I’ve enabled a bunch more functionality in ownCloud that could not be installed with the old web server owing to php module compatibility issues which are resolved on the new server.  There is a really nice calendar manager now as well as a note pad and other productivity functions.

     Under the Information pull down there is now an entry User Meetings that provides information on the next time and place (tomorrow at Razzi’s Pizza).

     The new web server is online.

     If you are using memcached is your friend or wp fragment cache in your WordPress installation, you may have to de-install and re-install these for your site to work properly.

     Since these break your ability to login, you will need to go into shell, go to the root of your wordpress, then cd to wp-content, and then to plugins.  Use rm -r to erase fragment cache or memcache.  Then you will be able to login, delete them, and re-install and everything should be okay.

     In the past I have recommended shellx to use for a development platform for websites hosted here as it was the same platform that the web server was based upon.

     After the server change tonight, Ubuntu will be the preferred platform to use for development of your website here as the new web server will be based on Ubuntu.

     If there are any tools that you need that aren’t presently on that machine, please let me know.

     Friday evening I will be replacing the existing web server.  The new server will utilize the same hardware infrastructure (i7-6700k at 4.2 Ghz) but will differ in software.

     The operating system will change from CentOS 6.7 to Ubuntu 15.10.

     MySQL and PHP will be native to the distribution instead of compiled separately which should eliminate some compatibility issues that are presently breaking redis which is used by ownCloud causing the loss of some ownCloud functionality.

     The new mysql installation will utilize a native mysql driver which is more tightly integrated and this will improve response time for LAMP applications slightly.  The current average response time is 100ms, this should shave a few off of that.

     Initially display_errors and display_startup_errors will be turned on so I can check out and debug the new machine after it is turned up.  Unfortunately, some debugging can not be done until it is online and serving traffic.  In particular phpMyAdmin is not functioning yet but it may be because of the domain.

     There will be some downtime involved because I have to dump the existing MySQL databases, copy them to the new server, and import them into the MySQL on that machine.  Also I will need to change the IP address and the loading of virtual machine addresses because there can’t be more than one machine listening to a given IP address at a time.

     I was able to resolve the problem with wu-ftpd so no ftp function will be lost in this upgrade.

     This will make future upgrades less service interrupting because Ubuntu can be updated live where CentOS can not, at least not with applications or third party software installed.

     It will make it easier to bring modern web applications online because the kernel and libraries will be current instead of 3-1/2 years old now as is the case with CentOS.

     I will post to News (here) when the new machine is online so that if you notice any problems you can generate a ticket (Support->Tickets).  If you generate a ticket please be sure to include the URL that is not being served correctly.

     Our router at the co-location facility cabinet spontaneously rebooted at 3:10PM this afternoon.  This resulted in an outage lasting approximately 2 minutes.

     As you may have noticed by my breaking things, I am here this evening.

     The folks who host the Bible study contracted the flu.  So if you need anything please feel free to call this evening.

    An update to libvirt caused a number of virtual machines to restart without warning.  My apologies for the interruptions.

     Since I know this is an issue now, I will be doing the remaining updates Friday evening between 10pm and midnight.  Reboots of mail servers and some of the lesser used shell servers will happen at that time.

     My wife had tonight off so we went and saw Hateful 8.  The movie was a three hour movie so I didn’t get home until around 2AM, so I probably will be in around 10AM tomorrow.

     Then tomorrow evening I’m going to a Bible study after 6pm, so 10AM-6PM, and then maybe around 9PM will be the best times to reach me tomorrow.

     If I’m not in please feel free to leave voice mail, or use the ticket system (Support->Tickets) and I will return your call as soon as possible.

     I am working on setting up and configuring a new web server using Ubuntu 15.10 as the operating system rather than CentOS 6.7.

     The main reason for doing this is that php is messed up with some modules being the php community 5.6 distributions and others being the remi 5.6 distribution and attempting to fix it wrought major chaos.

     So the main incentive is to get a platform with a consistent install of php 5.6 so that ownCloud, WordPress, Forums, and other PHP applications will run without errors and be fully functional.

     Secondary incentives are to get a modern set of tools and a modern kernel.  The modern kernel will also be low latency preemptive so it will reduce latency in some operations.

     This new box is fighting me every step of the way.  I’ve been working on it all day and it’s just been one thing after another.