Server upgrade 2022 (stuff might break)

[dreadnaut]

Eight years after the last one, we're about to bump the versions of a few pieces of stunts.hu: PHP, MySQL, SimpleMachineForum, WikiMedia. This will give us safer everything (including HTTPS, I hope, which means no more browser warnings), and updated software.

I have tested ZakStunts and Forum locally and those should be OK. I have not done it with the Wiki, I lack experience and time to investigate — maybe Afullo could give us a hand here?

I'm making copies of all things of course — the database is backed up every day!

[Daniel3D]

HTTPS would also mean safe single sign-on possibilities. 
You are probably upgrading everything in your spare time but do you have a timeframe in which downtime can happen?
This community has been my lifeline for the past few years. So I get nervous when I can't access it 😜

[afullo]

I'm not a MW expert, but I have some references. Probably with the details of the case...

[dreadnaut]

You are probably upgrading everything in your spare time but do you have a timeframe in which downtime can happen?

The backend upgrade is out of my hands and "queued" for early next week. We'll know the precise time then. Having kept ZakStunts up to date over the years, it'll be OK. I have tested the forum upgrade locally, and that also went well. I'm relatively confident

I'm not a MW expert, but I have some references. Probably with the details of the case...

We are starting from MediaWiki 1.18, and going as far as we can on MySQL and PHP, likely 8 and 8 for both. I think I need to step-upgrade to MediaWiki 1.27 then 1.35, but not certain.

[Daniel3D]

You don't have to step update mediawiki.
The only thing they mention is.

If you are upgrading from MediaWiki 1.5 or newer to 1.35, you can upgrade in one step, from your old version to the latest stable version.

Note that if you're upgrading a MediaWiki older than version 1.24, you should manually enable the skins in the LocalSettings.php file. In MediaWiki versions older than 1.24 the skins are enabled automatically, while in newer versions they have to be enabled manually. ....

(Sorry. Got curious and googled it)

[afullo]

We are starting from MediaWiki 1.18, and going as far as we can on MySQL and PHP, likely 8 and 8 for both. I think I need to step-upgrade to MediaWiki 1.27 then 1.35, but not certain.

Ok, I just asked. I cannot assure an answer, but it is worth the try.

[Cas]

All the best for this upgrade!  Hope it all works perfectly. I really don't know... well, anything... about the different versions of these things. Only little detail I can think of is that https is not supported by Bliss at this time, so ZakStunts would become inaccessible from it until I upgrade it. I have never done https in anything I've written, but I did have the intention to research at one point. I was busy with something else so in the end, I didn't do anything. I guess it'll be time for me to take a look at it again.

[Daniel3D]

That's ok CAS. HTTPS is fairly new, no need to hurry, right?

[dreadnaut]

Only little detail I can think of is that https is not supported by Bliss at this time, so ZakStunts would become inaccessible from it until I upgrade it.

HTTPS-enabled should not mean HTTPS-only, unless the hosting locks it that way for some reason. That said, I really hope you won't reimplement the protocol yourself, at least this time

[afullo]

First of all, launching ./maintenance/update.php could result in an error like "Main slot or revision (number) not found", since 1.18 is quite an old version. In the case, try to launch ./maintenance/populateContentTables.php.

Then, this Telegram group is devoted to help with MW.

[dreadnaut]

Thank you, I'll dig further

[Cas]

Oh, well, if there is the http way, I can use it, but even if it is only https, I totally see all the good about it, so I don't complain at all. I'm just thinking I'll have to do my work on Bliss. Currently, Bliss gets the track information from the json file you pointed me to and that works perfectly. Only the scoreboard information cannot be retrieved from there so I'm parsing the html to get that, which is not perfect, but I'm willing to use another file if possible.

The matter is actually about the https tunnel. There's no way I can implement it myself without years of learning about low level networking. This forces me to using third-party software to get to the https, which, as you know, I'm always very reluctant to do. I didn't like having to include a third-party graphics format library, but I found a way to make it more acceptable: I found a library that can be statically linked, meaning it won't add a dependency. I was forced to include all the source code of that library with the source of Bliss to comply with the GPL and I also added a switch (a define) in the source code so it's possible to compile it without the library, which results in it only supporting TGA and BMP, but it still works.

For https, I would have to do something similar and I have to research on how to achieve that. Of course, this is not a crucial thing anyway. And the source code of Bliss is already a big mess, so at some point, I would like to start over with a version 3, for which I could organise everything in the base. No doubt https is a step forward.

[afullo]

Are there critical extensions on our MW, or some substantially modifying it, such as SMW and WB?

[dreadnaut]

Are there critical extensions on our MW, or some substantially modifying it, such as SMW and WB?

I don't think we have added anything, should be plain MediaWiki.

[afullo]

Ok. Other suggested reference: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Upgrading#How_do_I_upgrade_from_a_really_old_version?_In_one_step,_or_in_several_steps