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  • From: Remko van der Vossen <wich AT stack.nl>
  • To: SM-Discuss <sm-discuss AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [SM-Discuss] Drupal (and other) install setup
  • Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 15:26:43 +0200

On Fri, Jun 01, 2007 at 02:43:55PM +0200, Mathieu L. wrote:
> On Thu, May 31, 2007 at 10:44:50PM -0700, Eric Sandall wrote:
> > Fellow web app users,
> >
> > In looking to update Drupal to 5.1 (I'm trying out Drupal for my wedding
> > to SweetPotato website ;)) and talking to a friend who uses Drupal
> > (binford2k), it seems that our current setup is dangerous.
> >
> > Let me briefly explain. Our current setup, by default, installs to
> > /usr/share/www/drupal/. When installing the same version as already
> > installed, this causes no problem, but when we do an update, Drupal has
> > a few steps[0] which must be taken before the site goes live. When our
> > spell updates, it will be replacing the currently installed Drupal
> > version with one that is, most likely, incompatible with installed
> > themes and modules and, possibly, which will break (or break with) the
> > current database.
> >
> > My proposal:
> > Install Drupal to versioned directories (e.g.
> > /usr/share/www/drupal/5.1.0/) and leave the old directories alone (a la
> > kernel modules via the excluded filter). This will allow for updates to
> > Drupal to be installed, but the prior version still running from
> > httpd.conf's DocumentRoot still set to the old version (e.g.
> > /usr/share/www/drupal/4.7.6/). The admin may then at his/her leisure,
> > copy the sites/* files to the new directory, dump the database for
> > safekeeping, disable all non-core themes/modules, set DocumentRoot to
> > the new location, run the upgrade script, and copy modules/themes over
> > to test and update them for the new version.
> >
> > This will allow for future upgrades of Drupal to be installed *without*
> > wiping the current install of Drupal. The admin may upgrade at any time
> > afterwards.
> >
> > I believe this should be done for *all* spells which install to
> > /usr/share/www (which should be all web-based apps, IMO), but that's for
> > another day. We can say Drupal is the proof of concept for this. ;)
> >
> > My quandary:
> > How do I setup this new method (assuming no one finds significant
> > problems with it ;)) without breaking the old? Possible solutions are:
> > 1. Use another directory for the new Drupal setup (e.g.
> > /usr/share/www/drupal_roots/)
> > 2. Continue to use the current directory (/usr/share/www/drupal/) and
> > somehow migrate the old files to the new layout (probably just use 'old'
> > as the mentioned version folder). This would break the current
> > httpd.conf, which I don't like.
> > 3. Continue to use the current directory (/usr/share/www/drupal/) and
> > just put the versioned directory under it (e.g. drupal/5.1.0) and let
> > the admin clean out the old Drupal files when done. This does not break
> > the current Drupal install (I asked) and also doesn't have two Drupal
> > directories. The worst this one does is, possibly, confusing the admin
> > if they are not aware, but it should be obvious.
> >
> > I prefer option #3, with #1 a fallback if there are too many problems.
> > Option #2 is there for completeness and I most likely will not use it.
> >
> > Thoughts? Complaints?
>
> Question:
> Why do we install web stuff in /usr/share/www ?
> On other distros and on most guide/howtos I've seen it done in /var/www
> and it makes more sense to me because I see /var as the place where one
> stores important data (like all one webserver's contents). Also it makes
> backup easier on a server since one only has to backup /var to save all
> the logs and these aforementionned important data.

In my opinion web applications should be installed in /usr/share/www and
their content managed in a /var directory or a database. This is for
instance how squirrelmail works. Other applications which do not keep
dynamic data such as phpMyAdmin and phpPgAdmin only use /usr/share/www.
In short the application and the content should be separated.

The only catch might be configuration files, these are usually included
in the application. In my opinion they should exist in /etc instead, but
that is a matter for the web application itself, not our spells.

Regards, Remko van der Vossen.

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