Some Newbie Questions :-)

[Raventiger]

Hi,

Currently, I'm evaluating my options for setting up a home server for web development. Right now all I need is a server that runs Apache, MySQL and PHP 5.2.x . Currently the systems I have available are

Server: Running CentOS 5.5 (which I'm thinking of replacing with Amahi)

Workstation 1: Either a plain Windows 7 box or a dual boot Windows 7 / Linux Box depending on my mood at the time. Currently set up to be a dual boot Windows 7 / Fedora 13 box. Note Linux Distro can and most likely will change as I love to tinker

Workstation 2: Either a plain Windows XP box or a dual boot Windows XP / Linux Box as per above. Currently set up to be a Windows XP box. This is my wife's computer which she tolerates me using as Linux Workstation when she isn't gaming .

My goal is to set up my own home Web Development business.

Although I have dabbled with Linux on the desktop, I am very much a networking newbie and in the interests of saving time, I've decided to investigate Amahi.

Which brings me to my query, which has to do with Amahi's DHCP server. I would love to disable my router's DHCP server and run Amahi's DHCP server. My wife, however, is concerned that if this occurs then the server will have to be running all the time for us to connect to the Internet - an idea she's not very happy about. I was wondering if there was an easy way (other than manually stopping and starting the router's DHCP server) for me to set up my network, so that when I am using it for development purposes it runs through Amahi's DHCP server, and when the server isn't needed it, the standalone workstations can connect directly to the net via my router's DHCP server? I realise that I don't have to use Amahi's DHCP server, but I'd like to for the added features it provides. Having said that in the interests of domestic tranquility I may have to turn off Amahi's DHCP server. If I do, will I have any problems utilising Amahi as LAMP server?

EDIT: My wife has informed me that her main concern is what happens if the server is unavailable for whatever reason, and she can't access the internet. Due to my disabilities, at times she is by herself at home whilst I am recovering, and if the server doesn't work she doesn't want to be caught without internet access. How hard is it to manually enable/disable the router's DHCP service if the Amahi server is unavailable for use? Are there any other issues we might encounter if the Amahi server was unavailable?

Also I note that the current version of PHP is 5.3.x,. However, the version that I am learning to use is 5.2.x . Can I install PHP 5.2.x on Amahi? I have instructions on how to do a manual install on a standalone linux system using .tar.bz files, but I don't know if that will work with Amahi or not. Lastly will Amahi have any problems dealing with my dual boot systems (i.e. switching from Linux to Windows and visa-versa? )

Sorry for the rambling post and all the newbie questions, and thank you for your patience and for providing Amahi to the community.

Warm Regards,

Raven

[moredruid]

first of all I don't think the php versions are that different, they are also usually backwards compatible so that shouldn't be an issue, especially not point releases (.2 to .3). major version can be very different though (think php5 > php6) but that's not the case here.

wrt to the server/router stuff: write clear instructions (don't forget the username/password and use IP-addresses, not hostnames) on how to disable/enable DHCP in your router and have your wife test it out by herself. just give the instructions (perhaps loaded with screenshots) and tell her "hey babe, can you figure this out by yourself?" and watch her do it to see where she struggles but refrain from helping.
you may need to set her system up with a static IP so she'll always has connectivity even when the server is down (use the hda's IP as DNS server for the Amahi goodness).

and test it. no really. if there are any issues you should have them sorted out beforehand, not during a "crisis"

[Raventiger]

Thanks for the response. I'm happy to say that I've successfully installed Amahi, and after running a battery of network tests, I am satisfied that the network is working perfectly. One quick concern upon startup the following boot error message occurs.

Starting sabnzbd: The following modules need to be installed: Cheetah, cherrypy(included, unpack the zip), sqlite(if python 2.4) [FAILED]

I have no idea what sabnzbd is, if I need it, what Cheetah is, or how to install it. At a guess I'm assuming that cherrypy is a python library but I have have no idea how to unpack it, and where to unpack it to. Lastly how do I go about installing sqlite for Amahi?

Other then that everything is working perfectly, and as per your advice I'm setting my wife machine up with a static ip .

[bigfoot65]

It's a usenet news reader as an amahi app. You have to install the app to use it, but this error is harmless. You can install cheetah by doing a yum install cheetah.

We have identified this as a bug in the past and it' being worked. Glad the server is working well for you. Please keep us posted.

[Raventiger]

Thanks for the responce bigfoot .

I've come across one slight problem that I'm not entirely sure is Amahi's fault. After running a battery of network tests, I set Amahi up to be my DHCP server. Unfortunately the internet has slowed to a crawl on some international sites, with some sites becoming stuck on the loading page, and basically unacessable. My wife suggested that it might have something to do with Amahi, so to humor her, I turned off the server, and reenabled my routers DHCP server. Once I had renewed the ip addresses, the sites I was having trouble accessing all work perfectly now. I'm not quite sure what's going on, so I'll leave the router's DHCP sever enabled for now, at least until I hear back from someone here . Is there any log files or commands that I can run to supply some troubleshooting information?

Thanks once again for all your assistance. I have to say the community here is great .

[moredruid]

ah... probably something with the DNS servers.
http://wiki.amahi.org/index.php/Changin ... S_provider should guide you through this.
check the DNS IP addresses in your router, and modify the Amahi values to the values from your router.

[hypertense]

To answer the original poster's question, I resolved pretty much the same situation as below.

I started by setting static IPs for my computers in both the router and the server. The next step was to use the network configurator in each machine to use the server as the primary DNS server and OpenDNS as the secondary DNS server (very easy to do in Windows, which my PCs run).

Now if the server is down my computers automatically use the OpenDNS service to resolve internet addresses (use your own provider's DNS service if you prefer). This way all Amahi's features work while the server is up and if I'm fooling around with the server I don't get any grief from the family for losing internet access.

hypertense