[web2py] Webfaction rocks

[Thadeus Burgess]

I just wanted to pass along how awesome webfaction rocks!

I just signed up for an account with them. During the signup process
they ask what software you will be using with the service. I specified
OTHER->web2py. When I got the email of the server, I went to the URL
and there was already a web2py instance up and running with the
welcome application! I didn't have to do a thing!

Go webfaction :)

--
Thadeus


--
Subscription settings: http://groups.google.com/group/web2py/subscribe?hl=en

[mr.freeze]

Nice. So no more slicehost or is this an additional account?

[Thadeus Burgess]

This is an additional account for a client I am working with. I have
heard the most success with
webfaction and web2py so I wanted to try it out. So good so far.

I would have preferred GAE for this project, but the client did not agree.

I would still use slicehost hands down if cost/time is not an issue.
--
Thadeus

[Yarko Tymciurak]

On Apr 20, 12:08 pm, Thadeus Burgess <thade...@thadeusb.com> wrote:
> This is an additional account for a client I am working with. I have
> heard the most success with
> webfaction and web2py so I wanted to try it out. So good so far.
>
> I would have preferred GAE for this project, but the client did not agree.
>
> I would still use slicehost hands down if cost/time is not an issue.

I have a client _very_ adept at setting up slices, and talking about a
cloud presence so as to be able to do large scale simulations, tests.

I gave them a shell account so they could see their project space I
was maintaining (I rsync updates regularly).

They promptly got their own account.

"Why", I asked. "I thought you were going to get a slice!"

"We liked how this looked - this is much easier to setup and maintain
things - gives us all sorts of useful stuff, without the bother of
setting up and maintaining a slice."

They made use within hours.

Sure, they will use slices and cloud when needed - but for quick
demos, simple setups, and low traffic - this is just too accessible,
and convenient. I am sure other hosters have a similar environ,
webfaction has a nice implementation of this kind of environment,
accessible (i.e. easy to find) information * documentation, and a
nicely responsive support team (always civil, pleasant, helpful,
positive).

- Yarko

[annet]

Hi Thadeus,

You're right, WebFaction rocks. However, when you want to upload and
install a packed application you will have to proceed as follows:

1. Log on to WebFaction via terminal/ssh

2. cd to your remote web2py/application directory

3. Make a directory by the name of the packed application

4. Upload and install the packed web2py application via the web
interface and rename it to match the name of the directory you
manually created.

https://admin.domain_name.com/admin/default/site

In the upload and install form browse to the directory where the
packed application resides, rename it (required)
packed_application_name and check the overwrite installed app check
box. Click install.


Thanks to Chris, who helped me solve this problem!


Kind regards,

Annet.

[Thadeus Burgess]

I did have trouble getting admin to work properly, it complains about
request.env.http_host being a None type, so I was unable to use admin
without patching its security checks. However I am comfortable enough
with ssh to publish the app manually.

--
Thadeus

[Yarko Tymciurak]

On Apr 20, 3:43 pm, Thadeus Burgess <thade...@thadeusb.com> wrote:
> I did have trouble getting admin to work properly, it complains about
> request.env.http_host being a None type, so I was unable to use admin
> without patching its security checks. However I am comfortable enough
> with ssh to publish the app manually.

Oh? I got admin working:

Does your appadmin.py controller have something like:

if request.env.http_x_forwarded_for or request.env.wsgi_url_scheme\
in ['https', 'HTTPS']:
session.secure()

This works for me on webfaction (and, of course, you have to have SSL
enabled on your site (from the webfaction panel).

- Yarko
>
> --
> Thadeus

[Thadeus Burgess]

That might be it. I had not enabled SSL. However, since I will not be
using admin, I do not have time to test if that fixes it.

[Christopher Steel]

Hi Annet,

np. The reason you might not want to create sites on your web faction
account using the web interface is because you some day you might find
yourself doing a merge from the command line on your "production
server" (if you start doing versioning with hg or some other system)
which can be a rather unpleasant and undesirable thing to be doing. If
you still want to be able to do it, say in order to impress clients, I
can help you out, just remember that I warned you ; )

Chris

[Richard]

previously a webfaction admin said:
"If we ever get enough interest in web2py to warrant an installer in
our control panel, then we'll go ahead and add a forum for it."
http://forum.webfaction.com/viewtopic.php?id=3216

Has that happened?

[Richard]

how do you find webfaction speed? It has been slow for me lately,
particularly ssh.

[Thadeus Burgess]

It was ok... not as fast as my slicehost servers... but workable.

They do not have a "installer" for it on their control panel, however
if you tell them you want web2py while signing up, they will run the
web2py installer script on file. Basically, it grabs the latest source
of web2py_src.zip and installs it to a user instance of apache running
that single web2py.

The nice thing is, you get everything, cron, your own python, apache,
etc directory. I just was not expecting that with shared hosting!

[Yarko Tymciurak]

FYI - this thread shows the discussion around the installer. You can
have them do it, or you can grab it yourself from the wiki, and use
it.

http://forum.webfaction.com/viewtopic.php?pid=15862#p15862

The installers (for all sorts of applications on webfaction):

http://wiki.webfaction.com/wiki/InstallScripts

- Yarko

On Apr 20, 8:50 pm, Thadeus Burgess <thade...@thadeusb.com> wrote:
> It was ok... not as fast as my slicehost servers... but workable.
>
> They do not have a "installer" for it on their control panel, however
> if you tell them you want web2py while signing up, they will run the
> web2py installer script on file. Basically, it grabs the latest source
> of web2py_src.zip and installs it to a user instance of apache running
> that single web2py.
>
> The nice thing is, you get everything, cron, your own python, apache,
> etc directory. I just was not expecting that with shared hosting!
>
> --
> Thadeus
>

[mdipierro]

I asked yesterday (it is the second time I ask):

> I manage the web2py mailing list. There are 1750 members there are many of them are interested in using
> web2py on webfaction. I see you have explicit support for django, rails and some other frameworks but not
> web2py. If you are interested I can help you set this up (free of charge, I would require a test account and some
> email collaboration). Since web2py has PAM support and web based IDE you could make it to work out of the box with new
> accounts and users would login directly into the web based IDE. This would attract lots of people.

they responded:

> Adding a new tool to our one-click installer is a big commitment for us because it means we have to support it in the future,
> add new versions when they come out, add security patches as soon as they come out (and sometimes going through all the
> sites we host and patching them for our customers if it's a really nasty security hole), answering questions from our customers
> about the tool etc.).
> The other tools you refer to were added when WebFaction first started but these days adding a new tool is not something we take lightly.

I guess you have to make them know there are many of you using
webfaction.

Personally I am interested in collaboration with a hosting provider
willing to provide one click web2py support and automatic setting of
the admin password. So far VPS.net has shown some interest but I need
to make TurnkeyLinux VM first.

Massimo

[Yarko Tymciurak]

I saw - I think it is nice / good that they provide an installer for
users to use; that's a nice plus.

[aure]

Hi,

Like Thadeus, I got web2py "working" on webfaction. Well, I went so
far as having the web2py welcome page open when I point the browser to
the site.

From there, I would be very glad if some people could help me figure
out the answer to some of these questions:

- I cannot log into the admin (what password am I supposed to use
anyway?)
- how should I proceed to replace the default web2py application by my
own app?
- is it possible to have more than one application working on one
domain? or spread them to subdomain?

Thanks in advance!
Aurelien

On Apr 21, 4:50 am, Yarko Tymciurak <resultsinsoftw...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> I saw - I think it is nice / good that they provide an installer for
> users to use; that's a nice plus.
>
> On Apr 20, 9:37 pm, mdipierro <mdipie...@cs.depaul.edu> wrote:
>
> > I asked yesterday (it is the second time I ask):
>
> > > I manage the web2py mailing list. There are 1750 members there are many of them are interested in using

> > > web2py onwebfaction. I see you have explicit support for django, rails and some other frameworks but not

> > > web2py. If you are interested I can help you set this up (free of charge, I would require a test account and some
> > > email collaboration). Since web2py has PAM support and web based IDE you could make it to work out of the box with new
> > > accounts and  users would login directly into the web based IDE. This would attract lots of people.
>
> > they responded:
>
> > > Adding a new tool to our one-click installer is a big commitment for us because it means we have to support it in the future,
> > > add new versions when they come out, add security patches as soon as they come out (and sometimes going through all the
> > > sites we host and patching them for our customers if it's a really nasty security hole), answering questions from our customers
> > > about the tool etc.).

> > > The other tools you refer to were added whenWebFactionfirst started but these days adding a new tool is not something we take lightly.

>
> > I guess you have to make them know there are many of you using
> >webfaction.
>
> > Personally I am interested in collaboration with a hosting provider
> > willing to provide one click web2py support and automatic setting of
> > the admin password. So far VPS.net has shown some interest but I need
> > to make TurnkeyLinux VM first.
>
> > Massimo
>
> > On Apr 20, 8:34 pm, Richard <richar...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

> > > previously awebfactionadmin said:
> > > "If we ever get enough interest in web2py to warrant an installer in
> > > our control panel, then we'll go ahead and add a forum for it."http://forum.webfaction.com/viewtopic.php?id=3216
>
> > > Has that happened?
>
> > > On Apr 21, 9:10 am, Christopher Steel <chris.st...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > Hi Annet,
>
> > > > np. The reason you might not want to create sites on your web faction
> > > > account using the web interface is because you some day you might find
> > > > yourself doing a merge from the command line on your "production
> > > > server" (if you start doing versioning with hg or some other system)
> > > > which can be a rather unpleasant and undesirable thing to be doing. If
> > > > you still want to be able to do it, say in order to impress clients, I
> > > > can help you out, just remember that I warned you ; )
>
> > > > Chris
>
> > > > On Apr 20, 2:24 pm, annet <annet.verm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > Hi Thadeus,
>

> > > > > You're right,WebFactionrocks. However, when you want to upload and

> > > > > install a packed application you will have to proceed as follows:
>

> > > > > 1. Log on toWebFactionvia terminal/ssh

[Thadeus Burgess]

- SSH into the machine, navigate to your root web2py directory
(containing web2py.py), and then run ``python2.5 web2py.py -a
<yourpass>``
- Then rename parameters_8000.py to parameters_443.py
- Make sure you have HTTPS triggered for your domain inside the
webfaction control panel.

Replace your app like any other web2py app, using the admin application.

You can only have one web2py instance running on a domain and it has
to be the root domain. However you can have as many web2py apps
running on this instance as you want, and you can always use routes to
make sure things go to the correct place (say each app has its own
domain).

--
Thadeus

On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 6:12 AM, aure <aurelie...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> ssible to have more than one application working on one
> domain? or spread them to subdom

[annet]

I took a somewhat different approach. I signed up for a shared 1 plan
and got a dedicated IP address. Under domains I added two subdomains:
www and admin. Under applications I created a web2py application of
type custom install script (http://wiki.webfaction.com/wiki/Web2py-
LatestSource?format=txt). Under websites I created two websites one
with https disabled for mydomain.com and www.mydomain.com and one with
https enabled for admin .mydomain.com in both cases I selected my
dedicated IP address from the IP menu.

Now admin can be accessed from: https://admin.mydomain.com using the
same initial password as the webfaction control panel. In my post of
20 April I described how to install an application.


Furthermore, according to Massimo this is not true:

CAVEATS
* Web2py won't work properly if it is mounted to a sub-URL like
http://domain.com/web2py/. Instead, it must be mounted to the website
root, e.g. http://domain.com/


Massimo's comment on this caveat:

"It is not true. It can be mounted in a sub-url but you the web server
or web2py routes must be instructed to remove the "web2py/" from the
url."

[aure]

Annet and Thadeus,

Thanks a lot for the quick reply! :)

I will check that tomorrow.

Aurelien

On Apr 25, 6:30 pm, annet <annet.verm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I took a somewhat different approach. I signed up for a shared 1 plan
> and got a dedicated IP address. Under domains I added two subdomains:
> www and admin. Under applications I created a web2py application of
> type custom install script (http://wiki.webfaction.com/wiki/Web2py-
> LatestSource?format=txt). Under websites I created two websites one

> with https disabled for mydomain.com andwww.mydomain.comand one with

> https enabled for admin .mydomain.com in both cases I selected my
> dedicated IP address from the IP menu.
>

> Now admin can be accessed from:https://admin.mydomain.comusing the

> same initial password as the webfaction control panel. In my post of
> 20 April I described how to install an application.
>
> Furthermore, according to Massimo this is not true:
>
> CAVEATS

> * Web2py won't work properly if it is mounted to a sub-URL likehttp://domain.com/web2py/. Instead, it must be mounted to the website
> root, e.g.http://domain.com/

[aure]

Hello Annet,

As I had started to do it your way before you even mentioned it
(created 2 websites...), I decided to try your solution.
Unfortunately, when I try to access the admin website I get this in
Firefox:

------
Secure Connection Failed

admin.aurerua.webfactional.com uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is only valid for the following names:
*.webfaction.com , webfaction.com

(Error code: ssl_error_bad_cert_domain)
------

Do you remember getting this as well when you did your setup? I do not
know how to solve this...

Kind regards,
Aurelien
Aurelien

On 25 avr, 18:30, annet <annet.verm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I took a somewhat different approach. I signed up for a shared 1 plan
> and got a dedicated IP address. Under domains I added two subdomains:
> www and admin. Under applications I created a web2py application of
> type custom install script (http://wiki.webfaction.com/wiki/Web2py-
> LatestSource?format=txt). Under websites I created two websites one

> with https disabled for mydomain.com andwww.mydomain.comand one with

> https enabled for admin .mydomain.com in both cases I selected my
> dedicated IP address from the IP menu.
>

> Now admin can be accessed from:https://admin.mydomain.comusing the

> same initial password as the webfaction control panel. In my post of
> 20 April I described how to install an application.
>
> Furthermore, according to Massimo this is not true:
>
> CAVEATS

> * Web2py won't work properly if it is mounted to a sub-URL likehttp://domain.com/web2py/. Instead, it must be mounted to the website
> root, e.g.http://domain.com/

[aure]

Hello Thadeus,

After trying Annet's solution, I tried yours.
Now if I try to access my site I get a webfaction message: "Site not
configured..."
This seems to be because I have enables HTTPS. Is normal that I cannot
access the website using HTTP now? I am a bit confused.

Now if try to access the site using https I get the same message in
Firefox as described in my reply to Annet, namely:

------
Secure Connection Failed

admin.aurerua.webfactional.com uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is only valid for the following names:
*.webfaction.com , webfaction.com

(Error code: ssl_error_bad_cert_domain)
------

Do you know what could cause the problem?

Otherwise, you mentioned in some post above that you are "comfortable
enough
with ssh to publish the app manually". Maybe I could do that. I would
not need to use the admin app online, is it true? In that case, how do
you publish an app manually?

Sorry for all these questions. I would be so glad to be able to put my
first web2py app online!


Aurelien

On 25 avr, 17:16, Thadeus Burgess <thade...@thadeusb.com> wrote:
> - SSH into the machine, navigate to your root web2py directory
> (containing web2py.py), and then run ``python2.5 web2py.py -a
> <yourpass>``
> - Then rename parameters_8000.py to parameters_443.py
> - Make sure you have HTTPS triggered for your domain inside the
> webfaction control panel.
>
> Replace your app like any other web2py app, using the admin application.
>
> You can only have one web2py instance running on a domain and it has
> to be the root domain. However you can have as many web2py apps
> running on this instance as you want, and you can always use routes to
> make sure things go to the correct place (say each app has its own
> domain).
>
> --
> Thadeus
>

[Jonathan Lundell]

On Apr 27, 2010, at 7:32 AM, aure wrote:

> As I had started to do it your way before you even mentioned it
> (created 2 websites...), I decided to try your solution.
> Unfortunately, when I try to access the admin website I get this in
> Firefox:
>
> ------
> Secure Connection Failed
>
> admin.aurerua.webfactional.com uses an invalid security certificate.
>
> The certificate is only valid for the following names:
> *.webfaction.com , webfaction.com
>
> (Error code: ssl_error_bad_cert_domain)
> ------
>
> Do you remember getting this as well when you did your setup? I do not
> know how to solve this...

I haven't been following this thead, but...

Can you access it via aurerua.webfactional.com? (That is, leave off the admin.) Both names resolve to the same IP, and the cert ought to work for the shorter address.

[Thadeus Burgess]

You should be able to tell your browser (if firefox) to accept the SSL
certificate anyways.

At least, you have to do that with self-signed certificates as well.

As far as publishing SSH, sometimes I just fire up a program called
gFTP (for Ubuntu Linux), and SFTP (ssh-ftp) into my account, and just
drag/drop my app over into the appropriate place.

Ubuntu has nicely integrated FuseFS as well, so you can mount your
server over SSH as just another folder on your system which is the way
I work most of the time.

Lately however, I have been using Fabric (a glorified python based
Makefile) to publish my apps with one command.

--
Thadeus

[annet]

Aurelien,

Don't you have a domain name? I asked my domain registrar to point my
domain name to WebFaction's domain name servers:

ns1.webfaction.com
ns2.webfaction.com
ns3.webfaction.com
ns4.webfaction.com

Comment: Your domain name registrar may not require all four domain
name servers; enter as many as your domain registrar supports.

I then proceeded as described above, and didn't encounter the
certificate problem, because I have a dedicated IP address.


Regards,

[aure]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your help!

@Jonathan: yes, if I disable https I can access the welcome web2py app
without any problem. I just cannot login into the admin..

@Thadeus, yes I have told firefox to accept the SSL certificate
anyway, and I can then access the app. But I would not want that to be
necessary for people visiting the site... Is there a way to have
visitor access the site without https and use a secure connection only
for admin login? Well, I believe I would publish my apps manually
anyway (in one of the ways you described), so I probably do not really
need the admin to work... but an answer would still be valuable if,
let us say, I would need some pages on my site to be accessed via
https...

@Annet, for now I am just trying to use the default webfaction domain
I got on registration... I subscribed to a Shared 1 service, but I
don't seem to have a dedicated IP addresse. Is this a problem?

Kind regards,
Aurelien

[Yarko Tymciurak]

You are using a shared SSL certificate (courtesy of webfaction);

That is, the SSL certificate is issued to a URI other than yours.
Depending on browser, and it's security settings it will react in
different ways (for example, you can have some browsers permanently
remember the exception you make about this particular mis-match).

This has nothing to do with web2py - when you are ready to deploy, you
simply need to shop around, and decide on buying your own SSL cert.
for your site.

Have fun!

Regards,
-Yarko

[Yarko Tymciurak]

... see http://docs.webfaction.com/user-guide/websites.html#secure-sites-https

On Apr 28, 3:24 am, aure <aureliengir...@googlemail.com> wrote:

[aure]

Oh... Great! Thank you for the information, Yarko! (I really have a
lot to learn...)

Regards,
Aurelien

[Albert Abril]

From a year ago I'm using djangoeurope.com, because its cheap plans, because it's near home (Europe), and because its one-click Django-Install, for do my test with django. Also, it does support for php, and for mysql or postresql databases.
djangoeurope.com serves with lighttpd (may config web2py with fcgihandler.py)

Two months ago I requested web2py one-click install at the panel.
They answered that has plans to do support for more one-click install's in near future.
Maybe if they had help, could implement it. It would be great for us as users, and for them as business.

Me (at ticket support system)

I'm satisfied with the hosting.
You're oriented to django, but i wonder if you have on mind to extend the automatic panel to support web2py.
I know I can edit lighttpd manually, but an automatic panel would be useful.

 

Thanks for attention.

Them:

Thanks for your feedback.
I think in 6 months we will begin to integrate more automatically installers of different web applications like web2py or django-cms.

 



Regards,
Albert.

[mdipierro]

What these people do not understand is what they could do with web2py.
If configured properly a web2py-ready virtual machine would allow them
to provide a service very similar to heroku for Rails. I have tried to
convince webfaction but no luck there either.

Massimo