Is ServerWarp working?

I’ve been using ServerWarp for a couple years with great results for CGI apps. As long as I remembered to set the permissions, everything worked every time. Now I am ready to deploy a standalone app and have no idea how to stop or start it. It took a week to get the subdomain registered so I am somewhat worried how this is going to work. Request the app be stopped so I can upload a new version, wait a day or so, upload the new version and request it be started, wait another day or two. This doesn’t sound good.

You should not have to, if you apply the code posted by @James Nicholson-Plank above. Just delete the program file, and 5 seconds later, the app stops.

I strongly suggest you put it in your CGI as well.

By the way, @Phillip Zedalis, what did you do with the 1701 blog ? That shutdown timer was a real nugget worth posting again.

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[quote=443716:@Michel Bujardet]You should not have to, if you apply the code posted by @James Nicholson-Plank above. Just delete the program file, and 5 seconds later, the app stops.

I strongly suggest you put it in your CGI as well.

By the way, @Phillip Zedalis, what did you do with the 1701 blog ? That shutdown timer was a real nugget worth posting again.[/quote]
That code wont help him start a standalone app.

I can’t say if it will work, but a few things to try:

  1. But a text file in the same folder, call it something like deleteme.txt. In you app, check for it and if you don’t find it close down your app.

  2. Do it from a web page in your app or a special URL

One thing to think about though is what happens if your app crashes, unlike a CGI there is no host to restart it… You probably need to think about some kind of angle process to restart it in such a situation, unless the host already offers such a service.

Sorry, I was answering to his concern of having the app stop.

A php script using the exec command could launch the standalone program.

https://php.net/manual/en/function.exec.php

That said, at the risk of sounding backwards, I prefer CGI for the comfort it provides.

I agree.

I have been using Phillip’s routine to stop a cgi app for a couple years. I modified it a little for my standalone app, compiled and uploaded it to a Raspberry Pi. I do Linux with a browser open to look up the next command I need so I may have done something wrong, but renaming my target file did not shut down the app. I am wondering if I have a permission problem as I have to use sudo to start it. The app is set to 755.

If I can get the shut down routine to work, I should be able to get php to start it. Phillip will need to set it up to start when the server reboots.

I have recently come back to Xojo and have been working on an Aloe / Xojo Web / Desktop system and having used 1701 before I went back to join ServerWarp. I can only say good things about Phillip and the systems and service he provides. Sometimes he is busy dealing with things but when you do get a reply (normally within 48 hours) you have his attention until the problem / question is answered and the answers are always easy to understand and clear. Having run an ISP / hosting company myself back in the mid 90s I know first hand how it is a fine balance to prove good reliable tech and customer service as the margins are small (even smaller now) and you have to weigh up where each penny / cent goes and often the tech wins over the service. The way to help improve this is for more people to get onboard and use the service as this provides ServerWarp with more repeatable income that will then allow them to grow all areas of the business.

@Phillip Zedalis what would be interesting to know is how much you would need more each month to bring on a full time (remote) support person to take the load off of you and provide the level of support needed. You might then be able to create a crowd funded bid to cover that cost for a year which would then allow you to increase the revenue and bring on more subscribers etc.

Just a thought :slight_smile:

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That is all well and good, but the reality is that other people are also trying to run small businesses and they have got customers to satisfy as well… and 48 hours is a long time to be down without out a response.

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Thats very true and you have obviously decided that ServerWarp is not for you and as you have stated you have found other cheaper, better solutions that work for you.

I just feel that you sometimes people expect far too much from businesses when they dont appreciate how hard the owners try and do a good job but sometimes get it wrong. Its very easy to criticise those who have a genuine desire to do a good job at a good price.

Sadly these days we live in a world where people can be negative about businesses and have an real effect on how that business survives without actually really having a clue as to what is involved. People should remember that wonderful quote “You can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”

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Thanks @Nathan Wright for the kind words and to your question we actually did recently hire a CS graduate. The problem is getting them up to speed on the market, our service, how we are different, etc. It is a challenge in itself.

As to James Dooley’s point - it is fair. Some businesses require a very fast turnaround. There are managed services and support options from several vendors that can provide that and usually it is 20x-100x+ the prices we are charging.

We have considered advanced support options for those who need it. My concern so far has been building the best product. If I had built what I thought we needed straight out of the gate several years ago I would have been wrong. Every year I get new data points and new problems and our automation systems grow in ways the customers don’t see but allow us to accommodate all kinds of new use cases.

Now we are that stage where our “feature set” is nearly complete we are wrapping a user interface to allow the customer to self manage the automation magic. Then we can build the documentation for that, etc. It is a challenge but I enjoy the work and many of our customers are very happy with the results.

I respect we are not viable for every customer and for some whether it be Xojo Cloud, Google Cloud, or maybe you need on-staff resources to help. It is hard to debate it thoughtfully because the requirements vary so much from project to project.

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It is frustrating to not be able to get a service though!
Anybody have a clue how to get in touch with @Phillip Zedalis ?
New account is pending and fees have been charged since a week and I have 5 days left to move from ex-hosting.
I am kind of getting nervous here… :slight_smile:

I wrote a ticket on Serverweb, wrote privately to @Phillip Zedalis here on the forum.

Any suggestion?

[quote=471243:@Simon Page]It is frustrating to not be able to get a service though!
Anybody have a clue how to get in touch with @Phillip Zedalis ?
New account is pending and fees have been charged since a week and I have 5 days left to move from ex-hosting.
I am kind of getting nervous here… :slight_smile:

I wrote a ticket on Serverweb, wrote privately to @Phillip Zedalis here on the forum.

Any suggestion?[/quote]

If you got a business critical site, then relying on any one man shop, be it Phillip or anyone else is not a good idea. Phillip’s profile shows that he has not been active in 5 days, so perhaps he is sick or has some other personal situation to deal with.

Thanks @Simon Page for bringing to my attention. Your email had been blocked by our system which is a silent block - it doesn’t let you know you’ve been flagged. This will be corrected today.

We aren’t a one man show anymore but with holidays things get tight.

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Thank’s @James Dooley .
I release a bit of a pressure by renewing the actual host monthly, but I wanted to “take the risk” with serverwarp from the comments I read here and since it seems to be “the” easy alternative to Xojo cloud (½ the price) and it seems to be very stable. I will look for other alternative meanwhile.

Hi Phillip
Emailed you last night because my client has his own hosting contract so couldn’t raise a ticket for him. He is away and his site , the actual control panel wasn’t loading. Just checking tomakesure my email wasn’t blocked too

Sorry to use the forum for this but it’s a biggish client who is panicking

Regards James

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[quote=471293:@James Nicholson-Plank]Hi Phillip
Emailed you last night because my client has his own hosting contract so couldn’t raise a ticket for him. He is away and his site , the actual control panel wasn’t loading. Just checking tomakesure my email wasn’t blocked too

Sorry to use the forum for this but it’s a biggish client who is panicking

Regards James[/quote]

Thanks James.

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Hi Phillip
Just emailed you again re future procedure for support tickets for the client.
Posting here Just in case Im in the spam again
Thanks a million

Please contact ServerWarp directly for support.

That code has saved my bacon.

Here’s what I do to prevent rollover disasters:

I use @Phillip_Zedalis 's article content - http://www.zedalis.com/blog/2013/09/08/upgrading-xojo-cgi-apps

Then I have a Maintenance and Production folder where an index.html file is in each folder, and each of the index files contains the code to the appropriate version of my web app. The latest version is referenced to in the Production version of the Index file, while an interim version of the app is referenced for the Maintenance Index. When testing out a new version, the maintenance Index file is copied into the host’s index folder to enable customers to use the maintenance version - and then I delete the CGI file for the production version and wait for approximately thirty seconds to a few minutes before uploading all of the new code. Then when I am ready for end-users to use this next version, I update the Production index file into the server.

It’s a bit complicated because I need full uptime on the client’s web app.

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