~Brian's~ Websites: Buddy Hyphen Baker Website Network: [Dot US/Dot Com/Dot/ORG]

[~Brian~]

The Complete backup Root down, is on HOLD for now, as i need to check my syntaxes, so we don't get troubles with directives being IGNORED:  we also seem to have no real way of making ONE working master backup from the root down.  It seems to be HUGE, and I want to ignore additional directories now.

Additionally, Cardinal was DOWN for most of the last week or so:  This 80 degree and humidity that is OPRESSIVE, and the 90+ Degree heat and the stress factors make it ripe for thunder and lighning and wind and rain, so we power down the equipment when it is going to be like this.

Cardinal was restarted on Saturday Evening, and is running all services now

Brian

[~Brian~]

UPDATE:  (SEPT 4, 2022@10:17EDT:  All Services running:  All Websites responding, after Taking Cardinal down last week due to Condition RED weather, including Thunder, Lightning, and High winds.  Cardinal was brought back up this morning.

Sorry about any inconvenience!

Brian

[~Brian~]

Good Morning All!

Just figured I'd give a quick update on my websites, in the BBWN!

as of Thursday morning last week, for some reason I had done some maintenance on the sites. this maintenance wasn't a specific to the network, other than the fact that I wanted to do an upgrade to the router firmware for my netgear router.

Unfortunately, due to my negligence, because I was not sure how it happened until I checked with technical support, I had stopped an upgrade to the firmware itself which bricked my modem!

this effectively means that until further notice, the BBWN is down com, and will remain down in that state until I can replace the router sometime on May 3rd.  it is necessary to replace the router, because the router has been bricked, and every time you look online to see how to fix it, they say that there is a way to fix these routers, but unfortunately that is a bunch of BS, because the modern has been bricked. Because of the fact that I had bricked this modem, my network was down for at least 24 hours, And I had to go to spectrum headquarters to get me a new router because unfortunately the cord I had was lost so I replaced the router that they gave me That was an older version with a new version.

Unlike the older version of the same modem, when I ended up putting in this new router, it apparently was able to get me online immediately! I had to go in and set up the app the app that I need to run my modem, because there is no direct access to the through a web browser. once I had done that, I was able to see everything that was connected to the router, three years later but even after I was able to get everything back online and it was working properly, my websites are effectively blocked. checking port scan indicates that they should be working, but apparently this router is blocking all of the ports, so I need to get rid of the brick that is in between my router and the Internet, and put in a real router that I can address.

I have done this because of two reasons: one I have to do one backup of the material on the site, and I want to make sure that's just done. There's no real way for me to be able to access update and make the websites work properly, so without the proper port being open it's like trying to update something behind a tin shield, I can update it all I want, but it probably won't work the proper way.

So I posted this just to let people know that my sites will be down until further notice. there's no reason I should have bricked that router But next time I will know not to do that, and I will make sure that the backup is also done. I can still access the server from the local IP on my internal network, but that is list considering that there's no way to update anything online right now. I could do  backups of the material but I don't want to do that yet.

It is my hope that I will be able to bring the sites back up sometime on May 4th or maybe may 5th. Thank you for your understanding as we work through these issues.

Brian

[~Brian~]

Today I plan on replacing the router that gives us access to the websites. Last time I tried to access the router, I made a mistake and didn't allow the router to fully update its firmware, which actually burned out the router and made it impossible to use. Today I will go to the local Walmart and I will set up everything so that it will be the way it should be. If there's one thing I can't stand it's the fact that we have a router that is connected to our system, yet we can't open any ports or do anything other than look at email or look at websites, but sometimes people like me need the access that they need so I have to do this.

Thank you to all: there's a lot of people that have helped me throughout the years as a continue my quest and learn about websites. One of the things I must do is figure out how to take care of some of these sites, So I can keep them up to date and keep the server functioning properly. Far everything is working OK and I haven't gotten any warnings from any of my control panels.

The replacement of the router will happen sometime late this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

Thanks!

Brian

[~Brian~]

CARDINAL SYSTEM STATUS (6/2/2023 AS OF 15:13 EDT)

BBUS NETWORK: STATUS:  GREEN (UP)

MODEM:  UP AND OPERATIONAL

ROUTER:  UP AND OPERATIONAL (REPLACED AFTER ACCIDENTAL BRICKING)

SERVER STATUS: GREEN (OPERATIONAL)

BBUS SERVICES STATUS

ALL SERVICES ARE UP AND ONLINE: STATUS GREEN  UPDATES TO OCCUR SOON

Brian

 

 

[~Brian~]

UPDATE:  November 7, 2023@20:28 EDT

Curl Error 28 slows BBWN:  I am working to correct a Curl 28 error on each site in the network:  To Help me, I've talked to Linuxquestions, and I post that question here on my website thread, so there is a record of it

CURL: Error 28: I cannot fix, because each "solution" does NOT tell you HOW to troubleshoot/fix

Brian

[~Brian~]

UPDATE:  November 8 2023@12:37 EST:

Posted Curl Error 28 to Wordpress support forums today - it looks like its a bug or something that needs to be looked at on their end.  Been working with LinuxQuestions, and I am not sure that it is a problem with ANYTHING **OTHER THAN** an outdated curl version.  Looks like whatever version of this I install, it dont make a difference, cause it's something timing out.  I have No firewalls, I've disabled plugins, checked program versions, looked at dns, which is fine, and increasing limits just seems to make the timeout longer:  Think its something WP has to fix.

Will keep you all advised

Brian

[~Brian~]

UPDATE:  November 8 2023@21:12 EDT:

We are coming up site by site as I go in and make bug fixes to all 4 domains, and all installations of wordpress within them Turns out, that indeed, there was an older version of Curl, and even after I fix that, there were about 35-70 wordpress people that were INCENSED when after doing all the things that they say to do, it was found out that there was a curl.php script that was KILLING the REST.api, and also foobaring the downloading/update features.

So, after checking with LinuxQuestions, and fixing anythuing that may be amiss there (Curl Version), and updating this thread today, went to Wordpress for support, and there was a guy there that told us that there was a problem, which we all knew it was a "curl error 28: which means that it could not communicate with api.wordpress.com, and was throwing errors about the downloads, which means NO ONE could update wordpress, install plugins, or plug vulnerabilities!

I of course, after getting on github, could not figure out WHAT Curl script to change, and needed to basically THROTTLE people because there was all this tracking and issue numbers, and being a newbie to coding, I am NOT gonna go opening up php files without knowing WHAT to edit, and what LINE to replace and all that.  A Lot of WP users have production sites, and they could NOT even update the Flippin' websites, or connect to them properly because of a file located at /wp-includes/Requests/src/Transport/cURL.php, so they had to give us the php file to replace {Curl.php} at that location.

(for me. I had to go to /wp-includes/Requests/Transport/ and replace the bad script with the new Curl.php file)

A Lot of us were PISSED when they said they were gonna make the change in Wordpress 6.4, and all of us were LIKE "BZZZZZZZZT:  WRONG fools:  we NEED to be able to UPDATE thinngs NOW, and how CAN we download updates?  and 6.4 was WORSE than 6.03, or 6.32!" So they said they will UPDATE the version of Wordpress to 6.4.1 at 0:00 UTC.  This will have the php file I manually had to add to all domains, which we basically had to BEG them to FIX - I think that they thought the wp users were just gonna have to pee up a rope.  NOPE!!

I wonder what @DailyDi would say if what happened to LOADS of us locked his site so he could NOT do updates, upgrades, changes, etc - I think he would be pushing for a fix, and especially if you can't make the updates you need for SECURITY!

I take my sites as seriously as Mikey does, and I do it because I want to learn, and it keeps me sane and also sharp - This is my dream, which I was able to make a reality in 2008, when I first got BBUS as the first domain - I wont let them DIE

Brian

[tuffy]

I'm glad that bug didn't trip up any of my WP stuff.

Have you tried using WordPress CLI? I use it in a bash script that runs from cron every night to install updates. Yes, about once a year the update breaks a website. When that happens, I get an email from the script telling me that something went wrong. Just a minor inconvenience to make sure there aren't any known security holes that haven't been patched.

[~Brian~]

UPDATE:  November 15 2023@18:58 EDT:

All Domains on BBWN are functioning as they are supposed to be.  Gave it a break the last few days, and dealt with neck and head pain, and at the same time, and today. when powering up Cardinal, she seemed to run pretty fast after installing Varnish.  I will also check to see what the size of the SQL Databases are for each site, but for now, we are running, and all sites have 6.4.1, so it looks like it will be OK

DOMAIN RENEWALS (2023/2024  BBDO, BBDC, BBUS:  I have done an audit of my site needs.  I have decided to DROP BBDI, simply because the guy that wanted me to make him a website has NOT contacted me, and Its been at least a year, and I am not going to pay $46.00 USD for a domain that is not being used.  At some time, I may pick up other domains, but this year, I am letting this one drop, and in January, I will pick up BBDC.  BBUS, and BBDO already have been renewed for the 2024 cycle

@tuffy

On 11/9/2023 at 12:14 AM, tuffy said:

I'm glad that bug didn't trip up any of my WP stuff.

Have you tried using WordPress CLI? I use it in a bash script that runs from cron every night to install updates. Yes, about once a year the update breaks a website. When that happens, I get an email from the script telling me that something went wrong. Just a minor inconvenience to make sure there aren't any known security holes that haven't been patched.

I am also thankful that my websites were not running in a situation where they NEEDED to be online and functioning for woocommerce, or for e-commerce or businesses reasons where I would be losing MONEY while the developers are holding back on releasing the fix that they did.  IF you have any websites that for some reason CANNOT upgrade to 6.0 because of the "bug" let me know an email for you.    I'll send you the Curl.php.zip, and along with info about what I did to fix that bug.  If you can command an update to 6.41, it will HAVE that Curl.php file that they had me replace in the new release.

Yes, I have used the wp-cli, but this one is strange.  It has a name of wp-cli.phar, and instructions say to put it in your path after chmod u+x ing the executable, but it does not seem to work, without adding 'sudo php wp-cli.phar', which gives you info including the version of the wp-cli, and I can now check version info by checking against the config files

Take Care

Brian

PS:  I could also set a place ON BBUS, where I post in my blog, and link it to Cardinal, and that will allow you to grab the file.  That way, you can get it without sending me an email address:  Let me know

 

[tuffy]

21 hours ago, ~Brian~ said:

Yes, I have used the wp-cli, but this one is strange.  It has a name of wp-cli.phar, and instructions say to put it in your path after chmod u+x ing the executable, but it does not seem to work, without adding 'sudo php wp-cli.phar', which gives you info including the version of the wp-cli, and I can now check version info by checking against the config files

The idea is to move it to /usr/local/bin/wp once you've verified it works. I've never been a fan of their install process. I much prefer using stuff from repositories so the updates run smoothly.

[~Brian~]

UPDATE:  November 22 2023@06:45 EST:

Because of a snafu, BBWN sites threw a 503 error, and they might have become overwhelmed.  I then did a status on my apache2 server and got this:

	● apache2.service - The Apache HTTP Server
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/apache2.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Thu 2023-11-23 04:19:12 EST; 2h 31min ago
       Docs: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/
        CPU: 57ms
	Nov 23 04:19:14 cardinal apachectl[861]: AH00112: Warning: DocumentRoot [/var/www/eagle.bbdc/public] does not exist
Nov 23 04:19:14 cardinal apachectl[861]: [Thu Nov 23 04:19:11.717444 2023] [alias:warn] [pid 861] AH00671: The Alias directive in /etc/phpmyadmin>
Nov 23 04:19:14 cardinal apachectl[861]: (2)No such file or directory: AH02291: Cannot access directory '/var/www/eagle.bbdc/logs/' for error log>
Nov 23 04:19:14 cardinal apachectl[861]: (2)No such file or directory: AH02291: Cannot access directory '/var/www/eagle.bbdc/logs/' for error log>
Nov 23 04:19:14 cardinal apachectl[861]: AH00014: Configuration check failed
Nov 23 04:19:14 cardinal apachectl[797]: Action 'start' failed.
Nov 23 04:19:14 cardinal apachectl[797]: The Apache error log may have more information.
Nov 23 04:19:12 cardinal systemd[1]: apache2.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Nov 23 04:19:12 cardinal systemd[1]: apache2.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Nov 23 04:19:12 cardinal systemd[1]: Failed to start The Apache HTTP Server.

This was caused by possible server overload and now we know that the server will NOT start because the directories have been zapped.  I made an upgrade to php 8.2, and it BORKED up my websites, and I had to downgrade the php to 7.4.33, but wordpress was at 8.12:  I will have to reload sites from an earlier backup last July to fix that

Will keep you all advised

Brian

[~Brian~]

UPDATE:  November 24 2023@19:49 EST:

BACKUP OF WEBSITES:  I have found that the only way to update wordpress PHP version is to update PHP versions by doing the 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade' command, which would bring in all of the most updated version of whatever needs updating, plus all dependencies.  While this is easy to do, it is hard to sometimes DOWNGRADE it when you realize that an application still needs the older versions.

With that said, I am bringing the  PHP versions of all websites on BBWN back to at least 7.74, and that will hold there, UNTIL I find an easy way to manipulate the version(s) that wordpress uses.  When I commanded an update to 8.4.12, I needed to downgrade back to 7.74, but wordpress won't ALLOW an easy downgrade, so I have to downgrade to an older version of the BBWN websites. 

The problem was that the upgrade to 8.4.xx apparently caused problems with the mybb install at /board, so I had to downgrade everything to a version I had since 7-18-22.  Because I don' wanna lose the whole /var/www/html/ directory, I am tarring with .gz, and then will move that file to root in /root/www-root/.  That way, if I foul up it again, at least I won't lose what I started with, and I have the gz file I used to restore the setup.  It's backed up on /8TB/backups_2, so I won't mess up and lose the whole system with relation to the WWW sites I manage.

RESTORE OF WEBSITES:  As soon as i am able to g'zip the current contents of the var/www/ directory, I will zap it to noting, and then restore it from /8TB, as all versions of wordpress are at least 6.0 on .com, ,org, and .info, while .us is running 5.9.xx, so after that is set up again, I'll work to bring wordpress to a state when when upgrades can work again, after I edit the cURL.php that is somehow borked in the older vesions, with the updated version - I have to do that with all sites, so I don't have any security holes.

The process is ongoing as of the time of this posting

Wish me Luck!

Brian

 

[zzyzx]

@~Brian~:  Yes, upgrading from PHP 7.x to 8.x can cause some "fun" due to language changes.....

And utilizing Debian's package system is "interesting" to roll back to earlier versions of packages.  I believe it can be done by pinning versions in the /etc/apt/ directory structure.

It is also possible to run two (or more) versions of PHP under Apache in a single server.  It takes a bit of work to do, but I've managed to pull it off (at work) (with PHP 7.0 and 8.1 running in parallel) utilizing third party PPA configuration.  It takes a lot of digging to find the documentation to pull this off.  You will need to switch to the PHP maintainer's version of the packaging for both Apache and PHP to pull this off.

Best wishes.

[~Brian~]

45 minutes ago, zzyzx said:

@~Brian~:  Yes, upgrading from PHP 7.x to 8.x can cause some "fun" due to language changes.....

And utilizing Debian's package system is "interesting" to roll back to earlier versions of packages.  I believe it can be done by pinning versions in the /etc/apt/ directory structure.

It is also possible to run two (or more) versions of PHP under Apache in a single server.  It takes a bit of work to do, but I've managed to pull it off (at work) (with PHP 7.0 and 8.1 running in parallel) utilizing third party PPA configuration.  It takes a lot of digging to find the documentation to pull this off.  You will need to switch to the PHP maintainer's version of the packaging for both Apache and PHP to pull this off.

Best wishes.

@zzyzx

Thanks:  I wish there was a way to control PHP by setting up a 'define USE_PHP_VERSION=[put version here]' in wp-config.php, that way, you have a way to FORCE wordpress to use what you want to for PHP version, and then you can change that on the fly, rather than to BLOW away the whole /var/www/site directories because WP just doesn't have the way to switch like when you can SET the version in alternatives.

It'd be interesting to learn that, so I don't have to sweat that change.  I'm staying right where I am (7.433) until there is a bona fide way to change without having something throw up all over the place hehehee

Brian

[zzyzx]

@~Brian~: I currently don't use Wordpress, so I'm not sure how that runs.  If it runs under shell scripts, there is a way to do that (redefining the definition of PHP via environment PHP variable pointing to the version you want used), assuming you have more than one version of PHP installed via the Debian/Ubuntu PHP maintainer's third party packaging.  If it runs under Apache, and is the only thing running under a given port controlled by Apache, then that can be configured in the Apache control files for that port.

[~Brian~]

(Placed here for my notes ~brian)

In order to make sure that I had the right php7.4-fpm:

I had to do:

	QUESTION:
	I did a standard OS update on Ubuntu LTS (20.04) and the messages end with:
	Processing triggers for php7.4-fpm (7.4.3-4ubuntu2.6) ...
NOTICE: Not enabling PHP 7.4 FPM by default.
NOTICE: To enable PHP 7.4 FPM in Apache2 do:
NOTICE: a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif
NOTICE: a2enconf php7.4-fpm
NOTICE: You are seeing this message because you have apache2 package installed.
	Yes, I am using Apache2. How do I decide whether I want to run those commands to enable PHP 7.4?
	ANSWER: (1 Answer)
	 
	If you want to use PHP-fpm you run a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif and a2enconf php7.4-fpm
	If you are asking why you should install it, it is better to install it if you want to have less overload on your system, have extra
security, and want to configure every aspect of PHP. I use it on my website and it works very well! I would suggest installing it.
	<Found: 11-29-23>
	

Then, when all done, I still had errors, because there were remnants of php 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2, which were causing errors: so in order to remove ANYTHING specific to 8.x (because apache2 was complaining about it, I had to:

LIST all php versions installed:

sudo apt list --installed | grep php to show all installed PHP versions

which lists everything php-related that is installed.  because I don't want ANTHING php8, I had to:

REMOVE what you want:

 then I removed the mentioned specific PHP version (8.1) with all related dependences (extensions) by run

sudo apt-get purge 'php8.1*' (change 'php8.1' to whatever version you want to remove or install)

and i keep doing:

sudo apt list --installed | grep php to show all installed PHP versions, until EVERYTHING you want gone is removed.  When done, you can then make sure that php version you want is active, and you HAVE to do this, because you are running php based on the php-fpm version that wordpress says.  This is the ONLY way I know to check and clear versions and mods you don't want to run.  I even purged  'php8.3*' before making sure that php7.4 was the ONLY version there, and then did"

sudo apt-get install 'php7.4*'

Now, WP says that we have Php7.4.33 available

PHEW   Back UP now, and I know how to remove php versions I don't want

Brian

 

 

 

[zzyzx]

5 hours ago, ~Brian~ said:

(Placed here for my notes ~brian)

In order to make sure that I had the right php7.4-fpm:

I had to do:

	QUESTION:
	I did a standard OS update on Ubuntu LTS (20.04) and the messages end with:
	Processing triggers for php7.4-fpm (7.4.3-4ubuntu2.6) ...
NOTICE: Not enabling PHP 7.4 FPM by default.
NOTICE: To enable PHP 7.4 FPM in Apache2 do:
NOTICE: a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif
NOTICE: a2enconf php7.4-fpm
NOTICE: You are seeing this message because you have apache2 package installed.
	Yes, I am using Apache2. How do I decide whether I want to run those commands to enable PHP 7.4?
	ANSWER: (1 Answer)
	 
	If you want to use PHP-fpm you run a2enmod proxy_fcgi setenvif and a2enconf php7.4-fpm
	If you are asking why you should install it, it is better to install it if you want to have less overload on your system, have extra
security, and want to configure every aspect of PHP. I use it on my website and it works very well! I would suggest installing it.
	<Found: 11-29-23>
	

Then, when all done, I still had errors, because there were remnants of php 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2, which were causing errors: so in order to remove ANYTHING specific to 8.x (because apache2 was complaining about it, I had to:

LIST all php versions installed:

sudo apt list --installed | grep php to show all installed PHP versions

which lists everything php-related that is installed.  because I don't want ANTHING php8, I had to:

REMOVE what you want:

 then I removed the mentioned specific PHP version (8.1) with all related dependences (extensions) by run

sudo apt-get purge 'php8.1*' (change 'php8.1' to whatever version you want to remove or install)

and i keep doing:

sudo apt list --installed | grep php to show all installed PHP versions, until EVERYTHING you want gone is removed.  When done, you can then make sure that php version you want is active, and you HAVE to do this, because you are running php based on the php-fpm version that wordpress says.  This is the ONLY way I know to check and clear versions and mods you don't want to run.  I even purged  'php8.3*' before making sure that php7.4 was the ONLY version there, and then did"

sudo apt-get install 'php7.4*'

Now, WP says that we have Php7.4.33 available

PHEW   Back UP now, and I know how to remove php versions I don't want

Brian

 

 

 

@~Brian~

Now that you are using the maintainer's third party PPA for Apache and PHP, you can actually install multiple versions of PHP.  Just make sure to keep the default one the version you want (7.4) and to keep the 7.4 version of the PHP config file in Apache, and things should continue to work.  Then you can set up shell scripts that you can source that redefines PHP to be another version, and once sourced, the version of PHP in that shell will be the version defined in what you sourced.  If you need to run an additional version of PHP under Apache, it is possible, but you have to tweak control files to do it. 

Best wishes.

[~Brian~]

UPDATE:  November 29 2023@23:02 EST:

ALL Domains on the BBWN are up and appear to be functioning normally, and I have noted in my access and error logs that there are a few things I need to do to fix some site health suggestions.  I also had a couple domains that had the "curl28: Operation Timed out after xxxxxx miliseconds", which I corrected, and I removed all the php-related stuff for php 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 and 8.4:  While it may be advisable to upgrade your php from 7.4.33:  D-O-N-'T do it for a LONG while, as doing so may BREAK other applications that need php, and it is NOT necessary to upgrade anything until there are fixes for the problems that are inherent with doing so (additionally, you may not KNOW that something running 7.4.33 could BREAK if running 8.x, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, or 8.4, and when you realize it, unless you're GOOD at using your apt-get commands, you'll end up with 7.4.33 running at shell level, while running 8.2.13 or something else, cause you've got a 8.x fpm module running, and that SUX, so DON'T upgrade PHP for a while  

I've learned that the HARD way, and fixed it

Tomorrow, gonna see if we can't fix the other Site health stuff for each domain   The Good thing is, I've got the 7.4.33 fpm module, and the php7.4 version installed, and NO OTHER versions - what a HEADACHE!!!

Brian

[tuffy]

I upgraded my main web server to Debian 12 Bookworm last August without any problems. WordPress works fine for me using php 8.2, though they are rather vanilla sites. PHP 7.4 had been out of support since November of '22 and it was starting to be a concern for me. I don't like having unsupported software on a public facing server.

 

[zzyzx]

1 hour ago, tuffy said:

I upgraded my main web server to Debian 12 Bookworm last August without any problems. WordPress works fine for me using php 8.2, though they are rather vanilla sites. PHP 7.4 had been out of support since November of '22 and it was starting to be a concern for me. I don't like having unsupported software on a public facing server.

 

@tuffy:

Actually, the person who maintains PHP for Debian and Ubuntu has his own 3rd party archive for PHP and Apache.  And because folks are paying for support of older Ubuntu (and some older Debian) to extend support up to 10 years, PHP 7.4 (as well as some others) are still being maintained by that person.  And once the updated version is made available the maintainer does NOT restrict his third party PPA to only paying persons....  So, updates are available basically as long as a company is still paying for support of that version. 

[~Brian~]

First, I want to publicly thank @DailyDi, @zzyzx and @tuffy for all of their advice, support and guidance as I bring my websites into compliance with as many standards as I can.  I wanted to let you know that I probably won't update PHP again for awhile, but that is because, even if PHP standards would change, there are plugins that need to be investigated, before making changes to the most current version, and PHP standards don't keep pace with plugin and app developers. and the last time I had to do major revisions, it was to bring the SERVER to Debian Bullseye, from Jessie 8.3, and that was a HARD thing to do, and It was HARDER to run my server with that Debian Version.  I guess you could say that I was more AFRAID to screw up the install, and that was what was making me nervous, and that was because I had to make sure I had all of the php, webmin and cpan modules to make sure I had them all.  It can be touchy sometimes as well

Thank You to you ALL:  I wish my late Friend David McMurtry could see me roll now:  It gets easier and easier to do this every upgrade, I just need to find out how to gz or bz2 these things, so they don't take DAYS to archive or restore hehehe

Brian

UPDATE:  November 30 2023@10:54 EST:

UPDATE: Today, I added back some plugins that make my sites on the BBWN "snappier" than they have ever been.  I am glad that I have done this, and I am also glad that I am back UP after messing around with restoration, PHP uninstallations, and Reinstallations, and making sure that Varnish Cache is now running, making things faster. 

PLUGINS:  I have installed all the plugins I need, but will make sure that they are pretty close to standard across all BBWN sites, that way I am not forgetting to add them as needed.  I will be doing some of this on the weekend, depending on how I feel

[~Brian~]

UPDATE: (December 3, 2023, 17:08 EST): BBWN FUNCTIONING:  I have completed the processes that are needed to make sure that the sites of the BBWN are functioning.  Yesterday, I used the bzip2 utility to tar/bzip the contents of the /var/www directory, which reduced the tar file size wise from 150G to 109G, which is a reduction of approximately 34G. 

Since i am learning  bzip2, It will take some time to get used to it.  Next time i will compress by a factor of 9 (-9) to see how much we are able to reduce the size.  The drawbacks are that One, I have to make sure that I am mv'ing the file rather than cp'ing it, because this means that the file is on 2 filesystems, and takes up twice the space, so I want to make sure I am not filling the filesystem(s) used to full capacity.  So far, seems to be a good idea to do this.  Two, Moving files does not leave 2 copies of the file on the system at the same time.

OLD FILE PURGE and AUDIT:  Yesterday, I also removed files that were archived in 2017, 2018, and 2019.  If they existed, they would mostlikely NOT contain the updated versions of what I need.  Additionally, most of these are large files, and are *.tar and *.tgz files, and I want current files, which means that mostlikely, 2020 files could also be removed, 2021 files could be removed, and I even found some that were from 2016.  Now, I have 2022 files, and I think I can say that my websites will work fine with this decision.  Other files like /home, /var, /etc and other support files can be backed up when needed, and most times, you want the web files, etc directory, home directories, root directories, databases, log files, fail2ban, and apache2 files, configs and Apache 2 Mods and other things that are in there.

The Plan is: to backup files so most of them are 2022, 2023 or 2024, and we purge really old stuff out.  When you update to Debian's next version, if you have an idea of what you need to do, all you need do is move the backups off the (/) root to a backup directory, then run your updates.  (I am staying with Deb 11 for a while, but if done right, an update to Deb 12 or Deb 13 won't be so hard)   If I've backed UP things, and unmounted the drives I don't won't to mess with (with the backups there) then I am only working with the root of the drive, can install packages I need, and then find out what I am missing, and restore from the backups to a working directory using the basic file management tools

That's all from here

Brian

 

 

[tuffy]

BTW, tar supports  -j or --bzip2  to pipe everything through bzip2 automatically.

I tried using bzip2 instead of gzip (-z or --gzip) many years ago but didn't like how much longer it took. I run backups every night through cron and having a faster backup at the cost of more disk space was worth it  in my environment, so I went back to gzip.

[~Brian~]

MAINTENANCE:  Today I added some necessary lines to my sshd_config.  I wanted to be sure that only certain user groups can login, and no one else.  I was having problems with this earlier, because there seems to be a newer version than I was using on Debian Jessie (8.3), so I'll have to play with that a little. 

BANNER/MOTD FOR CARDINAL: I added additional lines to sshd_config, so that I can restore previous behavior. where I had a banner that would warn and welcome people.  One line that I had to change was to UNCOMMENT '#Banner none,' and put in '/etc/issue.net'. In order for this to work right, i had to update some of the older /etc/motd* files, as they were aged.  i updated the motd file, and then made s mymotd.sh file to call it.  Now, I know that I will be able to have these work correctly, and I can change this message on the fly.

WEB: (/var/www/image directory) MAINTENANCE:  I am doing maintenance in here and have made a directory for EACH Album I have on DD, and if I add more, than I will add more directories.  I want to make sure that if DD were to have a MAJOR loss again, that I can restore my profile, the words, the pics and all of that.  I want to be sure that I have a backup of not ONLY that,  but the other album of "Sage Advice and Sayings" album as well.  I downloaded them from DD, zipped  that up, and uploaded this file to here.  I have 2 zips, one is archive-a, the other is archive-b.  Now, I will have these in case I need them.

That's all from here (for now)

Brian