Server OS and software updates

[Jim]

I'm going to apply some OS updates and probably update some software versions today, July 19.  Expect little impact, hopefully just a quick reboot or two, but you never know.

[Jim]

I've worked around but not yet understood or solved the problem that caused the earlier downtime.  Expect a little more disruption as I continue to investigate and try things.

[Jim]

I think we're good now.  The package update system replaced a symbolic link needed on startup with a new directory that of course didn't have the right contents, and the MySQL server startup script was hanging at boot time.  This was the first package update of MySQL since the DB moved to the SSD drives earlier this year.  Now I know.

[Jim]

I'm planning to update the server's FreeBSD version some time during the day on Friday, January 14.  While I'm in, I'll probably update all software versions.  It's a minor version update so I don't anticipate any complications, but you never know.  Expect occasional down time at some point during the day, with the possibility of a longer outage if I run into any trouble.

[Jim]

Everything appears to have gone smoothly, should be back to normal now.

[Jim]

I did a quick reboot in the last few minutes (mid-afternoon 3/19) to bring in a couple recent security patches.  As far as I can tell, everything came back up normally.  Let me know if you notice anything that looks broken.

[Jim]

I just made some security modifications, mostly restricting public reporting info, and applied the latest security patches to the server.  As far as I can tell, everything is operating normally, but let me know if you notice anything unusual.

I plan to update some versions of things next week, then do a major OS version update in mid-July.

[Jim]

I'm aiming for an OS version update on TM and METAL's server one day next week.  I'll try to give a few days notice when I set a time.  There would be a few short outages if all goes well, longer if problems arise.

[Jim]

I am tentatively planning to start the OS update on Monday, 7/18, around 10 AM EDT.  The whole process should take an hour or two. If all goes well, you'll barely notice, with only some brief outages when I need to boot into a new kernel and restart various updated system services for software updates that will follow the OS update.  There's always the chance of complications and a more lengthy outage.

[yakra]

FreeBSD 13.1?

[Jim]

FreeBSD 13.1?

If all goes well, yes.

[Jim]

Getting started now with the update to FreeBSD 13.1.

[Jim]

We're back up, though definitely some PHP configuration needed to get the main TM site running again.

[Jim]

Attempting to remedy by updating PHP from 7.2 to 7.4.  Forum's back.  HDX is back.  TM still won't load.

[Jim]

OK, I've got a workaround to the last weird PHP problem.  If everything else looks good, I'm going to go with it as a permanent solution.  Please try out all TM functionality you use and report anything that has broken.