Webserver Notes
Win32 Webserver Setup
Using the Apache, Perl and MySQL application combination I can simulate all of the live websites that I maintain and provide myself with a very powerful and fully enabled development and testing environment.
I have used the Virtual Hosts configuration available in Apache to run several sites simultaneously. I maintain a number of sites as well as this one, and so run copies of each of these as well as a separate utilities server which gives me access to a various other web-utilities or other web-based projects of mine.
Each of these copies is set up as a virtual host with its own name and exists on the home system as an independant website. All developments to the websites can be done on these secondary copies, and only when they are tested and checked are they released to the live websites.
I have created an upload system that is as close to automated as I can
get it, requiring only minimal interaction from me.
It uses an MS-DOS batch file to sort the files prior to
upload to ensure that I only ever upload changed files, ie those that have
changed since the last upload, and so do not waste valuable connection time
uploading files unnecessarily.
The upload process also invokes a few simple perl scripts which perform
several important tasks, the first to correct the shebang line from the
Win32 one to a unix one.
The second task writes the upload timestamp to a file which is referenced in
the webpages on this site.
The third is to check the upload directory for
specific files which must not be uploaded or other similar 'sillies', a
basic safeguard!