diff --git a/defaults.sh b/defaults.sh
index 6190325..0b09dfc 100755
--- a/defaults.sh
+++ b/defaults.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ export WWW_SERVER_MAC_ADDRESS=
 export DEPLOY_BTCPPAY_SERVER=false
 
 export DEPLOY_GHOST=true
-export DEPLOY_NOSTR_RELAY=false
+export DEPLOY_NOSTR_RELAY=true
 export DEPLOY_ONION_SITE=false
 export DEPLOY_NEXTCLOUD=false
 export DEPLOY_GITEA=false
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ DEFAULT_DB_IMAGE="mariadb:10.9.3-jammy"
 
 
 # run the docker stack.
-export GHOST_IMAGE="ghost:5.14.2"
+export GHOST_IMAGE="ghost:5.18.0"
 export GHOST_DB_IMAGE="$DEFAULT_DB_IMAGE"
 export NGINX_IMAGE="nginx:1.23.1"
 export NEXTCLOUD_IMAGE="nextcloud:24.0.5"
diff --git a/deploy.sh b/deploy.sh
index 0830751..79727cd 100755
--- a/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy.sh
@@ -122,7 +122,6 @@ done
 source ./defaults.sh
 
 export CACHES_DIR="$HOME/ss-cache"
-export SSH_HOME="$HOME/.ssh"
 export DOMAIN_NAME="$DOMAIN_NAME"
 export REGISTRY_DOCKER_IMAGE="registry:2"
 export RESTORE_ARCHIVE="$RESTORE_ARCHIVE"
@@ -158,7 +157,7 @@ if [ ! -f "$CLUSTER_PATH/authorized_keys" ]; then
     cat "$SSH_HOME/id_rsa.pub" >> "$CLUSTER_PATH/authorized_keys"
     echo "INFO: Sovereign Stack just stubbed out '$CLUSTER_PATH/authorized_keys'. Go update it."
     echo "      Add ssh pubkeys for your various management machines, if any."
-    echo "      By default we added your main ssh pubkey: '$HOME/.ssh/id_rsa.pub'."
+    echo "      By default we added your main ssh pubkey: '$SSH_HOME/id_rsa.pub'."
     exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -246,7 +245,16 @@ function instantiate_vms {
         if [ "$VPS_HOSTING_TARGET" = lxd ]; then
             # first let's get the DISK_TO_USE and DATA_PLANE_MACVLAN_INTERFACE from the ss-config
             # which is set up during LXD cluster creation ss-cluster.
-            LXD_SS_CONFIG_LINE="$(lxc network list --format csv | grep lxdbrSS | grep ss-config)"
+            LXD_SS_CONFIG_LINE=
+            if lxc network list --format csv | grep lxdbrSS | grep ss-config; then
+                LXD_SS_CONFIG_LINE="$(lxc network list --format csv | grep lxdbrSS | grep ss-config)"
+            fi
+
+            if [ -z "$LXD_SS_CONFIG_LINE" ]; then
+                echo "ERROR: the MACVLAN interface has not been specified. You may need to run ss-cluster again."
+                exit 1
+            fi
+
             CONFIG_ITEMS="$(echo "$LXD_SS_CONFIG_LINE" | awk -F'"' '{print $2}')"
             DATA_PLANE_MACVLAN_INTERFACE="$(echo "$CONFIG_ITEMS" | cut -d ',' -f2)"
             DISK_TO_USE="$(echo "$CONFIG_ITEMS" | cut -d ',' -f3)"
@@ -428,7 +436,7 @@ export DUPLICITY_BACKUP_PASSPHRASE="$(new_pass)"
 #export BTCPAY_HOSTNAME_IN_CERT="store"
 export DEPLOY_GHOST=true
 export DEPLOY_NEXTCLOUD=true
-export DEPLOY_NOSTR_RELAY=false
+export DEPLOY_NOSTR_RELAY=true
 export NOSTR_ACCOUNT_PUBKEY="CHANGE_ME"
 export DEPLOY_GITEA=false
 #export DEPLOY_ONION_SITE=false
@@ -469,14 +477,14 @@ export DEPLOY_BTCPAY_SERVER=true
 export BTCPAYSERVER_MAC_ADDRESS="CHANGE_ME_REQUIRED"
 # export BTC_CHAIN=mainnet
 export PRIMARY_DOMAIN="CHANGE_ME"
-export OTHER_SITES_LIST=
+export OTHER_SITES_LIST=""
 EOL
 
         chmod 0744 "$PROJECT_DEFINITION_PATH"
         echo "INFO: we stubbed a new project_defition for you at '$PROJECT_DEFINITION_PATH'. Go update it yo!"
         echo "INFO: Learn more at https://www.sovereign-stack.org/project-definitions/"
+        
         exit 1
-
     fi
 
     # source project defition.
diff --git a/deployment/deploy_vms.sh b/deployment/deploy_vms.sh
index 4fa04fa..cc89a87 100755
--- a/deployment/deploy_vms.sh
+++ b/deployment/deploy_vms.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 set -eux
 cd "$(dirname "$0")"
 
-# let's make sure we have an ssh keypair. We just use ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+# let's make sure we have an ssh keypair. We just use $SSH_HOME/id_rsa
 # TODO convert this to SSH private key held on Trezor. THus trezor-T required for 
 # login operations. This should be configurable of course.
 if [ ! -f "$SSH_HOME/id_rsa" ]; then
diff --git a/deployment/www/stop_docker_stacks.sh b/deployment/www/stop_docker_stacks.sh
index d9ccac6..a6999fb 100755
--- a/deployment/www/stop_docker_stacks.sh
+++ b/deployment/www/stop_docker_stacks.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ for DOMAIN_NAME in ${DOMAIN_LIST//,/ }; do
     for APP in ghost gitea; do
         # backup each language for each app.
         for LANGUAGE_CODE in ${SITE_LANGUAGE_CODES//,/ }; do
-            STACK_NAME="$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$APP-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+            STACK_NAME="$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$APP-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
 
             if docker stack list --format "{{.Name}}" | grep -q "$STACK_NAME"; then
                 docker stack rm "$STACK_NAME"
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ for DOMAIN_NAME in ${DOMAIN_LIST//,/ }; do
 
             # these variable are used by both backup/restore scripts.
             export APP="$APP"
-            export REMOTE_BACKUP_PATH="$REMOTE_HOME/backups/www/$APP/$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+            export REMOTE_BACKUP_PATH="$REMOTE_HOME/backups/www/$APP/$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
             export REMOTE_SOURCE_BACKUP_PATH="$REMOTE_HOME/$APP/$DOMAIN_NAME"
   
             # ensure our local backup path exists so we can pull down the duplicity archive to the management machine.
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ for DOMAIN_NAME in ${DOMAIN_LIST//,/ }; do
 
     # these variable are used by both backup/restore scripts.
     export APP="letsencrypt"
-    export REMOTE_BACKUP_PATH="$REMOTE_HOME/backups/www/$APP/$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX"
+    export REMOTE_BACKUP_PATH="$REMOTE_HOME/backups/www/$APP/$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER"
     export REMOTE_SOURCE_BACKUP_PATH="$REMOTE_HOME/$APP/$DOMAIN_NAME"
 
     # ensure our local backup path exists so we can pull down the duplicity archive to the management machine.
diff --git a/deployment/www/stub/ghost_yml.sh b/deployment/www/stub/ghost_yml.sh
index a603d60..1594289 100755
--- a/deployment/www/stub/ghost_yml.sh
+++ b/deployment/www/stub/ghost_yml.sh
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@ for DOMAIN_NAME in ${DOMAIN_LIST//,/ }; do
     # at https://www.domain.com/$LANGUAGE_CODE
     for LANGUAGE_CODE in ${SITE_LANGUAGE_CODES//,/ }; do
 
-        STACK_NAME="$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+        STACK_NAME="$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
 
         # ensure directories on remote host exist so we can mount them into the containers.
+        ssh "$PRIMARY_WWW_FQDN" mkdir -p "$REMOTE_HOME/ghost/$DOMAIN_NAME"
         ssh "$PRIMARY_WWW_FQDN" mkdir -p "$REMOTE_HOME/ghost/$DOMAIN_NAME/$LANGUAGE_CODE/ghost" "$REMOTE_HOME/ghost/$DOMAIN_NAME/$LANGUAGE_CODE/db"
 
         export GHOST_STACK_TAG="ghost-$STACK_NAME"
@@ -30,8 +31,7 @@ for DOMAIN_NAME in ${DOMAIN_LIST//,/ }; do
         export DOCKER_YAML_PATH="$WEBSTACK_PATH/ghost-$LANGUAGE_CODE.yml"
 
         # here's the NGINX config. We support ghost and nextcloud.
-        echo "" > "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH"
-        cat >>"$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" <<EOL
+        cat > "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" <<EOL
 version: "3.8"
 services:
 
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ EOL
   ${GHOST_STACK_TAG}:
     image: ${GHOST_IMAGE}
     networks:
-      - ghostnet-${DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX}-${LANGUAGE_CODE}
-      - ghostdbnet-${DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX}-${LANGUAGE_CODE}
+      - ghostnet-${DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER}-${LANGUAGE_CODE}
+      - ghostdbnet-${DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER}-${LANGUAGE_CODE}
     volumes:
       - ${REMOTE_HOME}/ghost/${DOMAIN_NAME}/${LANGUAGE_CODE}/ghost:/var/lib/ghost/content
     environment:
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ EOL
   ${GHOST_DB_STACK_TAG}:
     image: ${GHOST_DB_IMAGE}
     networks:
-      - ghostdbnet-${DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX}-${LANGUAGE_CODE}
+      - ghostdbnet-${DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER}-${LANGUAGE_CODE}
     volumes:
       - ${REMOTE_HOME}/ghost/${DOMAIN_NAME}/${LANGUAGE_CODE}/db:/var/lib/mysql
     environment:
@@ -91,19 +91,19 @@ networks:
 EOL
 
             if [ "$DEPLOY_GHOST" = true ]; then
-                GHOSTNET_NAME="ghostnet-$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
-                GHOSTDBNET_NAME="ghostdbnet-$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+                GHOSTNET_NAME="ghostnet-$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+                GHOSTDBNET_NAME="ghostdbnet-$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
 
                 cat >>"$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" <<EOL
     ${GHOSTNET_NAME}:
-      name: "reverse-proxy_ghostnet-$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+      name: "reverse-proxy_ghostnet-$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
       external: true
 
     ${GHOSTDBNET_NAME}:
 EOL
             fi
 
-        docker stack deploy -c "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" "$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-ghost-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+        docker stack deploy -c "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" "$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-ghost-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
 
         sleep 2
 
diff --git a/deployment/www/stub/gitea_yml.sh b/deployment/www/stub/gitea_yml.sh
index ac19f7f..bb11825 100755
--- a/deployment/www/stub/gitea_yml.sh
+++ b/deployment/www/stub/gitea_yml.sh
@@ -17,14 +17,14 @@ for DOMAIN_NAME in ${DOMAIN_LIST//,/ }; do
 
         ssh "$PRIMARY_WWW_FQDN" mkdir -p "$GITEA_PATH/data" "$GITEA_PATH/db"
 
-        STACK_NAME="$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+        STACK_NAME="$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
 
         export STACK_TAG="gitea-$STACK_NAME"
         export DB_STACK_TAG="giteadb-$STACK_NAME"
         export DOCKER_YAML_PATH="$SITE_PATH/webstack/gitea-en.yml"
 
-        NET_NAME="giteanet-$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX"
-        DBNET_NAME="giteadbnet-$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX"
+        NET_NAME="giteanet-$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER"
+        DBNET_NAME="giteadbnet-$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER"
 
         # here's the NGINX config. We support ghost and nextcloud.
         echo "" > "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH"
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ EOL
     ${DBNET_NAME}:
 EOL
 
-        docker stack deploy -c "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" "$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-gitea-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+        docker stack deploy -c "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" "$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-gitea-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
         sleep 1
     
     fi
diff --git a/deployment/www/stub/nginx_config.sh b/deployment/www/stub/nginx_config.sh
index 325ba02..d703c5b 100755
--- a/deployment/www/stub/nginx_config.sh
+++ b/deployment/www/stub/nginx_config.sh
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ EOL
 
     echo "    # set up cache paths for nginx caching" >>"$NGINX_CONF_PATH"
     for LANGUAGE_CODE in ${SITE_LANGUAGE_CODES//,/ }; do
-        STACK_NAME="$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+        STACK_NAME="$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
         cat >>"$NGINX_CONF_PATH" <<EOL
     proxy_cache_path /tmp/${STACK_NAME} levels=1:2 keys_zone=${STACK_NAME}:600m max_size=100m inactive=24h;
 EOL
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ EOL
 #     fi
 
     for LANGUAGE_CODE in ${SITE_LANGUAGE_CODES//,/ }; do
-        STACK_NAME="$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
+        STACK_NAME="$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE"
 
         if [ "$LANGUAGE_CODE" = en ]; then
             cat >>"$NGINX_CONF_PATH" <<EOL
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ EOL
             proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For    \$proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
             proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto  \$scheme;
             proxy_intercept_errors  on;
-            proxy_pass http://ghost-${DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX}-${LANGUAGE_CODE}:2368;
+            proxy_pass http://ghost-${DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER}-${LANGUAGE_CODE}:2368;
 
             # https://stanislas.blog/2019/08/ghost-nginx-cache/ for nginx caching instructions
             # Remove cookies which are useless for anonymous visitor and prevent caching
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ EOL
 
             # Add header for cache status (miss or hit)
             add_header X-Cache-Status \$upstream_cache_status;
-            proxy_cache ${DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX}-${LANGUAGE_CODE};
+            proxy_cache ${DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER}-${LANGUAGE_CODE};
 
             # Default TTL: 1 day
             proxy_cache_valid 5s;
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ EOL
         #     proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For    \$proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
         #     proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto  \$scheme;
         #     proxy_intercept_errors  on;
-        #     proxy_pass http://ghost-${DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX}-${SITE_LANGUAGE_CODES}::2368\$og_prefix\$request_uri;
+        #     proxy_pass http://ghost-${DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER}-${SITE_LANGUAGE_CODES}::2368\$og_prefix\$request_uri;
         # }
         # this piece is for GITEA.
 
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ EOL
             proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto \$scheme;
             proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;
             
-            proxy_pass http://gitea-${DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX}-en:3000;
+            proxy_pass http://gitea-${DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER}-en:3000;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/deployment/www/stub/nginx_yml.sh b/deployment/www/stub/nginx_yml.sh
index 943b553..e5afff0 100755
--- a/deployment/www/stub/nginx_yml.sh
+++ b/deployment/www/stub/nginx_yml.sh
@@ -31,25 +31,21 @@ EOL
         for LANGUAGE_CODE in ${SITE_LANGUAGE_CODES//,/ }; do
             # We create another ghost instance under /
             cat >> "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" <<EOL
-        - ghostnet-$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE
+        - ghostnet-$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE
 EOL
         
             if [ "$LANGUAGE_CODE" = en ]; then
                 if [ "$DEPLOY_GITEA" = "true" ]; then
                 cat >> "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" <<EOL
-        - giteanet-$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-en
+        - giteanet-$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-en
 EOL
                 fi
             fi
 
         done
 
-        
-
     done
 
-        
-
         cat >> "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" <<EOL
     volumes:
       - ${REMOTE_HOME}/letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt:ro
@@ -88,7 +84,7 @@ EOL
         # at https://www.domain.com/$LANGUAGE_CODE
         for LANGUAGE_CODE in ${SITE_LANGUAGE_CODES//,/ }; do
             cat >> "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" <<EOL
-  ghostnet-$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-$LANGUAGE_CODE:
+  ghostnet-$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-$LANGUAGE_CODE:
     attachable: true
 
 EOL
@@ -98,7 +94,7 @@ EOL
 
         if [ "$DEPLOY_GITEA" = true ]; then
             cat >> "$DOCKER_YAML_PATH" <<EOL
-  giteanet-$DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX-en:
+  giteanet-$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER-en:
     attachable: true
 
 EOL
diff --git a/domain_env.sh b/domain_env.sh
index bbe324d..b831a11 100755
--- a/domain_env.sh
+++ b/domain_env.sh
@@ -20,10 +20,11 @@ export BTCPAY_ADDITIONAL_HOSTNAMES="$BTCPAY_ADDITIONAL_HOSTNAMES"
 BACKUP_TIMESTAMP="$(date +"%Y-%m")"
 UNIX_BACKUP_TIMESTAMP="$(date +%s)"
 
+SHASUM_OF_DOMAIN="$(echo -n "$DOMAIN_NAME" | sha256sum | awk '{print $1;}' )"
+export DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER="${SHASUM_OF_DOMAIN: -6}"
+echo "$DOMAIN_IDENTIFIER" > "$SITE_PATH/domain_id"
 
 export BACKUP_TIMESTAMP="$BACKUP_TIMESTAMP"
 export UNIX_BACKUP_TIMESTAMP="$UNIX_BACKUP_TIMESTAMP"
-export DOCKER_STACK_SUFFIX="${DOMAIN_NAME//./-}"
+
 export LANGUAGE_CODE_COUNT=$(("$(echo "$SITE_LANGUAGE_CODES" | tr -cd , | wc -c)"+1))
-
-
diff --git a/reset_env.sh b/reset_env.sh
index 33c5390..ac0299f 100755
--- a/reset_env.sh
+++ b/reset_env.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ export DUPLICITY_BACKUP_PASSPHRASE=
 export BTCPAY_HOSTNAME_IN_CERT=
 export DEPLOY_GHOST=true
 export DEPLOY_NEXTCLOUD=true
-export DEPLOY_NOSTR_RELAY=false
+export DEPLOY_NOSTR_RELAY=true
 export NOSTR_ACCOUNT_PUBKEY=
 export DEPLOY_GITEA=false
 export DEPLOY_ONION_SITE=false