UT99.org | Unreal Tournament Community

Chamberly wrote:Yesterday I have problem connecting to UT99.org and there were about the sql error?

Yeah it was DB error as it seems.

I had some problem trying to connect this morning, it said that the website is down/nothing loading on the page.

here the same ... I hope these pesky china bots aren't back to annoy us.

paper, can you not appeal to Shade to at least let you get a copy of the database and forum "just-in-case"? No one here can question your trustworthiness and I'd be happy to explain to you what you need to save so that there is nothing lost except for further postings made after the backup. At least the files and attachments would be saved.

It's clear that trouble is brewing and it would be best if you could try to stem any major loss of data. If Shade absolutely won't let you have it then perhaps the time is growing close for you and Gen and Flay to work on an alternative site, porting over whatever you can save from here.

Is the host a shared machine that is crashing or perhaps being overloaded?

I think it's more a case of neglect of the database itself. You have to clean house every so often to keep things lean and mean. They won't run forever on their own.

Hire a maid? LOL... jk

In a way you couldn't be more right. Someone to 'sweep up' every few days is really necessary, otherwise the issues only start compounding. This is especially true if Shade isn't keeping up with updates, patches, etc.

I have been lucky to miss todays problem so far.

I don't know much about the host or status.
There is only 2 domains on this IP, so it should not be overloaded.
http://myip.ms/info/whois/89.163.163.66 ... e/ut99.org
myservr.org
www.unitedcolo.de

Timing is lousy as Shade Von Trapp, is currently harvesting muesli and herding goats up a mountain.
We have the keys to the car, but not the house.
Didn't think to ask Shade about the backup routine for the site after the last time the site went crazy.
We will have to ask the 2 people with the house keys about a contingency plan.

We are currently at phpBB v3.0.7. and so it does need an update, however without root access I can't do that.
Somebody said to me that the DB in phpBB is a bit crappy and is often a problem, so maybe a regular restart would help.
The DB is currently 150.8 MiB but I have nothing to compare with as this is the first time looked.
I can't find any error logs, so I can't see If todays issue was due to DB error or hackers.
There are a few security options I could tighten, but they won't be much help here, as they are aimed at user account protection.

On the upside, since the last time the site was crippled, the IRC room has been more sociable, and I get to chat with actual users of the site, rather than the strange lurkers that don't visit.

If the site is down and gone, I suspect a server/host issue as you should see an error page with a DB issue.

The server was just moved to another data center. Everything is okay. (Sorry for not informing you in time about that.)

About the phpBB version... I won't update it anymore. Just one simple reason about that: "Don't change a running system." Since this board has been modified so many times over the years and is currently running without any problems so far, I will not try to do such a big update. Of course I could just copy the boad and the database, install all updates and test the whole thing seperatly. But I have really no time and nerves for this. This would be a really big thing where I definitively expect something to break.

That's a dangerous game to play and one that will hurt the site in the long run. Legacy versions are legacy for a reason and it's almost always related to security in one form or another. It's only a matter of time before it gets exploited if you don't keep it patched. Guys like DK Destroyer would love nothing more than to be able to hammer the back end and that would worry me greatly if I were running the domain.

Better have a fall-back plan because you will eventually need it.

JackGriffin wrote:That's a dangerous game to play and one that will hurt the site in the long run. Legacy versions are legacy for a reason and it's almost always related to security in one form or another. It's only a matter of time before it gets exploited if you don't keep it patched. Guys like DK Destroyer would love nothing more than to be able to hammer the back end and that would worry me greatly if I were running the domain.

Better have a fall-back plan because you will eventually need it.

Keep an eye on updates and fixes, might be easier to just apply those where needed instead of completly updating the forum.

Tbh, I like the forum as it is. lol

papercoffee wrote:I hope these pesky china bots aren't back to annoy us.

Foiled again...