Difference between revisions of "Running a DreamHost Wiki"

From OpenCircuits
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(fill in a few details, etc.)
 
(One intermediate revision by the same user not shown)
Line 23: Line 23:
 
**OS: Windows 7 pro
 
**OS: Windows 7 pro
 
**Additional OS's running under Virtual Box 4.1.22 ( out of date )
 
**Additional OS's running under Virtual Box 4.1.22 ( out of date )
***Ubuntu 12.04  Set up with some directories shared with the Windows 7 host.
+
***Ubuntu 12.04  Set up with some directories shared with the Windows 7 host. [https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/VirtualBox/Setting_up_an_Ubuntu_virtual_machine "VirtualBox: Setting up an Ubuntu virtual machine"] has some tips for setting up an Ubuntu virtual machine with VirtualBox.
  
  
Line 40: Line 40:
  
 
===FileZilla===
 
===FileZilla===
FileZilla is a file transfer program, I have found very useful. Transfer files either way, view, edit text files all gui based.
+
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FileZilla FileZilla] is a file transfer program, I have found very useful. Transfer files either way, view, edit text files all gui based.
  
  
 
===LocalSettings.php===
 
===LocalSettings.php===
 
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
 
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 ===
 +
 +
While not absolutely necessary, DavidCary uses
 +
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TortoiseHg TortoiseHg] on his local machine
 +
as a pretty GUI
 +
to talk to
 +
[http://wiki.dreamhost.com/Mercurial 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==
 
==Other References==
Line 51: Line 66:
  
 
*[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki Welcome to MediaWiki.org] Partarticurlarly see: Developing & Extending
 
*[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki Welcome to MediaWiki.org] Partarticurlarly see: Developing & Extending
 +
 +
* [http://wiki.dreamhost.com/ the DreamHost Web Hosting manual]. In particular, the [http://wiki.dreamhost.com/MediaWiki MediaWiki on Dreamhost] page has a lot of tips for running MediaWiki at DreamHost. (MediaWiki is the software that supports the OpenCircuits, the DreamHost Web Hosting Manual, WikiBooks, etc).

Latest revision as of 09:00, 11 May 2015

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]