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Here we go again...

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 1:02 am
by crfriend
Once again into the breach! (Although sometimes it feels like "into the breech" if I'm expecting to get hurt from the experience.)

The phpBB folks have End-of-Lifed (a polite term used for "software murder") our version of phpBB 3.2.9 and the next step is to update to phbBB 3.3.0 -- which obsoleted the version of php I have installed on the Solaris systems in my lab where I prototype changes to the "production" environment here. Dammit, I hate moving targets.

In any event, expect another software upgrade in the coming weeks, the precise data/time yet TBD, and, like last time, expect some minor annoyances and glitches. I try to keep those down to a dull roar, but sometimes the technology gets the best of me.

Among other things, the 3.3 version ought to fix the private-message management problem that caused a major problem recently with the moderation team when one of us dropped offline due to an over-full inbox and he couldn't do anything with it. (I had to resort to SQLing at the database and then smoothing out the rough edges to solve that issue.) (Yes, I know. "Structured Query Language" is not a verb, but the way it's frequently pronounced makes it a perfect play on words. IBM types pronounce it "Sequel", others call it "Ess-Queue-Ell", and UNIX types tend to pronounce it "squeal", which explains the joke,)

In any event, I have php 7.2 running here now (it was 5.6), and phpBB 3.3.0 is running in my lab here in a stripped down form and on an updated database. I now need to roll all of that back so I can properly weaponise the procedure such that it'll work here the first time, guaranteed.



"But Mr. Wizard, I don't wanna be a sysadmin any more!" (Spot the reference...)

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 2:15 am
by Pdxfashionpioneer
No sh*t!

I don't have the first idea what you're talking about.

But I'm glad you do … I think. :lol:

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 2:33 am
by crfriend
Pdxfashionpioneer wrote: Sun May 10, 2020 2:15 amI don't have the first idea what you're talking about.

But I'm glad you do … I think. :lol:
The next time you sit down at work and your computer runs with the level of reliability of a hammer and anvil thank your local sysadmin. You may have no idea who he or she is (it is a heavily male-dominated field it seems), but that's the person who keeps it all running smoothly. It's a calling, really, and they're also a dying breed.

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 3:09 am
by r.m.anderson
Simply put don't let this new programing squeal on you -OR- squeal the life out of you.

Remember that scene in 2001 a Space Odyssey when the astronaut had to start plucking the brains (circuit boards)
out of the main frame - - -

Hopefully you will not have to resort to using the 12 gauge hammer to coax the cooperation of the upgrade !

AND may the Force be with you - - -

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 4:46 pm
by Coder
Ugh. I have a looming php 7 upgrade myself - but it comes with it a completely redone stack in AWS. Covid has sorta pushed that upgrade to the back burner, but I really want to upgrade so I can use a different apache MPM. I feel your pain!

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 4:58 pm
by crfriend
Well, we're just about at the dress-rehearsal stage here in the hinterlands of The Pay State (aka Taxachusetts). I've pulled the entire database, and a full backup of the file-system for The Skirt Cafe into my kitchen and am capable of running it in my lab. As the next step, usually I'd ask Igor (with a long "I", of course) to create a full backup before charging things up, but he's in self-isolation at the moment in a secure undisclosed facility so I guess I'm going to have to do it... (For all I know, he may be partying with Mike Pence. [0])

Film (or much cursing) at 23:00. (Except I won't know when that arrives as I've removed all the minute-hands from the clocks...)



[0] Like George Thorogood, I'm drinking alone... (Or Randy Travis, "sittin' at home diggin' up bones".)

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Mon May 11, 2020 11:04 pm
by crfriend
From above, and late, "much cursing". This is going to be a heavier lift than I anticipated as it looks like lots has changed in the style conventions. Even the "wide" version of the "Prosilver" theme isn't working properly and the attempt of simulating the old "subsilver" is just as badly busted.

It may be simple to solve, but there's too much other stuff swirling around me at the moment...

Blah.

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 12:08 pm
by victor1964
This conversation goes way above my head, I wish you could speak in English... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Wed May 13, 2020 12:37 am
by crfriend
victor1964 wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:08 pmThis conversation goes way above my head, I wish you could speak in English... :lol: :lol: :lol:
That's a problem with all technical fields -- they all have jargon that's unique to them and which has very specific meaning to the practitioner but very little to anybody else...

In any event, I've been fiddling with this thing now in my lab for days -- and I just tried testing the very thing that was making me consider going through another upgrade, and found that it's broken in 3.3.0 just as it was in 3.2.9. Nuts.

Al's advice on dealing with full private-message inboxes is going to stand for a while. You're going to need to delete them one by one.

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 6:18 pm
by Geralt of London
crfriend wrote:
> .... I now need to roll all of that back so I can properly weaponise
> the procedure such that it'll work here the first time, guaranteed.

Well I don't know much about this platform, but I know just enough to see that this means you're a pro!
Appreciate your work, and I'll sacrifice a chicken to the upgrade demons. Good luck :)

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 6:01 am
by r.m.anderson
What was the final outcome ?
Did you have to give the system a "Warm Boot" ?
Or a real intensive threatening 12 gauge sawed off full indoctrination ?

I don't notice any difference - of course I don't go around opening cans of worms !

If it wasn't broke in the first place leave it alone - but then there is always the
chance of a wee bit of tweeking here and there won't hurt - ooopps !!!

Occupation credentials - Sorcerers Apprentice First Class Summa Cum Laude !

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 8:24 pm
by crfriend
r.m.anderson wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 6:01 amWhat was the final outcome ?
It hasn't happened yet, and there's no pressure for it to happen "real soon" as the issue is present in the new version as well as the current one -- so it's something likely screwy with the configuration or something in the database. I'm going to need to do a pretty deep code-dive to figure it out.

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 9:15 pm
by Sinned
Don't ya love Microsh*t? I am changing machines because the old one probably needs a new fan and battery and, like me is getting on. Foolishly I use MS Orifice and I upgraded the new machine to Orifice 2016. Now versions prior to this saved your email data in one file format ( .asp I think ) and previously I would just copy this file to the new version. It now appears that Orifice 2016 uses a different file format ( .ast maybe ) which means that I may not be able to just copy the old file across. Of course I may be wrong and need to do a bit more research on this [0]. Oh and the path where the new file lives appears to have changed so I'll have to find that out also. Has anyone got a really BIG red hot poker that I can shove up someone's rear orifice? In many respects I'm glad that I'm out of all this and I sympathise with Carl in single-handedly digging in this sh*t to pull the upgrades out. Carl, I really do admire you.

[0] Why should I need to do this research? Upgrades should be seamless and easy. Nothing has changed then since I was earning my coins of silver in this area.

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 10:41 pm
by crfriend
Sinned wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 9:15 pmDon't ya love Microsh*t?
Actually, that's not the problem. The forum run on Linux and a fairly standard "LAMP" (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) stack so the monolith from Redmond isn't part of the problem. (Other than just being there.)

A long time ago I likely "took some liberties" with the database that are now causing problems, and I need to dig into the source code (remember that?) to figure out what's actually going wrong.

I think I've got it nailed down to one section of the code, but all of the internationalisation stuff obfuscates things pretty heavily. The deeply impacted parts of the code are all in the "User Control Panel" or, simply, "UCP", and that's where I'm focussing when I can find time, energy, and drive to do it. I've got a fairly high-fidelity simulacrum of the operating environment here in my lab and can reliably reproduce the problem (which is why I slacked off on the upgrade as the upgrade exhibited precisely the same problem). I just need the time to chase the thing to ground (or just short it to ground).

So, it's mostly a "cycles" thing, and since my employer is leveraging the snot out of the COVID-19 situation to extract 14+ hours of work per day from all its employees, I'm left with little time where I'm in a state fit to approach the problem.
Carl, I really do admire you.
Me? I'm just another lackey toiling in the "IT" field (in which there is way too much "SH") trying to eke out an existence in an unpleasant world. The fun stuff is decades gone by. If I had my druthers, I'd be working at a museum someplace where I could work on old iron and keep it running happily. Thank you, though. I am humbled.

Some of you may recall me waxing poetic about my 2018 trip out to Denver, CO/USA for a conference on the now-half-century-old Data General NOVA. The event was well chronicled, and if one has a look at the photo gallery, you'll note at least one familiar face. I have very fond memories of that, but it's all wistful recollections now that we're in the "New Normal". Damn.

Re: Here we go again...

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 2:09 am
by beachlion
I see a clock is added to the forum. A nice old fashioned clock and it looks like it follows the "atomic" time from Colorado. Is it me or is the hour hand slightly off center? A nice homey touch anyway.