The first hint of  a problem was the Apache error I got when I tried to bounce plesk:

[root@tisailing ~]# /usr/local/psa/admin/bin/websrvmng -a
/usr/sbin/httpd: error while loading shared libraries: libldap-2.3.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
websrvmng: get_apache_path: '/usr/sbin/httpd -V' failed
websrvmng: get_apache_path: '/usr/sbin/httpd -V' failed

This was odd, but easy enough to fix:

# yum update
# service psa restart

Then at the link you get:

ERROR: PleskFatalException StatInfo->getProductVersion failed: file_get_contents() failed: mktime() [function.mktime]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. Please use the date.timezone setting, the TZ environment variable or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/Los_Angeles' for 'PDT/-7.0/DST' instead 0: common_func.php3:146 psaerror(string 'StatInfo->getProductVersion failed: file_get_contents() failed: mktime() [function.mktime]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. Please use the date.timezone setting, the TZ environment variable or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/Los_Angeles' for 'PDT/-7.0/DST' instead') 1: common_func.php3:66 getProductLoginVersion() 2: SP.php:101 ssoGetSpName() 3: SP.php:393 SsoSpConfig->load() 4: SP.php:215 SsoSpConfig->__construct() 5: SP.php:223 SsoSpConfig::getInstance() 6: SP.php:447 SsoSpConfig() 7: RelyingParty.php:19 isSsoEnabled() 8: auth.php3:185

Uh, OK. A bit of Googling yields this blog posting, so add the proper OS and Plesk version strings to /usr/local/psa/version and restart Plesk via service psa restart.

Then the Plesk login screen at least comes up. I ran into a number of non-blocking error messages (all related to the DNS configuration) as I created my administrator account so we’ll see if any of those come back to bite me later, but so far it seems to be behaving normally.

One thing I did notice, was that /etc/httpd/conf.d/php.conf was not properly set up to handle PHP scripts. If you get a “download file” dialog, then change

<IfModule mime_module>
    AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
    AddType text/html .php
    AddHandler application/x-httpd-php php
</IfModule>

to

<IfModule mod_php>
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php
AddHandler application/php5-script .php
</IfModule>

Frank de Graaf wrote an excellent drop-in upgrade of FileEngine that lets you name the cache keys as namespaces, which get stored in different directories.  So you can, for example, delete a group of keys at once by deleting their directory.  He doesn’t recommend it for replacing your default FileEngine cache, but for specialized instances (like mine) it works great.  One change I did make to his class was to make it extend FileEngine rather than reimplement it like he does – this results in a very compact class that seems to work just as well, as far as I can tell.

To use it, I chose to activate it at runtime, just where I needed it, then switch back to the default. E.g.,

...
	function function_that_needs_this_cache_engine()
	{
		// Use NamespaceFile cache engine, only for this
		App::import('Vendor', 'NamespaceFile'); 
		Cache::config('app', array( 
			'engine' => 'NamespaceFile', 
			'duration'=> '+1 year', 
			'prefix' => 'data.' 
			)); 
 
		Cache::write('namespace.cachename', 'cache_value', "+1 year");
                echo Cache::read('namespace.cachename');
 
		// revert to the normal cache engine
		Cache::config('default', array(
			'engine' => 'File', 
			'path'	=>	ROOT . DS . APP_DIR .  DS . 'tmp'
			));
	}

The class is here; put it in app/vendors/namespace_file.php:

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<?php 
/** 
 * Partial reimplementation of Cake's original FileEngine. This 
 * engine supports namespaces similar to: 
 * 
 * Cache::write('app.pictures.recent', $recentPictures, 'app'); 
 * Cache::write('app.pictures.top', $topPictures, 'app'); 
 * 
 * This namespacing allows deletion of parent namespaces like: 
 * 
 * Cache::delete('app.pictures', 'app'); 
 * 
 * The settings for this cache should be 
 * defined at the bottom of /config/bootstrap.php like the following: 
 * 
 * App::import('Vendor', 'NamespaceFile'); 
 * Cache::config('app', array('engine' => 'NamespaceFile', 'duration'=> '+1 hour', 'prefix' => 'cake.'));
 * 
 * Place this file in APP/vendors/. 
 * 
 * WARNING: DO NOT USE AS YOUR APP'S DEFAULT CACHE! 
 * 
 * @author Frank de Graaf (Phally) 
 * @link http://www.frankdegraaf.net 
 * @license MIT license 
 * 
 * // Modified 9/4/10 by echothis - Changed to extend FileEngine, resulting in a much simpler class
 */ 
class NamespaceFileEngine extends FileEngine { 
 
	/** 
	 * Write data for key into cache 
	 * 
	 * @param string $key Identifier for the data 
	 * @param mixed $data Data to be cached 
	 * @param mixed $duration How long to cache the data, in seconds 
	 * @return boolean True if the data was succesfully cached, false on failure 
	 * @access public 
	 */ 
	function write($key, &$data, $duration) { 
		$writable =& $this->__setKey($key); 
		if (!is_a($writable, 'File') || !$this->__init || $data === '') { 
			return false; 
		} 
 
		if (!$writable->exists()) { 
			$writable->Folder->create($this->__getFolderPath($key)); 
			$writable->create(); 
		} 
		parent::write($key, &$data, $duration);
	}
	/** 
	 * Get absolute file for a given key 
	 * 
	 * @param string $key The key 
	 * @return mixed Absolute cache file for the given key or false if erroneous 
	 * @access private 
	 */ 
	function __getPath($key) { 
		return $this->settings['path'] . str_replace('.', DS, $key); 
	} 
 
	/** 
	 * Get absolute folder for a given key 
	 * 
	 * @param string $key The key 
	 * @return mixed Absolute cache file for the given key or false if erroneous 
	 * @access private 
	 */     
	function __getFolderPath($key) { 
		return $this->__getPath(substr($key, 0, strrpos($key, '.') + 1)); 
	} 
 
	/** 
	 * Return the class (File/Folder) for a key. 
	 * 
	 * @param string $key The key 
	 * @return mixed File or Folder class for a key. 
	 * @access private 
	 */     
	function __setKey($key) { 
		return $this->__setPath($this->__getPath($key)); 
	} 
 
	/** 
	 * Return the class (File/Folder) for a path. 
	 * 
	 * @param string $path The path 
	 * @return mixed File or Folder class for a path. 
	 * @access private 
	 */         
	function __setPath($path) { 
		$this->__File->Folder->cd($path); 
		if (is_dir($path)) { 
			$object  = &$this->__File->Folder; 
			return $object; 
		} 
 
		$this->__File->path = $path; 
		$object  = &$this->__File; 
		return $object; 
	} 
 
	/** 
	 * Override the parents key method, so the keys don't get transformed 
	 * 
	 * @param string $key The key 
	 * @return mixed The key if one is passed else return false 
	 * @access public 
	 */ 
	function key($key = null) { 
		if (empty($key)) { 
			return false; 
		} 
		return $key; 
	} 
} 
?>

A typical workaround for this is to first “wake up” the browser, then periodically flush the output buffer – this has been known for awhile.  What’s less known, is that the textual content you’re sending actually matters as well (at least to Chrome and thus likely Safari).  E.g., a standard workaround is this:

// start output buffer
if (ob_get_level() == 0) ob_start();
for($i=0;$i<70;$i++)
{
    echo "printing...<br />";
    print str_pad('',4096)."\n";
 
    ob_flush();
    flush();
    usleep(30000);
}

But what’s interesting is that this slight modification breaks it on Chrome:

// start output buffer
if (ob_get_level() == 0) ob_start();
for($i=0;$i<70;$i++)
{
    echo "printing...\n";
    print str_pad('',4096)."\n";
 
    ob_flush();
    flush();
    usleep(30000);
}

Apparently Google engineers think <br>’s are important, but newline characters, not so much.

1. First I figured this was due to my Norton Internet Security firewall suddenly getting confused. But disabling it, and the Windows Firewall, had no effect.
2. Then I tried resetting my router and flushing my DNS cache, which I knew was a long shot but worth a try. Still no luck.
3. I tried SSH’ing in from another box on the internet and sure enough, got in right away (as did a friend of mine elsewhere and the VPS support people). So this told me that Comcast (my ISP) had decided that traffic shaping was in my best interest (or at least theirs), and was thus blocking port 22 traffic to this particular box. I should note that this server has no objectionable content on it (it’s actually for a few nonprofits I work with), I don’t transfer large files back and forth, or anything like that. And also, this is an outgoing connection, not an incoming one, so it’s 100% within the Comcast terms of use anyway.

This in mind, I logged into the server (via the other internet box) and set up sshd to run on a second, higher-number port by editing /etc/ssh/sshd_config:

...
Port 22
Port [HIGH_NUMBER]
...

Then I bounced the sshd service and was able to log in on the new port.

This of course begs the question of what exactly Comcast is doing snooping on my network traffic and blocking connections without warning.  If I have a spare few hours to sit on the phone with their tech support, I intend to find out.

Now not being particularly skilled in SQL Server, I had to hunt around for what to do with this.  It turned out to be ultimately pretty easy.  Just install SQL Server 2008 via the Web Installer, reboot, and then launch the administration interface and run this SQL statement to import the backup file as a database:

RESTORE DATABASE mydb FROM disk = 'C:\\path\\to\\mydb.bak'
WITH REPLACE, MOVE 'mydb_Dat' TO 'C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft SQL Server\\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\\DATA\\mydbdat.mdf',
MOVE 'mydb_log' TO 'C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft SQL Server\\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\\MSSQL\\DATA\\mydblog.ldf'

Then choose “Script to File” to output the database to an ordinary SQL script, which then can be imported into MySQL.

1. Enable ssl_module in the Apache module list
2. Create the self-signed certificate keys as per Section 3 of http://tud.at/programm/apache-ssl-win32-howto.php3:

   cd c:\path\to\wamp\bin\apache\Apache2.2.11\conf
    
   # Set a PEM passphrase of 4 characters or more.  You can leave the challenge password blank.
   openssl req -config openssl.cnf -new -out my-server.csr
    
   # Set the "Common Name" to localhost, accepting the rest of the defaults.
   openssl rsa -in privkey.pem -out my-server.key
    
   openssl x509 -in my-server.csr -out my-server.cert -req -signkey my-server.key -days 365

3. In your conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf, add this:

   ### SSL
   # see http://www.modssl.org/docs/2.8/ssl_reference.html for more info
    
   # change this from "sem" to avoid startup errors
   SSLMutex default
    
   SSLRandomSeed startup builtin
   SSLSessionCache none
    
   Listen 443
   <VirtualHost *:443>
   ErrorLog logs/ssl.log
   LogLevel info
   # You can later change "info" to "warn" if everything is OK
    
   SSLEngine On
   SSLCertificateFile conf/my-server.cert
   SSLCertificateKeyFile conf/my-server.key
    
   # copy the <Directory> information from the appropriate HTTP virtual host
   DocumentRoot "C:/path/to/docroot"
   <Directory />
       ...
   </Directory>
   </VirtualHost>

4. Restart Apache.

That should do it, then just navigate to http://localhost:443.  You’ll get browser warnings complaining that the certificate is self-signed and thus probably bogus, but it will work otherwise.

In just this situation, I ended up writing a short PHP console script to do this semi-automatically.  It parses a playlist file in PLS format, then copies the files to a central directory, which can then be copied to an external hard drive.  This would then be plugged into your friend’s PC, and the music copied to the destination of choice.  Finally, it outputs a modified PLS file with all the paths changed.

No magic here, just a few lines of code to make the tedious task of sharing music you like, somewhat less so.

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// saveplaylist.php
$copy_folder = 'H:\\temp\\'; // path to a central directory
$destination_folder = 'C:\\My Music\\';  // the destination on your friend's PC
$playlist_file = 'C:\Users\JohnDoe\Music\Playlists\myplaylist.pls';  // the playlist file
$contents = file_get_contents($playlist_file);
 
$newplaylist = $contents;
 
$matches = array();
if (preg_match_all('/File(.*)=(.*)$/msU', $contents, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER))
{
	foreach ($matches as $match)
	{
		$file = $match[2];
		$file = trim($file);
		$name = pathinfo($file, PATHINFO_BASENAME);
		echo "Copying {$file}...\n";
		$copy_file = $copy_folder . $name;
		$destination_file = $destination_folder . $name;
		copy($file, $copy_file);
		$escaped_filename = str_replace('\\', '\\\\', $match[2]);
		$escaped_filename = str_replace('.', '\\.', $escaped_filename);
		$escaped_filename = str_replace('[', '\\[', $escaped_filename);
		$escaped_filename = str_replace(']', '\\]', $escaped_filename);
		$escaped_filename = str_replace('(', '\\(', $escaped_filename);
		$escaped_filename = str_replace(')', '\\)', $escaped_filename);
		$newplaylist = preg_replace('/File'.$match[1].'='.$escaped_filename."/", 'File'.$match[1].'='.$destination_file, $newplaylist);
	}
}
echo '<hr>';
echo $newplaylist;

While the Windows Media Player 12 (part of Windows 7) has improved significantly over the previous version, particularly in terms of performance and streaming more video formats out of the box, as a simple jukebox it still leaves a lot to be desired. The best media player app I’ve found is Songbird, due to several factors such as a) it’s open-source, b) it has a number of great community-built plugins for things like lyrics, and c) it allows you to manage your music in ways the other apps simply cannot.

A simple example is “What is the best way to get a playlist onto my iPod/iPhone”? This is much more complicated than it should be if you have a large library (i.e., too large to handle in iTunes, which isn’t much). So the best way is to create it in Songbird, then export it into a PLS file that can be read by iTunes. So the steps are

1. Install Songbird.
2. Install the “Playlist Export Tool” add-in. I suggest also installing the Windows Media Playback and LyricMaster add-ins while you’re at it.
3. Import your library into Songbird by following the directions.
4. Make the playlist you want. The search box in the upper right can be really useful in this.
5. When done go to File->Export Playlist(s)
6. Check the playlist, then click “Done” to save it as a PLS to the specified location.
7. Close Songbird and open iTunes. You can now drag the PLS file into iTunes, which will then import the songs it needs. You can then sync it with your device.

This way you can actual spend time listening to your music, not fighting with iTunes.

Adobe PDF files are ubiquitous, so you’d expect to be able to index them.  But Windows doesn’t ship with a “filter” for this format, so you have to download your own.  According to Adobe:

Adobe currently bundles a 32-bit PDF iFilter with Adobe Acrobat® 9 as well as free Adobe Reader® 9 software. It uses the Microsoft iFilter interface and allows third-party indexing tools to extract text from Adobe PDF files.

In response to customer requests, Adobe is releasing Adobe PDF iFilter 9 for 64-bit platforms, which will allow searching PDF files on Microsoft® Windows® 64-bit platforms for applications such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

At least for me, the 32-bit filter version that got installed with Adobe Reader 9 apparently doesn’t work on Windows 7 64-bit, and worst of all, fails silently so you would never know there’s a problem.  So install the download at the link above.  After that you probably need to rebuild your index, but should get your PDF files indexed from that point forward.