Yet another software upgrade coming

[crfriend]

Well, that time is here again -- it's time to upgrade the forum software so we don't get as badly behind as we did last time which caused much grief, anxiety, and general angst.

This is going to be a simple one -- just one patch version (3.2.8 to 3.2.9) -- so it's not going to be too painful. I just prototyped the upgrade in my lab at home with the entire (unrehearsed) process taking perhaps 15 minutes, with most of that the database schema upgrade. I didn't notice any user-facing changes other than having to log in again afterwards, but will suffix that with the fact that I didn't notice anything.

Part of this is to set the stage for an upgrade to the 3.3 branch that's the current production-quality one. However, that may involve user-facing issues like what happened the last time I was forced to do a very major version jump from 3.0.14 to 3.2.8. Stay tuned.

It's going to be close to 60 today, and I'm contemplating getting one of my minis out of its winter tomb...

[moonshadow]

Glad to see you're enjoying this unseasonably warm weather too! Going to hit 70 here today, the wind is pretty gusty though, however at least it's a warm wind. That said though, overcast skies set in around mid day with rain starting around six PM or so. Tomorrow is expected to be partly sunny with a high in the upper 50's.

Cooler weather returns later next week.

I'm Moom Shadow with your storm tracker weather center... back to you Carl....

[crfriend]

Glad to see you're enjoying this unseasonably warm weather too! Going to hit 70 here today, the wind is pretty gusty though, however at least it's a warm wind.

I'm still doing my laundry looking outside and watching the water drip off the roof at a distinct angle thanks to a southwest wind. I'm even still in my bathrobe at this late hour.

But it hasn't been wasted. The laundry is almost done and the forum software-update rehearsal went well enough -- and is documented in my test instance here -- and I'll probably perform the actual upgrade tomorrow morning sometime, likely around 12:00 or 13:00 UTC.

I'm Moom Shadow with your storm tracker weather center...

KORH 111454Z 21021G31KT 10SM BKN070 13/08 A3021 RMK AO2 PK WND 24033/1422 SLP234 T01280078 56018

Translation: 21 knot winds gusting to 31 knots out of the south-west (210 degrees), fairly clear skies, moderate barometric pressure and 12.8 degrees C. Note that this is at the Aerodrome which sits atop a 1,000 foot hill several miles to the south-west. Nothing spectacular is forecast for the rest of the day although we may hear a thunderclap or two tomorrow morning. It is possible that we may set a temperature record for tomorrow. We shall see.

At the moment it's sunny enough that the PV array on the roof is powering the entire house, the batteries are charging -- and we're feeding power back to the "grid". Life's pretty good. Time to find that mini!

[Uncle Al]

Great news for you guys

Yesterday we had 60-70 degree F temps. Last night the rain & wind came in.
Luckily, the only tornado warnings lasted about 20 minutes. Then the formation
driveled up as the temps cooled down.

Today we have mid 30's to lower 40's in temps.
A drastic change, it was

Yoda 2020-01-11.jpg

Uncle Al

[crfriend]

A good day it was. Solutions to problems, found. Like Yoda, RPN I grok.

[crfriend]

The upgrade to phpBB 3.2.9 is complete with an elapsed time of approximately 45 seconds from start to finish. The complaints may now start.

Full-dress rehearsals definitely help with the actual performance!

[Fred in Skirts]

The upgrade to phpBB 3.2.9 is complete with an elapsed time of approximately 45 seconds from start to finish. The complaints may now start.

I don't like the new upgrade... I can not see any difference from the last upgrade!!

Just so you don't feel like you are not appreciated Carl!!

[crfriend]

I don't like the new upgrade... I can not see any difference from the last upgrade!!

Now the fun begins as I begin the ramp-up to phpBB 3.3.x -- and to do that I need to revamp my lab setup...

Advance warning is hereby given: The upgrade to 3.3 (because 3.2.x is being declared EOL (End Of Life) in June, 2020) is most likely going to be end-user facing and is going to require a good deal more work on my part. Once again, styles and languages may change. Close-in warning will be issued when the upgrade here is imminent.

Just so you don't feel like you are not appreciated Carl!!

The lot of the "sysadmin" (systems administrator) is mainly one in which he's hated until he's needed, loved for a few moments once things get fixed, and then back to being hated again. I've been doing this for years and am used to that idiom. It's easier to ignore people when they hate you than when they love you.

[Fred in Skirts]

It's easier to ignore people when they hate you than when they love you.

Been in that position many times when I was the only tech on duty at the radar station, when I was in the "Are Farce"...
The only good thing about being the only one on duty is that it was at night and all of the Big Wigs were home in their beds. And when things were going smoothly I was sleeping lightly in my chair locked in the tower. No one could sneak up on me as to get in they had to bang on the door so I could let them in.

[crfriend]

It's easier to ignore people when they hate you than when they love you.

Been in that position many times when I was the only tech on duty at the radar station, when I was in the "Are Farce"...

I think I actually preferred the position I held in the mid- to late- 1980s when I was still doing Field Service on some fairly complex CADD/CAM systems. In that role, I always got to play the hero as when I showed up at a customer site they were altogether too frequently either dead in the water or badly impaired. When I departed, they were back at full strength, much to everyone's joy.

I eventually had to give that up because the machines had gotten to the point where there was no challenge in actually troubleshooting and repairing them. That was when I parleyed my operating systems knowledge into becoming a sysadmin (although they weren't known as that at the time) and shifted gears. I do have to say, though, that I adored my time spent fixing unhappy hardware -- and try to make the most of those skills even to this day. They even come in handy to others from time to time, which gratifies me greatly.