This is a long time draft that I thought already publish till I update some wordpress plugin. My friend who open software house came send me private message. He ask me if I have an idea why his email not delivered. He install a software called gitlab. This software basically manage operation of git from web based application.

After login to his server I realize that his vps provider blocked port 25. This port is designed for send email. To overcome this issue just open a ticket and told them about the problem. Attach the output of this command :

mailq

After few minutes (almost one hour) ticket responded and port unblocked. Now I see email arrive to mailbox.

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My friend send email asking for command line. His boss don’t believe on uptime report  he made. He told me that he got the report from 3rd party that manage the server.  He want to know it and will show the result to his boss.

As far as I know the command for checking are :

1. uptime

# uptime
04:17:02 up 82 days, 23:34,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

2. w

# w

04:17:05 up 82 days, 23:34,  1 user,  load average: 0,00, 0,00, 0,00
USER     TTY      FROM              LOGIN@   IDLE   JCPU   PCPU WHAT
root     pts/0    36.68.204.105    04:16    0.00s  0.03s  0.02s w

As usual for more detail or option available using man.

# man uptime

UPTIME(1)                     Linux User’s Manual                    UPTIME(1)

NAME
uptime – Tell how long the system has been running.

SYNOPSIS
uptime
uptime [-V]

DESCRIPTION
uptime  gives  a one line display of the following information.  The current time, how long the system has been running, how many users are cur-
rently logged on, and the system load averages for the past 1, 5, and 15 minutes.

This is the same information contained in the header line displayed by w(1).

FILES
/var/run/utmp  information about who is currently logged on
/proc     process information

AUTHORS
uptime was written by Larry Greenfield <[email protected]> and Michael K. Johnson <[email protected]>.

Please send bug reports to <[email protected]>

SEE ALSO
ps(1), top(1), utmp(5), w(1)

Cohesive Systems                  26 Jan 1993                        UPTIME(1)

If you want to print it you might want to export it first.

# man uptime > uptime.txt

If you have vps or dedicated server then you can compare it versus confirmation email from provider.

Today I got “error, can not write” message on the bottom of my blog. I think its temporary since I often see the message before (with bluehost).

This afternoon I got another message that confirm me if the message is not usual one. The message is sign of storage full. Yes, the blog move to vps and after checking the status :

# df -H
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/vda1       8.4G  7.9G     0 100% /
none            4.1k     0  4.1k   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
udev            511M  4.1k  511M   1% /dev
tmpfs           105M  410k  104M   1% /run
none            5.3M     0  5.3M   0% /run/lock
none            522M     0  522M   0% /run/shm
none            105M     0  105M   0% /run/user
/dev/vdb1        22G   47M   20G   1% /data
# cd /

My VPS utilize 100% of / partition (I thought soft limit is there) and lead me to error message.

I forgot if this VPS use two drive : /dev/vda1 for operating system and /dev/vdb1 for data storage.

To fix the problem I just need to move content from /dev/vda1 to /dev/vdb1

# mv /srv/users/ /data/
# ln -s /data/users /srv/
# ls -l /srv/

total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Jun 15 14:56 users -> /data/users

Checking current status now :

# df -H

Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/vda1       8.4G  3.6G  4.4G  46% /
none            4.1k     0  4.1k   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
udev            511M  4.1k  511M   1% /dev
tmpfs           105M  410k  104M   1% /run
none            5.3M     0  5.3M   0% /run/lock
none            522M     0  522M   0% /run/shm
none            105M     0  105M   0% /run/user
/dev/vdb1        22G  4.7G   16G  24% /data
#

The service working well now 🙂

“I already upload photo for my post but I see blank display on our website”. That question came from my friend who work as webmaster. He is responsible for updating the news on the office website. I promise to take a look and tell you the answer. Actually I was buying time to figure out what caused the problem.

The site has been running for more than 2 years and no significant problems during this period. That changed only version of wordpress.  I think the reason why the picture features running on the website of my friend’s office was not functioning properly is wordpress.

After look around finally I can reproduce the problem and came back with answer 🙂

How to get wordpress featured image work

Simple, create new post, add post title then fill the content. For featured image you must choose it manually from editor menu.

This method also work on image slider aka carousel (many theme use it).

I can’t see Featured Image section

Click “Screen Options” to enable it.

Today I have job for backup mysql to other server that specialize on mysql backup online. The job is easy but I think it worth to share for someone out there who want to do same thing 🙂

I’ll use my vps on DigitalOcean and MySQL backup service from mysqlbackuponline.

DigitalOcean

On DO side the steps are :

1. Create database

2. Grant “select” access to the database you want to backup (don’t forget to flush privileges). ex :

grant select on dbname.* to username@’126.220.63.%’ identified by ‘password’;

3. Open firewall access to mysql port, like this :

iptables -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp –destination-port 3306 -j ACCEPT

Check if the rule is exist :

# iptables -L -n

Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target     prot opt source               destination
ACCEPT     tcp  —  0.0.0.0/0            0.0.0.0/0           tcp dpt:3306

4. Edit /etc/mysql/my.cnf or /etc/my.cnf (position depend on your server operating system)

Make sure “bind-address” section is right. For me comment the line is enough.

5. Restart MySQL server

Mysqlbackuponline

On Mysqlbackuponline side the steps are :

1. Login to mysqlbackuponline

2. Click on + Add New MySQL server

3. Enter all requested information

4. Test Connection

Make sure connection work well “Test connection succeeded”.

Test run the job :

Great service from mysqlbackuponline. Time to schedule it for daily backup.

Common task when move to new web hosting is changing ns server supplied by hosting company.

ns1.domainname.com

ns2.domainname.com

You must enter those ns to domain control panel and wait. In case of web transfer after where you hired by someone or they little bit worry about the process you can educate them by using these tools :

1. intodns.com ; this service will check latest ns server that work for a domain.
2. free dns service ; you can use google public dns or opendns service.
3. clean dns cache ; you can type ipconfig \flushdns under ms dos command prompt.

By use those tools you can show latest status of domain propagation. In case of slow respond from your dns given by your isp you can ask them to use no.2.

Happy transfering 🙂

A message came out when one “heavy” php script work :

Easy way to overcome this message is increase maximum execution time.

Create .htaccess file with this content :

php_value max_execution_time xxx

xxx in second, by default the value of this option is 30.

I try to change to 120 :

php_value max_execution_time 120

save the file and recheck it via phpinfo().

Today I move around 20 domain plus its content to new web hosting. Common process that should be accomplished :

On Old hosting account 

1. Backup database
2. Create archive of wordpress files + backup database
3. Scp to new web hosting through ssh

On new hosting account

1. Extract archive from scp
2. Create database, user access to database and add user to newly created database.
3. Import sql file (backup database) to new database.
4. Edit wp-config.php 
5. Edit ns record for domain and relax.

As I see on wp-config.php. This file not change from time to time. One of wp-config.php I see from old domain (registered on 2003) :

See that. No salt and no other option as I used to see on new install of wordpress. This file should be change to newest version. Simple way to do that is copy wp-config.php from newest installation and edit its content (specially credentials section). This word add more power and refresh the blog. I should add it to my to list from now on.

That question came from my friend who decide to use paid hosting after get banned by free hosting provider.

My answer is : depend

If you have only one domain with huge traffic (term huge is more than 1k) then you’ll need to consider one account for one domain. But if you have around 100 uv / day for a domain then I suggest to host maximum 5 domain for one account.

Other factors need to concern are :

1. Dynamic or static; dynamic type content like wordpress, joomla, drupal will consume more than static html.
2. Number of process allowed; a few host will give you throttle that put your host in freeze mode. No more access to new visitor until big trafic go away.
3. Cpu process; extensive resources also prohibited. Make sure to use minimum plugin and use 3rd party service like nrelate that store all related post of your blog on their server.
4. Language version; people often unaware about php version they use on their shared hosting. Use newest but stable version like php 5.3.xxx
5. CDN (content delivery network); use font from google, twitter bootstrap from cdn is faster then host it and serve it yourself.

Which program should I choose? Google Adsense or Amazon affiliate.

That question asked by my friend who want to try make  money on internet. No simple answer for that question. He need upper layer knowledge for his question.

Know the process first!

– Why I should choose that program : those programs is great since backup by big company (Google and Amazon). You can rest assured that you get your payment.

– How do I get visitor for my blog / website : most traffic that convert (lead to sales or click) came from search engine (google, yahoo,bing etc).

– What information they look for? in general people look for knowledge information or product information. Don’t mix it to get great result.

Laser focus on 3 things :

1. Get low competition but high demand information.

2. Create content that supply information demand.

3. Monitoring competition that may rise.

Full detail of process might be read on this pdf file (free download).

Using that knowledge I can make modifications to my fresh store builder and expand it to other region.

Amazon.fr

Amazon.de

Not big as amazon.com but really challenging since I do little effort for the site.

Now I’m working on new version of my own system based on knowledge from pdf and fresh store builder. I think this one will be good and utilize other resource (blogspot and wordpress based system too).

Summary :

– Google adsense is good for knowledge based information site/blog.

– Amazon is good for product based information site/blog.

– Don’t mix google adsense and amazon on single site/blog.

Update wordpress to newest version and got this message :

Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.

A bit confuse since I’m in a hurry but after calm down I try to find unusual file using file manager.

Seem that message caused by those files. Remove them.

Voila!

Everything back into normal.

Domain and Hosting : an inseparable pair

To be able to show off your presence in internet world you need 2 basic things :

1.Domain name
2.Hosting Account .

Domain name is the address that we type in browser. For example; facebook.com, google.com, yahoo.com .

Hosting account is not visible to end user / audience. As long you can see the content of an internet address that mean the hosting provider work well and you’re on business. By default an hosting company will serve those things (domain name and hosting) and client just need to care about the content. In real life, domain name and hosting account might located in different location due to some reasons such as; domain price, hosting price, performance consideration and security.

My brother want me to extend his domain for next 1 year. I agree to help him but with one condition. I can change the registrar. He agree and I start working.

I like to try new thing, including domain move. In last move domain related experiment I move domain from register to godaddy.

Here the posts :

1. move domain from register to godaddy : part1
2. move domain from register to godaddy : part2

In this experiment I want to move a domain from godaddy to namecheap . I already have an account at namecheap and add fund too from my paypal account. You need to create an account at namecheap if you don’t have one by click here.

Unlock Domain and get EPP key at Godaddy

The aim of this task is simple; unclock domain for transfer and get authorization key / EPP key from godaddy as current registrar.

Login to godaddy and click Domain Management link.

Choose domain that you want to transfer out of godaddy.

Click once to get manage domain link. Click the link.

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I have chance to learn about forex from scratch and decide to use a vps due to speed requirement. My current connection not support me when I need to close order and requote often.

Fortunately I use forex broker that provide free vps with small requirement :

Available balance is $500

That amount is fair for me and since I also make profit from my trading I can reach that requirement easily.

In this post I will share how to activate free vps for forex trading provided by roboforex.

Get Free VPS for Forex Trading

1. Login to roboforex account

Make sure you already verified for 2 levels :

• identity verification
• phone verification

2. Click link “Your VPS 2.0 Server” under Profile menu

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