, this issue is not Ghost-specific, but rather an issue with Virtualmin’s proxying of Node websites…

now that does surprise me as i use Node a lot … (admittedly not installed via Virtualmin) and have not seen this as a problem.

of course if you are using the Node+Ghost installed via the Pro version I have no idea how the proxy is handled there, or if it is different to the GPL - i would not expect anything different

[Ilia]

@itmustbe

After updating from Ghost 6.17.0 to 6.19.3 via Virtualmin, the proxy was not removed (as in the original bug), and the public Ghost website was error-free (unlike in the original bug), but the administrative Ghost dashboard now generates these proxying errors that I see in the Apache logs for this website, and which explain the console errors that I see when I am no longer able to log into the Ghost dashboard (that screen now hangs while the proxy errors are generated in Apache).

Thanks for pointing this out! I also see an issue that happens after the Ghost upgrade from 6.17.0 to 6.19.3. I’ll take a closer look and update this ticket with progress.

[Ilia]

The issue has been resolved, and the updated Ghost 6.22.0 installer will be available within the next 24 hours.

@itmustbe Apologies for the delay; I totally got carried away developing a new Virtualmin Podman plugin.

Note that the current installation will not fix itself. You need to fix it manually by editing the ghostblog/installations/config.development.json file and changing the URL protocol from http to https, and restarting the service from “Manage Web Apps: Manage Ghost” page.

[itmustbe]

Thank you! I edited my config.development.json file on the Ghost site with proxy errors, then restarted Ghost on the command line, and everything worked perfectly again!

I’ll make sure to remember to look here if ever something similar occurs in the future. I have a distant memory of having edited this file before in this way (perhaps when originally installing Ghost), but I’d forgotten all about it.

[Ilia]

You’re welcome! And, you probably don’t need to look over it again. It should work fine in future updates.