ibiblio services/changes announcement list

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

== Executive Summary ==

  * Any POSTGRESQL databases currently on db2.ibiblio.org will be
  unavailable during a service outage scheduled for tomorrow from
  06:00 to 09:00 EST.

  * YOU MUST CHANGE your configuration files to point to the NEW
  service hostname: postgres2.ibiblio.org in order to use your
  postgresql database after the outage.

  * A howto for putting up a 'down for maintenance' message is
  provided below.

== Full Announcement ==

Previous announcement is here:

https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/ibiblio-announce/2008-November/000240.html

That announcement made clear that db2 is moving to new hardware and
users should use the new service name: mysql2.ibiblio.org. As part of
that move, the postgres instance now on db2 will stay on the current
hardware but get a new service name, postgres2.ibiblio.org.

Please take steps to make your site unavailable during the database
outage. A great way to do this is to set up a flat html page (call it
maint.html) in your vhost space with nothing but some simple text,
eg. "We are down for database maintenance. We will return later this
morning." You can then force all traffic to your vhost to be
redirected to that page by putting lines like the following in your
.htaccess file:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !maint.html
RewriteRule . /maint.html [L]
</IfModule>

both the .htaccess file and the maint.html file would be in the
document root of your vhost, or, if only a sub-section of your site is
powered by a database on db2.ibiblio.org, you could put the .htaccess
and maint.html there. If that's the case, then adjust your
'RewriteBase /' to be 'RewriteBase /directory/' where 'directory' is
the name of the directory that holds the database-driven software. For
example, if you have wordpress in a 'wp' directory, the rule would be
'RewriteBase /wp/'.

PLEASE NOTE that if you have more than one database-driven app, each
in its own directory and each with its own .htaccess file, you may
need to edit each of those .htaccess files. In my testing of my own
personal web space, I had a subdirectory with its own .htaccess that I
had to edit on top of the edit made to my main .htaccess in the
document root for the vhost.

As always, open a ticket (see the footer if reading this on
ibiblio-announce) if you have a problem you need help with.

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