ibiblio services/changes announcement list

[Cristóbal Palmer <cmpalmer AT metalab.unc.edu>]

== Executive Summary ==

 * IF YOU HAVE A VIRTUAL HOST which relies on a DATABASE hosted on
   db2.ibiblio.org or mysql2.ibiblio.org, you WILL have downtime
   this coming Monday the 17th of November.

 * mysql2.ibiblio.org (also known as db2.ibiblio.org) will have its
   mysql instance upgraded this MONDAY the 17th of NOVEMBER at
   06:00 EST

 * http://bit.ly/1Vfr gives local times for the start of the
   maintenance window.

 * The maintenance should be complete by 09:00 EST (total three
   hour maintenance window). MySQL services on mysql2.ibiblio.org
   will be UNAVAILABLE to the public during the maintenance window.

 * PLEASE SEE BELOW for details that may impact YOUR SITE.

== Full Announcement ==

After several months of work, we are ready to migrate the
mysql2.ibiblio.org service to new hardware. The PostgreSQL instance on
db2.ibiblio.org will remain on the same hardware, but will have a new
service name: postgres.ibiblio.org. If you have a postgres instance
hosted with us, please contact us about this upgrade.

IF YOU ARE USING db2.ibiblio.org as the hostname for your database in
your configuration file for your site, please CHANGE IT to
mysql2.ibiblio.org, the canonical name for that service.

After the upgrade, mysql2.ibiblio.org will be running MySQL 5.0.67. If
you are willing and able, please dump your database to a flat file
stored on non-ibiblio hardware before the upgrade. While we are doing
our best to avoid corruption or other problems with databases, should
anything go awry with the upgrade we will be best equipped to help you
if you have made a backup/dump.

Should you choose to make your own backups, here are some simple
command templates to help you back up, assuming you have a shell on
login.ibiblio.org:

  mysqldump --opt -Q -h mysql2.ibiblio.org -u USERNAME \
  --password="PASSWORD" DBNAME > DBNAME-yyyymmdd.sql

will make a dump file called "DBNAME-yyyymmdd.sql" in the current
directory. You should examine it with "less" to make sure that it
properly dumped your database. If you are satisfied that you have a
valid database dump, compress it:

  gzip DBNAME-yyyymmdd.sql

Once you have compressed it, it will be named DBNAME-yyyymmdd.sql.gz
and you should then move that backup to non-ibiblio storage with
rsync, scp, or sftp.

This is the second announcement of this upgrade; a follow-up, detailed
reminder of the original announcement, available here:

https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/ibiblio-announce/2008-November/000239.html

If you have any questions or concerns about this upgrade or anything
else in this email, please open a new ticket with us (see the footer
of this email).

Cheers,
-- 
Cristóbal Palmer
ibiblio.org systems administrator
cdla.unc.edu research assistant