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Author Topic: Forum Errors  (Read 12252 times)

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Offline iago

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Forum Errors
« on: July 24, 2007, 09:14:08 am »
So sometime last night, the forum crapped itself. I have no idea why, but the Settings.php file and Settings_bak.php files ended up empty. Don't ask me why the backup file is broken at the same time as the main one, there are some things that Man was not meant to know.

In any case, I did a fresh install of SMF and copied the settings file back, modified the DB stuff and, after I reset the DB password (how was I supposed to remember what it was? :) ), it seems almost perfect.

The only problem was that some of the categories moved a little. So I fixed that. So far I haven't noticed any other problems, but let me know if you do.

The DB seems to be unaffected, so that's a plus. The latest backup I have is yesterday morning so I didn't really want to roll it back.

If you see any problems, post it here and me (or one of the other leaders) will take care of it as quickly as possible!
« Last Edit: July 24, 2007, 09:47:10 am by iago »
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Offline chuck

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2007, 12:31:22 pm »
Just out of curiosity, are you monitoring the server after this for suspicious activity? I doubt its that, its probably just php crashing when someone was setting the settings, but better safe than sorry...
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Offline iago

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2007, 12:43:15 pm »
I used to, for educational reasons. Now I just back it up every day and pray :P

I don't think it was anything malicious, though, although I did do most of the forensic work at 6:30 this morning :)
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Offline Sidoh

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2007, 01:32:03 pm »
Quote from: chuck on July 24, 2007, 12:31:22 pm
Just out of curiosity, are you monitoring the server after this for suspicious activity? I doubt its that, its probably just php crashing when someone was setting the settings, but better safe than sorry...

Setting the settings, what?  I don't think SMF attempts to modify its Setting files outside of the installation process. :S
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Offline iago

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2007, 02:15:05 pm »
If that were true, why did that file end up empty? 

I really don't know what happened, but whatever. Hopefully it won't happen again :)
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Offline Sidoh

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2007, 02:24:24 pm »
Quote from: iago on July 24, 2007, 02:15:05 pm
If that were true, why did that file end up empty? 

I really don't know what happened, but whatever. Hopefully it won't happen again :)

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure the only times that Settings.php is modified is during the installation process and when you change something in the administration panel.  It went down at around 1:30 AM MST.  I know I wasn't doing anything then.  Can the other admins say the same?

I'm not saying chuck's hypothesis is conclusively incorrect.  I just don't think Settings.php is modified except in special situations.
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Offline iago

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #6 on: July 24, 2007, 02:29:40 pm »
The only related incident I can think of is that the harddrive on the server was almost completely full. This is a result of my negligence, since I do a nightly backup and hadn't bothered deleting old ones in awhile.

But I don't see how that could affect it.
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Offline chuck

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #7 on: July 24, 2007, 02:32:30 pm »
Quote from: Sidoh on July 24, 2007, 02:24:24 pm
Quote from: iago on July 24, 2007, 02:15:05 pm
If that were true, why did that file end up empty? 

I really don't know what happened, but whatever. Hopefully it won't happen again :)

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure the only times that Settings.php is modified is during the installation process and when you change something in the administration panel.  It went down at around 1:30 AM MST.  I know I wasn't doing anything then.  Can the other admins say the same?

I'm not saying chuck's hypothesis is conclusively incorrect.  I just don't think Settings.php is modified except in special situations.
Its just a guess, I sometimes fiddle with scripts and find every way I can to break them. I've found when some scripts are terminated while writing to files, strange things happen. I'm not saying this happened, its just a possibility.

Quote from: iago on July 24, 2007, 02:29:40 pm
The only related incident I can think of is that the harddrive on the server was almost completely full. This is a result of my negligence, since I do a nightly backup and hadn't bothered deleting old ones in awhile.

But I don't see how that could affect it.
Linux sometimes does strange things to me when the hard-drive is near full. I've opened a web browser and got garbage all over the screen, and ctrl+alt+f1'ed and saw errors spitting out on the console about a full disk.
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Offline Sidoh

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #8 on: July 24, 2007, 02:34:08 pm »
Quote from: chuck on July 24, 2007, 02:32:30 pm
Its just a guess, I sometimes fiddle with scripts and find every way I can to break them. I've found when some scripts are terminated while writing to files, strange things happen. I'm not saying this happened, its just a possibility.

It's definitely a possibility.  I don't disagree at all there. :)
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Offline Newby

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2007, 11:14:48 am »
It appears the move dicked with the forum timezone. If you're having issues with your timestamps on posts, go to your Profile (click the button on the menu), go to Look and Layout Preferences, and have it auto-detect the offset. I just tested it, and that fixed it. :)
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[17:32:45] * xar sets mode: -oooooooooo algorithm ban chris cipher newby stdio TehUser tnarongi|away vursed warz
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Quote from: CrAz3D on June 30, 2008, 10:38:22 am
I'd bet that you're currently bloated like a water ballon on a hot summer's day.

That analogy doesn't even make sense.  Why would a water balloon be especially bloated on a hot summer's day? For your sake, I hope there wasn't too much logic testing on your LSAT. 

Offline Towelie

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2007, 11:17:33 am »
Quote from: Newby on July 30, 2007, 11:14:48 am
It appears the move dicked with the forum timezone. If you're having issues with your timestamps on posts, go to your Profile (click the button on the menu), go to Look and Layout Preferences, and have it auto-detect the offset. I just tested it, and that fixed it. :)
its off by 10 mins for me now :P
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Offline iago

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2007, 05:34:37 pm »
I have no idea why the clock was so far off on that server, it was likely due to testing stuff. I fixed it now, though, so change your timezone back to where it ought to be :)
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Offline CrAz3D

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2007, 05:39:23 pm »
hmm, so is it still at your house?
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Offline chuck

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2007, 05:44:46 pm »
You should install ntpdate, and make it sync the clock every few hours.

And you killed my avatar! *Goes hunting for it on his harddrive*

EDIT:
Ahh, this makes sense now.

Code: [Select]
An Error Has Occurred!
The attachments upload directory is not writable. Your attachment or avatar cannot be saved.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2007, 05:48:00 pm by chuck »
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Offline iago

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Re: Forum Errors
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2007, 06:04:47 pm »
Quote from: CrAz3D on July 30, 2007, 05:39:23 pm
hmm, so is it still at your house?
Yes, until somebody provides better hosting it's going to live there. I just merged the two Web servers, which I didn't really want to do but was kinda forced into it.

Quote from: chuck on July 30, 2007, 05:44:46 pm
You should install ntpdate, and make it sync the clock every few hours.

And you killed my avatar! *Goes hunting for it on his harddrive*

EDIT:
Ahh, this makes sense now.

Code: [Select]
An Error Has Occurred!
The attachments upload directory is not writable. Your attachment or avatar cannot be saved.
I use ntpdate, it's set to run every night. To update the time to the proper one, I just ran it manually (/etc/cron.daily/updatetime.sh) and it worked fine, so I don't know what happened there.

I thought I made the folders writable by the Web user, but maybe I screwed up. Try again?

<edit> Better yet, why don't I fix the path to the one where the files actually are? Avatars fixed! :D
« Last Edit: July 30, 2007, 06:08:03 pm by iago »
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