Server Installation

[Simon Smith]

I think it is worth saying that if you are wanting to host your own server
online - it is well worth the pain of learning how to setup everything
yourself.

A control panel or a setup script would be great (my personal preference
would be a setup script) - you do still need some experience to run a
server online and trouble shoot any problems that can occur. Neglecting
even something very small can have disastrous results - something I have
learnt the hard way when I had a VPS hacked a many years ago. Learn the
basic Linux commands, administer a firewall, use vim or nano to edit files,
setup cron jobs, restart services, monitor resources, manage user rights,
setup sftp or ftp, tweak mysql etc. You will be a better developer for it.

I am in the process of setting up a new Windows PC and still need to
install a local web server and I also need to setup a new Linux server
hopefully in the next day or two - I will document everything I do and
share that - hopefully its of help.

Simon

On Sat, Jun 17, 2017 at 2:23 PM, Richard Gaskin via use-livecode <
use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:

> Malte wrote:
>
> > Richard wrote:
> >
> >> If someone has time to write a bash script that would be cool, though
> >> perhaps distro- and maybe even version-specific.  With bash you could
> >> download the latest LC Server, unzip it, enable CGI on Apache, alter
> >> the relevant Apache config to use LC Server for ".lc" files, and then
> >> test it to make sure it works.  It would be handy to have.
> >
> > Ok, I want this. Who does it? I am throwing $500 in the pot…
> > Someone also willing to write a .bat for Windows and maybe make the
> > Linux one work on Mac OS also???
>
> I'd do an initial version for that which would handle Ubuntu 14.04 and
> Ubuntu 16.04, under MIT so everyone can extend it for Mac and Windows if
> they need.
>
> Do we want VPS, or should we consider versions for shared hosts?  There
> are subtle differences between shared hosts that can make them more
> challenging, but the upside is they have pro admins hardening and
> monitoring so they're a better option for newcomers to get started.
>
> I could also write a script to harden a VPS, but doing it well requires
> using the script carefully, after setting up shared SSH keys, because I
> prefer to completely turn off password login on any system where I can.
>
>
> > This would save so much time and would make sure people who want to
> > fiddle with liveCode server does not need to go through the hassle of
> > needing to be a system pro. And for those who want to deploy open
> > source projects it would help a lot, as end users could easier install
> > everything themselves without needing to ask for help and without
> > needing to understand the technical underpinning…
>
> There's the rub:  we can automate setting things up, but without an
> understanding of what a server needs to be robust and secure then what
> happens with the LiveCode scripts it enables?
>
> Anything connected to the Internet implies a non-trivial level of
> responsibility.
>
> Enabling all the power of LiveCode to become accessible to the Internet is
> powerful, but automating it almost encourages cargo cult development (<
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_programming>).
>
> With things that only run on your own local machine, cargo cult errors are
> trivial.  But with a machine connected to the Internet it may make the
> system compromised, perhaps in ways that would be difficult to detect.
>
> We should think carefully about this.
>
> For the amount proposed, I'd write a very good tutorial that would enable
> people to set it up themselves, and understand what each step is doing.
>
> I think over the life cycle of a server, that may be a better investment.
>
> --
>  Richard Gaskin
>  Fourth World Systems
>  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
>  ____________________________________________________________________
>  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com
>
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-- 

Carpe diem

*Simon Smith*
m. +27 83 306 7862