[FX.php List] Server Migration - Theory vs Real Life

[Leo R. Lundgren]

24 jan 2010 kl. 19.30 skrev Jonathan Schwartz:

> Hi Folks,
>
> A question...
>
> What should the expectations be when a web/php solution (php  
> files...not db files) moves to different web server at a different  
> physical location?  Should it be expected that the solution work  
> without issue, or, are tweaks part of the expected process?
>
> (A client unexpectedly moved a solution last week, and there are  
> issues that appear major but are probably minor...tied to PHP  
> version, older short tags, error reporting settings, etc).
>
> Just curious what your experiences have been.

It shouldn't be that much of a problem presuming the PHP application  
itself is well coded. Usually most of the issues are warnings and  
errors popping up on the new host because of different PHP settings,  
and in cases where the new host have stricter settings bad coding tend  
to surface.

Other things that might differ are which extensions are available all  
in all on the new host, maybe there's some extension missing that the  
old host has and the code uses.

I've encountered a problem with some PHP code that used crypt() which  
when moved to a new platform and OS changed in the way it worked  
(because crypt() at that time used the system implementation -- Since  
PHP 5.3 it uses its own implementation so this shouldn't be a problem).

I guess another problem could be if your application relies on being  
run under its own user instead of under mod_php/the web server's user,  
and that doesn't happen in the new host. But that's one of the things  
you check before migrating.

But in general; If you make sure that:

	1) The code in the application is well written,
	2) All extensions used in the application are available on the new  
host,
	3) The usual and any PHP settings that the application relies on are  
the same on the old and new host,

.. then I think you'll be pretty well off and only minor tweaks should  
be needed :) Use phpinfo() to check the two environments!

What problems occurred with that unexpectedly moved solution last week?

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