Summary: A no cost way to standup a static web site using Jeckyll, Markdown files, on an Ubuntu rig hosted for free as a GitHub pages site with HTTPS.

Creating a Blog Using Jekyll on an Ubuntu Machine

Once upon a time I used to run my own blog. Topics were of course code, work, projects, hikes, food and health. I did that for about 11 years. It even scored me some writing gigs. Then I kind of did the career focus track for the past five and a half years by getting my hands very dirty in the process of diving back into .Net, enough DevOps work to be familiar with YAML now, and of course Azure.

I’m in a pretty demanding project role right now but I took some old advice from a friend. So, dusting off some previous research I did earlier this year, I opened up VS Code this morning and produced this blog powered by markdown files, Jeckyll and hosted for free, being super cost concious here in the 2024 economy, on GitHub Pages.

“No one is so tired that he cannot begin again and carry on.” — Marcus Aurelius

In this guide, I’ll walk through the process of creating a blog using Jekyll on an Ubuntu machine (you can of course do it on both Mac and Windows).

Prerequisites

Before we get started, make sure you have the following installed on your Ubuntu machine:

  • Git: Version control system.
  • Ruby: Programming language Jekyll is built with.
  • RubyGems: Package manager for Ruby.
  • Jekyll: Static site generator.

Step 1: Install Ruby and RubyGems

First, we need to install Ruby and RubyGems. Open your terminal and run the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential libssl-dev libreadline-dev zlib1g-dev

Next, install Ruby using rbenv and ruby-build:

git clone https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv.git ~/.rbenv
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'eval "$(rbenv init -)"' >> ~/.bashrc
exec $SHELL

git clone https://github.com/rbenv/ruby-build.git ~/.rbenv/plugins/ruby-build
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.rbenv/plugins/ruby-build/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
exec $SHELL

rbenv install 3.1.2
rbenv global 3.1.2

Verify the installation:

ruby -v
gem -v

Step 2: Install Jekyll and Bundler

Now, install Jekyll and Bundler:

gem install jekyll bundler

Step 3: Create a New Jekyll Site

Navigate to the directory where you want to create your blog and create a new Jekyll site:

cd /path/to/your/directory
jekyll new your-blog-name

Navigate to your new site directory and install the dependencies:

cd your-blog-name
bundle install

Step 4: Build and Serve Your Site

To build and serve your site locally, run:

bundle exec jekyll serve

Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:4000 to see your new Jekyll blog in action.

Step 5: Adding Content with Markdown

Jekyll uses Markdown for writing posts. To create a new blog post, add a new Markdown file in the _posts directory. The file should follow the naming convention YYYY-MM-DD-title.md.

Here’s an example of a simple blog post:

markdown

layout: post title: “My First Blog Post” date: 2024-06-28 —

My First Blog Post

Welcome to my first blog post using Jekyll on an Ubuntu machine. This is a great way to share your ideas with the world!

Step 6: Deploying Your Site to GitHub Pages

  1. Create a GitHub Repository: Go to GitHub and create a new repository named your-username.github.io.

  2. Initialize Git: In your Jekyll site directory, initialize Git and add your remote repository:

   git init
   git remote add origin https://github.com/your-username/your-username.github.io.git
  1. Commit and Push Your Site:
   git add .
   git commit -m "Initial commit"
   git push -u origin main
  1. Enable GitHub Pages: Go to your repository settings on GitHub, scroll down to the “GitHub Pages” section, and select the branch main. Your site will be available at https://your-username.github.io.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve successfully created a blog using Jekyll on an Ubuntu machine. By leveraging the power of Jekyll and Markdown, you can easily manage and publish your content.