going public

By basd on Jun 12, 2010 | In linux, opensuse

My new php/mysql super-duper calendar/notetaking sytem is working great! I love programming in php!

...

So ... the next step was to get it on to the internet, instead of running it on my laptop. Given that there is some private data, I did not want to put it on my ISP's server where my website, etc. is. Without some intentional encryption programming, mySQL data stores unencrypt. That means that prying eyes with access to the server could intentionally or unintentionally stumble upon confidential info. So, needs to be on my personal server. (And do I need to run https? Maybe so ...) Well, it's always one more step, isn't it?

But in any event, step one was pretty easy. My Linksys cable modem feeds into my Linksys router (yes, obsolete junk from several years back -- but a friend of mine had enormous problems achieving the same steps on "modern" equipment ...). So, I opened up a port and there we go!

Next problem -- how to password protect the directory. For the life of me, I could not get .htaccess control to work. But, the apache2 FAQ let me of the hook -- explaining that the BETTER choice if you have server access is to use a &ltirectory> section in httpd.conf. That worked. Well, the actual httpd.conf tells you to put your mods in your own .conf file and "INCLUDE" it, which makes some sense if you want to keep track of your mods. It also includes the default_config.conf, so there are a couple of places that need to be looked at to see what is controlling the server by default.

(Nevertheless, if I gave .htaccess control I merely locked myself out -- I could not get a login dialog.)

So far, I've only got "basic" running and not "digest." I could not find the password file generation tool, htdigest anywhere in my opSU packages. So, part way there, but more to look at.