WikiIndex:Recipe for server moves

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Revision as of 19:16, 13 March 2015 by BrandonCsSanders (talk | contribs) (Moved from WikiIndex:ServerMove)
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About the Move

There should be few (if any) visible differences for WikiIndex.org once the move is complete. It is simply moving from one hosting platform to another. Here are the steps I, BrandonCsSanders (talk, plan to follow during the move.

Prior to the move

Note: The only thing that will be changed on the current server before, during, and after the move is to set it to read-only and add a banner during the move itself. Not mucking with the server preserves a working server that we can fail back to if something unforeseen happens.

  1. A complete backup of the wiki will be made (done as of November 14, 2014 ... gzipped up without the cache the backup is 517Mb)
  2. The backup of WikiIndex will be restored at another temporary domain.
  3. MediaWiki will be upgraded to the most recent version (as will the extensions) on the temporary domain.
  4. Once I've fixed and tested everything I can think of I'll invite the WikiIndex regulars to come poke around on the temporary domain to make sure everything looks right and is working.
  5. Once given the thumbs up from the community the actual move will begin.

The actual move

  1. WikiIndex.org will be switched into read-only mode to ensure that the database is in a consistent state and that no accounts or edits are created (and subsequently lost) during the move.
  2. A site message banner will be added to the top of the site on every page that indicates the move is in progress.
  3. A new complete dump of the database and images will be made. That means a new backup will be created which contains all changes to wiki until that point in time.
  4. That dump will be restored at the temporary domain.
  5. The database will be upgraded to the most recent schema.
  6. The DNS for wikiindex.org will be pointed to the new server's IP address.
  7. As the DNS propagates visitors will start to go to the new server.
  8. For most people the DNS will propagate within a couple of hours and within 24hrs it will have propagated for everyone.
  9. The new server is not in read-only mode and does not have the banner on it telling about the move.

I expect the move to take 1-2 hours, with the site in read-only mode and displaying the banner for most visitors for 2-3 hours.

I think a period of 24 hours is perfectly acceptable. Priority should lay on optimal result, not on shortest time of move. Manorainjan (talk)

Burn-in

  1. Once DNS has propagated for you you will see WikiIndex.org looking and acting like it did before (no longer read-only, no longer having a banner).
  2. Use it just like you normally would and report any issues to me, BrandonCsSanders (talk.
  3. Once we feel good that all is as it should be the original server will be decommissioned. Until that time it is available as a failsafe backup server that we can revert to (unlikely that we'll need to do that).

Post move

  1. If the community wants to switch canonical domains from wikiindex.org to index.wiki that can be arranged.
  2. On the new platform backups of all wikis are made every hour and the last 12 hours of backups are retained on the server itself. Every 24hrs a backup of the wiki is uploaded to s3 (an offsite backup) and these backups are slowly pruned over time in a manner similar to how Apple's Time Machine works.
  3. Who will do an update on http://www.aboutus.org/WikiIndex.org? Or create the entry about create.wiki? (Update: redirect to Wiki.Wiki)
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