[Scummvm-devel] About announcing backend changes & build machine

[Max Horn]

Hi everybody, I'll try to answer all the questions in one mail. Hope I
don't miss any.


Am So, 6.01.2008, 23:56, schrieb John Willis:
> Max,
>
> The only concern I would raise would be the RAM, did I read right that
> they
> only give the VM a total of 512meg? (with an option for on demand 1024?)

Indeed, we are guaranteed 512 MB, and temporarily can get up to 1024 to
"handle load peaks". I was not sure whether that is enough; Eugene and me
thought it should be OK in general.

It is possible to upgrade to the next bigger system for free at any time,
too. So I recommend we start with the 512 MB one, and if does not suffice,
let's upgrade. But before we do that, we should just turn of all services
we do not need (like mail server, SQL, etc.)


> That is really going to choke if we end up with more then one or two
> compiles going at the same time in my experience. Esp. if the box is also
> running MySQL and Apache for the continuous integration/build services.
>

Note that we normally would build sequential, not in parallel, and that no
MySQL is required for BuildBot.

I currently favor BuildBot as "continous build system". Reasons:
* it comes prepackaged for Mac OS X via Fink (so I can easily set up a
test install) and also Ubuntu/Debian/SuSE/Fedora packages are available
* it has low requirements
* easy to configure yet powerful (using Python)
* it seems to have good community support
* integrates well with Subversion

Side note: it even offers a cool IRC bot, but HostEurope, like many
providers, sadly prohibits running IRC services. But I consider that a
minor issue.

> Anyway, it gets my vote, happy to setup a GP2X and DevkitARM environment
> on
> there if required (and help look after it if there are not other takers).

Cool. Help would be appreciated. BTW, this offers also includes
monitoring; up to 10 services can be automatically monitored by them in
30minute intervals; if one is down/broken, we can get automatic
email/SMS/Fax notifications. But hopefully it will run stable enough ;)

>

Am Mo, 7.01.2008, 02:29, schrieb Paweł Kołodziejski:
>
[...]
> Does that mean max 15 virtual servers for our disposal ?
> Or that mean that hardware can handle 15 virtual servers and only 1 is
> ours ?

It means: Up to 15 virtual machines are hosted on the same machine.

[...]

>
> I suggest use Debian and Ubuntu over Suse.
> I personaly prefer Debian for server as it's more stable environment
> than Ubuntu.
> In my opinion Ubuntu is better use for workstation - less stable, more
> frequently updates.

OK, that seems reasonable to me. Only problem: With Debian, you can't have
Plesk, which makes it very easy to configure everything via a nice Web
front end. Check out a demo here:
<http://www.swsoft.com/en/products/plesk75reloaded/demo/>. I personally I
am not a Debian pro, so I'd feel more comfortable if I could manage the
system like that. However, if sufficient people with good knowledge about
administering a Debian system offer their help...
(Well, not quite true: we *can* use Plesk with debian, they just don't
support it and we'd have to install it manually; see
<http://www.hosteurope.de/faq/index.php?cpid=13172>)


In any case: They offer optionally to automatically install the latest
system updates/patches for us, too; but of course we can also do that
ourselves. For those interested in which packages are preinstalled, take a
look here:

<http://www.hosteurope.de/faq/index.php?cpid=11861>



As for Plesk support: we get support through HostEurope. Which tends to be
very good and quick. That is, as long as we use an officially support
variant (i.e. Plesk + Ubuntu or SuSe, but not with Debian).

Still, I do not insist on Debian. But I feel that I won't be able to setup
a whole Debian system completly on my own. That is: add users & groups;
disable nonused services; setup webserver (under builds.scummvm.org or
so); install packages (well that one I should be able to do, Fink is based
on dpkg after all ;), etc.. I am afraid that while I'd be able to do the
basics of all of these, I'd screw up when it comes to complex details of
which I just not am aware... I could learn it all, but I don't have *that*
much time left to spend on it...


Cheers,
Max