Forum downtime - TONIGHT

Other topics
Post Reply
the289admin
T289R Forum Admin
T289R Forum Admin
Posts: 116
Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2007 11:03 pm
Contact:

Forum downtime - TONIGHT

Post by the289admin »

Hi all,

In preparation to move our server to a new home, I need to do some software upgrades on the forum. The current version is a year out of date. I also have to upgrade the Wiki, which depends on the Forum for its user database.

I've tested these two upgrades out and all seems to go fine, bar a few minor issues. So I plan to perform this upgrade this Friday - 21st July. The process will take a maximum of 3 hours. During this time you may not be able to post anything.

I hope this does not cause anyone any issues. Let me know if so. Keeping up to date with software is quite important - the longer I leave it to drift out of date, the harder the next upgrade will be unfortunately.

Thanks for your understanding.

the289admin
the289admin
T289R Forum Admin
T289R Forum Admin
Posts: 116
Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2007 11:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Forum downtime - TONIGHT

Post by the289admin »

Just to let you all know, the forum maintenance is now completed.

There are some minor cosmetic changes that you may notice - better icons, more standard smileys etc. The pages should load faster, and there is a new system to stop spammers. There's also a new jazzy way of showing images that are embedded in posts as attachments (rather than links to Photobucket, Flickr or Imgur). Click the graph below for an example. You like, no?

For anyone with a technical interest:

We have upgraded our phpBB forum software from 3.1.6 (over 18 months old) to 3.2.1.

I have also upgraded the wiki (wiki.the289register.com) to the latest version. This was a similar age, and the authentication system had been end-of-lifed. That's the module of software that allows your username and password to be the same across both wiki and forum. So I've installed a new system which seems to work fine.

As always, please send email to wiki@the289register.com if you notice anything wrong. I am fixing a few remaining issues.

The system performance seems as before. Graphs of this are below - the big spike was when I did a database backup, which hammered the CPU on the server somewhat.
wikiserver-post-upgrade.jpg
Kind regards
the289admin
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
peterc
T289R Member
T289R Member
Posts: 2041
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:05 am
Location: Surrey

Re: Forum downtime - TONIGHT

Post by peterc »

Many thanks Andrew for dealing with the forum operation. As usual I have no idea about the complexities that go on behind the scenes but are grateful that someone else does so we can continue to enjoy its use.
Peter C
User avatar
amulheirn
T289R Committee
T289R Committee
Posts: 1207
Joined: Mon May 13, 2013 2:30 pm
Location: Surrey/Hampshire
Contact:

Re: Forum downtime - TONIGHT

Post by amulheirn »

Thanks Peter!
Colin Newbold
Posts: 1282
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:41 am
Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Contact:

Re: Forum downtime - TONIGHT

Post by Colin Newbold »

Yeah! Well done Andrew:)
"How you see yourself is all very well, but it's how others see you that will determine the results you get as a leader!"
Post Reply