Customized Install Help Wanted

[jlasman]

I have a client who has a working site. A rather complex working site, using perl and MySql (no PHP).

http://advancement.calbaptist.edu/

It's the only site on his dedicated server, which he rents from Dell, and which is running RHL 8.

There's no email on the server.

He wants to buy DirectAdmin but he needs a guarantee that after it's installed, the site will still work. He realizes there may be some downtime, and he accepts that.

If you're very familiar with DA and can do a DA install and guarantee that his site will still work, please contact me at my email address below, in my sig.

Thanks.

Jeff

[ProWebUK]

Are there currently any control panels on the system?

What is actually setup at the moment?, wouldn't it simply be a case of backup the html/perl data and the mysql db's, create the site in DA then restore, or are we looking at much more than that...

Chris

[jlasman]

That's probably it, Chris.

Frankly I have no problem doing it; I have a problem with his request for a "Guarantee" and I'd rather a third party deal with him to set terms and do the work.

Please consider continuing the discussion via email; it's easier for me to reply to an email than to log in to the forum.

Thanks.

Jeff

[Wunk]

It might help if a list of required perl modules and such is posted.., most perl modules can be easily added through the CPAN (perl -e shell -MCPAN), but if he for example uses Liz::Perl, it kinda gets icky ;)

[jlasman]

The programmer, who is no longer with his company, wrote us this, as documentation:

There is a long list of dependencies, but this is what is directly
required:

-GD
-Apache
-Perl & these modules: Text::Template, GD, DBI, DBD::mysql - other
modules required come default with an installation of Perl
-MySQL
-gif2png


Jeff

[nebukazar]

Hello,

I could do the install.
you can contact me at ltellier@3logics.com

regards,

[loopforever]

Sounds like cake - if I had more free time I'd offer to do it. Jeff, I think you could easily fulfill his request for a guarentee on your own, the dependancies don't sound like too big of a deal to install. Just my opinion :-p...you could easily do all that yourself and save yourself/client some money. But...I see where you're coming from I guess...

[jlasman]

Matt,

The gent in question is a friend as well as a client, and in the past he's backed off from everything he's asked me to do for him once I told him a price.

Or he's explained that as a friend I should be able to just "do it" for him.

Can I do the install absolutely.

Will I most likely be able to figure out the dependencies? Most probably.

Do I want to get involved in a guarantee?

That's the problem.

He's renting the sytem, with no control panel, from Dell. Before he contracted with them, he asked me for a price for a rental server, and I gave him one. He didn't feel he needed the control panel; he's only doing one or two sites, and at the time he had a young contract employee who said he'd do it all.

But said young employee now has a fulltime job and no longer works for my friend/client.

A few weeks ago he had me quote him on server administration and creating a backup system. I did. I asked him for a start date, which he gave me.

I billed him.

He called and said could we start in two weeks instead, so I issued a credit.

Two weeks later he said he doesn't need a server administrator, just a little help once in a while.

So I doubt he's doing system updates; to do so he'd have to bring it up to date now and deal with either Fedora Legacy or Progeny Transition Service (we use both). His style appears to be "disaster management"; something I call "reaction" as opposed to "action".

And the backups? After I told him I couldn't give him free space on, or free transit to, my date center, but there'd be a charge for it, he said it'd have to wait until he figured out how to create a backup system in his office.

So under the circumstances, I don't feel, as a friend who's going to be held to a long-term relationship and long-term responsibility, to offer him a guarantee.

Much better it be a one-time purchase from someone.

Jeff

[jlasman]

Originally posted by nebukazar
I could do the install.
you can contact me at ltellier@3logics.com
I'll reply by email.

Jeff

[loopforever]

Originally posted by jlasman
So under the circumstances, I don't feel, as a friend who's going to be held to a long-term relationship and long-term responsibility, to offer him a guarantee.

Understandable - no need losing a friend over something as trivial as a few websites.

Anyway, here's a suggestion for whoever takes on the task:

After creating a similar enviroment on the new server, transfer the site and database over (be sure to preserve permissions but change ownership appropriately), but do not change anything in the domain's zone file. Confirm that the test system is working properly before changing all the A records for the domain. Once that's done, send the most up-to-date version of the database to the new machine and turn off mysql and any other services that may cause change to the original files (this way you don't have to refresh the files on the new machine because their outdated). Just a few pointers for whoever takes on the task ;).

Good luck! :D

[jlasman]

Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I needed to be...

What my client/friend wants is to have DA installed on his current server, and a guarantee that his site will work after the install.

Jeff