Running a DreamHost Wiki

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Some beginning tips on running a wiki at DreamHost[edit]

I have figured out some stuff but not a whole lot.

What you get from dream host[edit]

  • Seems basically to be a virtual Linux headless ( no graphical user interface ) server. You have a couple of ways of interacting with it:
    • Connect via ssh and use a terminal program to operate it in command mode
    • Connect via a FTP client and move files back an forth


    • Connect via a web browser and use some tools provided by Dreamhost.

My Environment[edit]

To understand my use it may help to know what my software environment is:

  • Computer
    • Notebook i7 processor, 8 gig memory
    • OS: Windows 7 pro
    • Additional OS's running under Virtual Box 4.1.22 ( out of date )


Tools On Ubuntu[edit]

SSH[edit]

You need an SSH client program on your computer to interact in the most powerful way ( but not necessarily the most friendly way ) with the Linux virtual machine at DreamHost There seem to be a lot out there, one of the most popular seems to be PuTTY, I do not particularly like it and in general decided that interactions with the Linux server is better using a Linux client, so I do most of my work in a Ubuntu machine under Virtual box. This lets me get pretty much any Linux tool that runs under Linux, and for this purpose there seem to be more:

For my ideal SSH client I want it to remember all the log on settings so that I do not have to remember and type this administrative junk. I also want full cut and paste ability either from the Ubuntu environment or the widows environment. Again there is PuTTY and for me it is still not all I want.

SecPanel[edit]

is another ssh client and seems more functional for me, it is what I use now.


FileZilla[edit]

FileZilla is a file transfer program, I have found very useful. Transfer files either way, view, edit text files all gui based.


LocalSettings.php[edit]

You will get a file from dream host, keep a copy safe some place, it has parameters including passwords you will need to know. Its name is LocalSettings.php

TortoiseHg[edit]

While not absolutely necessary, DavidCary uses TortoiseHg on his local machine as a pretty GUI to talk to Mercurial on Dreamhost, when doing OpenCircuits back-end maintenance. Mercurial makes it much easier to tweak settings in LocalSettings.php, test them out, and when things go horribly wrong, revert to the previous known-good configuration. TortoiseHg and Mercurial also make it much easier to answer questions like "Hey, this thing over here was working a week ago. What changed since then?". The http://hginit.com/ website has a good introduction to using Mercurial from a command line; I think it is useful to skim through it even if you plan to always use Mercurial through a GUI interface like TortoiseHg.

Other References[edit]