So, the server switch didn’t go smoothly as previously posted.

Actually, having ran it a few days now, I did hit some issues.
Most of that is to do with the multi-server shenanigans of Arcade Badgers.

It’s DNS is hosted elsewhere, it’s mail somewhere else, a VPN somewhere else and now, it’s web server another different place as well.
Most of these were consolidated on the same server.. but what with Arcade Badgers being somewhat of a priority domain, I split off emails and DNS so that if the server had a hiccup, I could still get emails.
When I upgraded the server, I just pulled along the VPN and web server with it… but the poor little server had issues with it, as it’s DNS isn’t quite what it thought it was, so was sometimes getting confused and then pulling down the entire server in a bit of a fit.

So, the webserver is now up on Amazon’s EC2 service… and what a rather pleasant experience it was to do.
As it’s only going to be one instance for the one thing – hosting the site data – I was able to use the micro instance which fits with the free usage tier.
It’s Amazon Linux appears to be a RedHat derivative what with the use of the Yum package manager, so is easy enough to deal with as the server has CentOS on it as well as a backup; another RedHat variant.

In my usual manner, I still stuffed up a couple of things on the first attempt.
I managed to cock up the security groups and blocked access to the server from pretty much anywhere. That was silly. Thankfully you can reassign and fiddle with security groups as you see fit.
Then it was configuring the Elastic IP thing for plugging into the DNS server and wiring up the domain properly.
What I didn’t expect was this sortof knocked out the address I had been using to access the server, so was somewhat confused when I couldn’t get back in!

However, it’s up and running now, and hopefully will sit quite happy in the free tier for a while

That also brings us to the end of the server madness.

Till something else breaks anyway!

Hurrah, it’s finished!

Let’s see if I haven’t missed something in the absolute chaos that ensued.

Firstly, the server was running Ubuntu 10.04… mostly.
Due to using Matrix Panel as a configuration tool, apache, the kernel, python and a few other things were pinned to old versions.
This had the added fun of being pretty vulnerable to DDoSing, which the server was getting hit with fairly regularly.

Obviously, not the best of things to have happen… so, the decision was made to upgrade to Debian.
And then the fun began…

After spending about a day backing everything up, I grabbed a Debian iso and spent another day wrestling with the remote KVM implementation to try get it mounted on the server.
No such luck.
Thankfully, Linux can do all manner of naughty things…
Ubuntu is also a derivative of Debian, so a quick grab of debootstrap, and a Debian bootstrap was downloaded and ready.
Except it wasn’t quite that simple…
As the server had been in use for a while, the partitions had all gotten used, so I couldn’t easily repartition the drive – especially as it was running, and especially since I couldn’t mount an iso to boot from.
So I pointed grub at the bootstrap as if it was a new install, got it setup as readonly to try and use it in rescue mode to juggle the partitions about a bit, and hit the reboot button.

And it went bang.

Something had gone wrong with Grub, and as I couldn’t boot any sort of recovery disc, I was a tad stuck.
So, I put in a rebuild request.
Except.. they’d knocked Ubuntu off the list of things I could rebuild to.. so was stuck with CentOS 5.0 ( which was duly updated to 5.10 )

So with the server now running CentOS, and a bunch of backups that were probably a tad useless now, I was in a small pickle.
On the plus side is that being just brought up again, I was able to repartition without any fear of killing something, even on a  running system.
Also, VirtualBox is a godsend for fiddling about with stuff, so I setup a 64bit Debian 7 install, wedged the backup bits and pieces in and had it ticking over nicely.
I then brought that over to the server, bit by bit, and finalized the last of it tonight.

Not that that stopped swines from attempting to DDoS the server again.. but it didn’t work, as it’ll now sort itself out and keep running, rather than bringing the whole server down.
So, it’s taken about a week, but I’m happy with it.. it’s running much faster and more stable than it ever has.

Now to get back to Badger work.

So, with 2013 coming to a close ( or has, now I’ve finally finished this post! ) it’s probably about time I gibber a bit in a post to see what’s gone on.

The year started with me dealing with ATOS and illness.. I still think it’s horrifically wrong that what equates to a 5 – 10 minute interview determines whether you legitimately are unfit for work or not, but that’s the system. Either way, I have been fighting through my depression and anxiety for over a year now, and every day I am clawing back what I had. It’s progress

I also started on the path of my dream this year, and officially set up Arcade Badgers Limited through the help of the Princes Trust, Business Gateway, the Dundee Development Grant and the New Enterprise Allowance. One of the first things I did when I went to the JobCentre was rather than accepting ATOS’ decision of being put on the Work Related Activity Group, I asked to be put on the New Enterprise Allowance. This helped immensely in providing initial funding for me to find my feet, produce a quick prototype, and then a small web-based game – Germies!

Ok, so the Badgers hasn’t done particularly well with Germies, unfortunately… but we’re still poking about with things, and the company hasn’t quite gone completely bankrupt yet. Bills are still being paid, and it’s ticking over at least, if not actually earning anything or even managing to pay a wage!
A couple of important things with the Badgers, however.
First off, we got approved for Microsoft BizSpark, which has helped immensely in providing us software to actually get work done! While I may prefer the Linux platform, I cannot ignore Windows, so having access to MSDN and everything is a massive boon.
We also got approved for dev access to PS3, Vita, Wii U and 3DS. There might not be enough money in the coffers to purchase dev kits for everything at the moment, but it does allow me to read up on documentation and ensure things at least compile. We do have a Wii U devkit and have been tinkering with it… will update on that at a later date
Additionally, we have built a few important links with people. Germies! was picked up by the Toon Goggles service, as well as HoodaGames, and got some good feedback which we can use to further develop it.
So yes, although the Badgers hasn’t quite been successful, it hasn’t completely caved in on itself either.

As for other things on the go, I got a bit of interest with YoYo Games and eeGeo; both of which giving me interviews and a little programming challenge. I spectacularly mucked up the eeGeo one as I was at Claire’s parents at the time and didn’t have access to my Game Programming Gems ( where the very first one does in fact have a gem on what I was supposed to do, and would’ve helped point out the idiot mistake I did! ) however, I still progressed to the phone interview stage. I thank them for their time for entertaining a lunatic like me, as I gibbered a fair bit during the phone interview, and it turned out I was perhaps a bit too rusty for what they were requiring ( algorithmic programming and lots of maths, from what I understood. )
As for YoYo, they too gave me a programming challenge which I fared better in, and then brought me in for a face to face interview; where I also gibbered a bit in. While they didn’t have a place for me at the time they originally interviewed me, they recently got back in touch with me to see if I was still available, and I started work with them just a couple of weeks before Christmas!
This helps tremendously as it means I am back on a steady wage, and they’re completely happy with me continuing on the Badgers on the side. It also means I’m working primarily on tech with my day job, and games with my night job – so I shouldn’t get burnt out as easily of tackling the same type of problems all the time.

It’s not been an easy year at all, but we’ve got through it.
Here’s hoping that 2014 is the year of the Badger