Member Avatar for br_astronut

I am in the process of learing the LAMP stack and may eventualy go with a GoDaddy Linux hosting account. I would like to develop a web site, deploy it on a server locally and get it going before purchasing hosting at GoDaddy. What would be a good version of Linux to use to simulate deploying and hosting a php/mySQL web site to GoDaddy?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Moncky

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Good choice making a local mirror before buying hosting. and gave useful distro options and has already grabbed CentOS 5.5 — the most important rule for avoiding surprises is to match the host environment (OS family and the exact Apache/PHP/MySQL versions) as closely as possible. Run that CentOS image inside a VM (VirtualBox/VMware) and take snapshots so you can roll back quickly while you test deployment differences.

Set up a simple LAMP stack and check a few server-level settings you will later find different on shared hosting:

yum install httpd mysql-server php php-mysql -y
service httpd start
service mysqld start
chkconfig httpd on
chkconfig mysqld on
mysql_secure_installation

Verify mod_rewrite, PHP extensions your app needs (mbstring, gd, intl), and php.ini values such as memory_limit, upload_max_filesize and post_max_size. Use phpinfo() to confirm settings and available modules.

Two deployment/workflow tips that often get missed: export/import your database with mysqldump and test filesystem ownership/SELinux which are frequent sources of 403s or write failures on CentOS:

mysqldump -u root -p yourdb > site.sql
mysql -u root -p targetdb < site.sql
chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/yourapp
# if debugging SELinux only:
setenforce 0
restorecon -R /var/www/html/yourapp

If you want faster iterations, use Docker images that match the distro and PHP/MySQL versions, or use a packaged stack for local dev; but a full VM is better for catching SELinux, init/system differences, and shared-host resource limits. Finally, test email sending, cron jobs, SSL, and error/log handling before going live — those are the usual gotchas when moving from local to a provider.

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Member Avatar for Chronister

For a Linux server I would recommend trying something like Slackware or if you're not too comfortable with the command line I would try the server version of Ubuntu.

Member Avatar for br_astronut

Thanks for the link Moncky that is what I was looking for. I decided to download the CentOS 5.5 DVD and will give it a try.

Member Avatar for Moncky

No problems, Its probably worth while dropping them an email and finding out what they would give you (ie version of OS version of http, mysql etc). Its a resonable request and there isnt really any reason that they should decline.

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