Hi folks, here is an update on our server. I feel it is important to let you guys know whats going on, what will be happening and why.
For the most part our server is running great. However we are running up against some deadlines which I will have to address.
We are currently running CentOS 7 under PHP 7.4 using Apache and Nginx compiled through Engintron. Our control Panel is WHM / Cpanel.
Nginx was setup through Engintron as Cpanel did not support Nginx when we moved to this server. However Cpanel now supports Nginx natively.
PHP 7.4 is coming to its end of life, and we will need to upgrade to PHP 8.1. This move could break some of our plugins which have not been updated (by the authors) in some time, although in researching most should work.
With CentOS we are being encouraged to upgrade to AlmaLinux 8. AlmaLinux OS - Forever-Free Enterprise-Grade Operating System With AlmaLinux we are told we can do an in place migration. However to do this we must be using default WHM / CPANEL items, which means we would have to get away from our
Engintron installation of NGINX and run the Cpanel installation of NGINX. The NGINX implemntation in Cpanel was a mess when it was first added, but now it appears to be rather stable.
In addition some of the caching we use such as redis cache may need to be disabled for the upgrade. But once done I should be able to add it back in again.
I worked hard to optimize the server we have now and did a lot of work using CDN's to optimize delivery of items to you from servers close to your location. By doing this upgrade we are going into the great unknown. I don't know what issues we will run into or what effect the changes will have on the speed of the site. And while I would like to stay on the server we are on now, if I have issues we may have to move to a new server. I am trying to avoid that due to the costs, but will if necessary.
Now when do I expect to do this work? Good question. I do expect it will take a few hours to do and we will be down during the time I am working. I will try to keep the downtime to a minimum. With everything going on and the holidays I assume it will be on a Saturday or Sunday in the afternoon / evening. Because my schedule is always changing I will do my best to give a 24 hour notice. And when i do work I will be working to get the site back online as quick as possible. With that said there may be optimization that will need to be done to get the site humming nicely. And I am not sure if I am going to upgrade everything at once or save the operating system upgrade for another time. I am thinking my first priority is to get the site running default Cpanel addons first before trying to migrate to the new OS.
And that is the server status for now. I will update things when I know more.
Thanks for your support!
For the most part our server is running great. However we are running up against some deadlines which I will have to address.
We are currently running CentOS 7 under PHP 7.4 using Apache and Nginx compiled through Engintron. Our control Panel is WHM / Cpanel.
Nginx was setup through Engintron as Cpanel did not support Nginx when we moved to this server. However Cpanel now supports Nginx natively.
PHP 7.4 is coming to its end of life, and we will need to upgrade to PHP 8.1. This move could break some of our plugins which have not been updated (by the authors) in some time, although in researching most should work.
With CentOS we are being encouraged to upgrade to AlmaLinux 8. AlmaLinux OS - Forever-Free Enterprise-Grade Operating System With AlmaLinux we are told we can do an in place migration. However to do this we must be using default WHM / CPANEL items, which means we would have to get away from our
Engintron installation of NGINX and run the Cpanel installation of NGINX. The NGINX implemntation in Cpanel was a mess when it was first added, but now it appears to be rather stable.
In addition some of the caching we use such as redis cache may need to be disabled for the upgrade. But once done I should be able to add it back in again.
I worked hard to optimize the server we have now and did a lot of work using CDN's to optimize delivery of items to you from servers close to your location. By doing this upgrade we are going into the great unknown. I don't know what issues we will run into or what effect the changes will have on the speed of the site. And while I would like to stay on the server we are on now, if I have issues we may have to move to a new server. I am trying to avoid that due to the costs, but will if necessary.
Now when do I expect to do this work? Good question. I do expect it will take a few hours to do and we will be down during the time I am working. I will try to keep the downtime to a minimum. With everything going on and the holidays I assume it will be on a Saturday or Sunday in the afternoon / evening. Because my schedule is always changing I will do my best to give a 24 hour notice. And when i do work I will be working to get the site back online as quick as possible. With that said there may be optimization that will need to be done to get the site humming nicely. And I am not sure if I am going to upgrade everything at once or save the operating system upgrade for another time. I am thinking my first priority is to get the site running default Cpanel addons first before trying to migrate to the new OS.
And that is the server status for now. I will update things when I know more.
Thanks for your support!
