UniCenter Introduction

A quick thank you I would like to express my sincerest thanks to the Uniform Server team for hosting this site. They have imposed no restrictions or censorship hence the views and opinions expressed on this site are my personal ones and do not reflect those of the Uniform Server team in any way. I will endeavour to be unbiased and be critical may even upset the design team. (Mike Gleaves 21-6-2006)

3.6-Apollo2 RC 24-12-08

Apollo 2 After taking the minis for a quick spin had a small accident; well more of a multiple pile up, now they look more like a stretched limo! The chief tester DannyH confirms this limo is stable around those notorious Vista bends and glides around any XP bend with ease. New unicorn control system works fine apart from a dropped letter.

Specification: Apache 2.2.11 MySQL 5.1.30-community PHP 5.2.8 phpMyBackupPro v.2.1 phpMyAdmin 3.0.1.1 ActivePerl 5,10,0,1003 eAccelerator 0.9.5.3 SSL pre-installed (ssl_098i)

It is currently parked over on the Wiki where it is being given away for free. I am assured this is not because of the fender bending or scratched paintwork. To entice you further includes a set of UniTrays, these you can hide with all those little gizmos at the bottom of your screen.

UniCenter Update 12-10-08

I like SlimFTPd it is extremely easy to use however it lacks SSL support I recently had a requirement for a secure FTP server and tried FileZilla. To my surprise its not only easy to use but architecturally very flexible because of this investigated its portability and use as a plugin for Uniform Server.

If you are interested a write-up and download can be found on the Wiki Portable FileZilla FTPd

UniCenter Update 7-10-08

Mini-servers had a temporary pit stop at the Wiki where a few enhancements were made. Order of auto drive letter detection was reversed preventing masking of USB drives on XP, mini- servers now start at drive Z and work down.

Had problems at the Vista chicane, after exhaustive testing by chief mechanic DanyH it was discovered a vital part was not transferred over to this operating system. An alterative, compliant part was quickly sourced and inserted.

After several timed laps on both XP and Vista circuits a noticeable time delay was discovered, a sub-mariner suggested it was due to a ping delay. This component was ripped out and replaced with a UniServer part.

I apologise for the above ramble thought it would be more interesting than saying:

The mini-servers can be downloaded from SourceForge
And support can be found on the Wiki.

UniCenter Update 12-10-08

Mini-servers now have an automatic transmission and moved to unique ports. Advantage of these modifications you can now run all mini servers alongside Uniform Server 3.5-Apollo. In addition they are multiple servers, meaning you can run them all at the same time!!

Server 1 Portable  (451KB/1MB)     Apache 2.2.9 Port 8081	 
Server 2 Service   (402KB/821KB)   Apache 2.2.9 Port 8082	 
Server 3 Portable  (475KB/1.17MB)  Apache 2.2.9 Port 8083 Includes htaccess, authentication and mod-rewrite
Server 4 Portable  (1MB/2.89MB)    Apache 2.2.9 Port 8084/444 As server 3 with added protection of SSL
Server 5 Portable  (1MB/2.87MB)    Apache 2.2.9Port 8085 As server 4 SSL Standalone no main server on port 8084
Server 6 Portable  (2.02MB/5.87MB) Apache 2.2.9 PHP 5.2.6 Port 8086 Includes Guest Book
Server 7 Service   (2.27MB/6.59MB) Apache 2.2.9 PHP 5.2.6 Port 8087 Includes Guest Book
Server 8 Portable  (2.47MB/7.93MB) Apache 2.2.9 PHP 5.2.6 Port 8088 Includes GBook,
                                   PHP Mini SQL Admin and MySQL support enabled.
Server 9 Portable  (953KB/2.54MB)  Apache 2.2.9 Perl 5.10 Port	8089	 
Server 10 Service  (904MB/2.36MB)  Apache 2.2.9 Perl 5.10 Port	8090	 
Server 11 Portable (1.85MB/10.2MB) Port 3311 MySQL 5.0.67 Server
Server 12 Service  (1.85MB/10.2MB) Port 3312 MySQL 5.0.67 Server
Server 13 Portable (1.46MB/6.38MB) Port 3313 MySQL 4.1.22 Server
Server 14 Service  (1.46MB/6.37MB) Port 3314 MySQL 4.1.22 Server

Note: You can use Uniform Server’s built in phpMyAdmin to administer all mini MySQL servers, for details see Wiki. Worthy of note for its encrypted passwords and data is Server 5 making it a very secure personal server. Browsers dislike self-signed certificates this is covered in detail on the Wiki. 

Extended range: Includes six ready-to-go servers. Complete range as shown:

Server 15 Portable  (1.46MB/6.37MB) Port 8095/3315 MediaWiki 1.12.0
Server 16 Portable  (1.46MB/6.37MB) Port 8096/3316 WordPress 2.6.1
Server 17 Portable  (1.46MB/6.37MB) Port 8097/3317 phpBB-3.0.2
Server 18 Portable  (1.46MB/6.37MB) Port 8098/3318 Joomla 1.5.6
Server 19 Portable  (1.46MB/6.37MB) Port 8099/3319 Vcalendar 1.1.5.3
Server 20 Portable  (3.31MB/12MB)   Port 80        Reverse proxy
Server 21 Portable  (6.96MB/44MB)   Port 8101/3321 Xoops 2.3.1

See Wiki for details and download

UniCenter Update 3-8-08

The auto drive detection page lacked an elegant solution because of this decided it was not worth moving. However after re-reading a solution was already in place, although I had not previously spotted it. The page has moved with what I believe is a neat solution.

UniCenter Update 20-7-08

The mini-servers while driving over to the Wiki seem to have had an engine change. Now powered by Apache 2.2.9 one of the turbo chargers had to be replaced with PHP 5.2.6.

Two of the minis hit wet weather and had to changed their tyres to Super SLics still came in last because Firefox and IE objected to their self-signed certificates, however they were eventually allowed to pass.

New pit stop!

UniCenter Update 22-6-08

I was going to do a quick update of UniServer 3.3 running Moodle 1.8 however because it is so out of date in the end it’s had a complete rewrite. Upgraded to 3.5-Apollo running the latest version of Moodle 1.9.1 I was also persuaded to make it a complete download as in click and go.

UniCenter Update 21-6-08

Migration to the Wiki is slowly taking place pages that have been transferred are highlighted in green check the site map. These pages where appropriate will have been updated.

Note page links hopefully will redirect to the appropriate location on the Wiki assuming I have not made any typos.

Stunnel

Srunnel moved over to Wiki and upgraded to version 2.24

UniCenter - on the move update

Security:

You may have gathered I am more than a little paranoid about security. Moving over to the Wiki gives me the screaming ab-dabs however Olajide has calmed me down . I can lockdown pages containing MD5 check sums allowing you to check any files downloaded. More importantly the files you download are from a restricted area and not changeable by users on the Wiki.

I am not complacent about security and you, as users need that confidence. I am now convinced hence I am moving downloadable files over. Ironically they deal with security issues.

Please remember nothing is one hundred percent secure it’s all a degree of confidence.

I like using 7Z exe’s these are self-extracting archive files that just make life a lot easier, double click to run, let them overwrite existing files and Uniform Server gets updated. That’s where security and confidence is all important.

UniCenter

After nearly two years the site has grown out of control and becoming difficult to manage. Lack of a search facility has become a hindrance hence I have conceded and decided to publish new material on the Wiki.

Existing pages will not disappear however they will not be maintained check the site map for items in green these have been moved over and updated where appropriate.

I would like to thank Olajide for allowing a separate category on the Wiki at least it will give you a sporting chance to find UniCenter's material.

My first page on the Wiki may be of interest!

All the best and enjoy.

Oily Rag 2

Well I am surprised Olajide has not band me; perhaps Oily Rag 2 will do the trick! It exposes a few imperfections of 3.5-Apollo. The real problem I have, it also shows how flexible Uniform Server’s architecture is. Yep! Shot myself in the foot, every time I dig around and hack a bit of code, here or there, it just lets me do it.   Hey! A few imperfections and bugs, well they only come to light when hacking code and do not generally cause problems. That’s no fun; push Uniform Sever beyond its design limits, that’s more fun, you can break it. Should you want to break UniServer Oily Rag 2 attempts to show what’s possible, and how malleable the architecture is.

Some known issues and bugs 3.5-Apolo

These bug fixes are unofficial, I understand there will be a new release of 3.5-Apollo with all bugs fixed, release date unknown. It all really does take time requires testing on all platforms and OS’es however my fixes have been tested only on XP-Home.

PHP Upgrade or Downgrade

These pages include a few notes on how to either upgrade or downgrade PHP. In addition I have included how to upgrade phpMyAdmin.

Snippets and ramblings

The chap in the hat linked the world! As for my musings had a look at auto drive detection.

Signed Certificate Project

This project is a continuation of mod_ssl it fills a number of gaps not covered in the original writ-up.

Lock down and secure your PC. There is no point going to the trouble of obtaining a signed certificate if you leave all the doors open.	If you do not have a domain name or a static IP address and consider purchasing these too expensive no problem use No-IP	If you have a dynamic IP address use this client to track it.

You require a mail server to obtain verification of your domain name at CAcert. Try this excellent mail server alternatively set-up your MX records	Obtain a genuinely free server certificate from CAcert.

SlimFTPd (3.181)- Update for Uniform Server 3.3 and New section 3.5-Apollo

Updated original write-up for Uniform Server 3.3 SlimFTPd. Added new section SlimFTPd3181 for Uniform Server 3.5-Apollo

Mini Series

No! Not a range of classic cars but a range of mini servers based on the Uniform Server architecture. These mini power units are usable in either a portable mode or may be installed to provide a service. The eight-cylinder Apache 2.2.8 core powers all models. Models come in three formats; basic straight Apache, turbo charge options either Perl 5.10 or the popular PHP 5.2.5. Note the turbo chargers are a limited edition and slightly under powered, as is the main Apache engine. However these are upgradeable by visiting each manufacture to obtain their latest full production version, which are highly tuned providing maximum raw power.

Revers Proxy

This tutorial was sparked off by a numbers of questions. On Uniform Server’s forum an interesting question was asked, how to remove the MySQL server? Why would any one want to! Why does Uniform server not support proxying? It does. Why can’t you run more than one instance of Uniform Server? You can.

UniServer 3.5-Apollo unofficial CD Plugin - Tutorial

Based on Oily Rag USCD1 this tutorial expands that concept and offers a more flexible solution. It uses Perl scripts to directly change Uniform Servers configuration files. Again its a two-page tutorial and concludes with a plugin to run Uniform Server from a CD you can tailor the scripts to your own requirements.

UniServer 3.5-Apollo

Uniform Server 3.5-Apollo Install and go with UniServer 3.5-Apollo a WAMP installation that is lean and mean.

On the Uniform Server Blog Olajide made this bold statement “we are trying to make 3.5 BUG FREE!” Well overall it is, however when you push it to the limit there are a few minor irritations. That said if all you want is a server that is both easy to install and run then look no further. What appeals to me is its sheer flexibility, don’t like something go in and hack it around.

There have been a number of enhancements in this version making it easier for new users to put their servers online.

Security

One of these enhancements is the introduction in apanel of a security checklist. At first it looks scary especially to a first time user. However it is extremely easy to use especially when placing your servers on line. It guides you through various security issues thus giving you that extra confidence.

As a production server, security has been reviewed and some esoteric changes made making it even more secure. In terms of security if all you want is a test or training server like 3.3 there is nothing special you need to do, it has been locked down to localhost access hence just run it and enjoy.

Downside

I thought it was going to make UniCenter redundant but because of its flexibility there are a few avenues yet to be explored.

Applications

Uniform Server is an extremely versatile component it’s perceived simplicity and ease of use is a credit to the design team. (Might have to widen the doors!) I cover a number of applications for example:

• Home Web Server
• Test Server

The site map provides a comprehensive list.

Installation of some common open source applications

I have covered installation of these common open source applications. (With one exception Office Mail test server is not open source however it is free)

•  Installing phpBB
•  Mail Test Server and portability 
•  Wikka Wiki 
•  MySQL Hosting User accounts
•  Joomla Installing 
•  Joomla Portability 
• Simple SMTP server using the Mercury Mail transport system

In general what you will find is a mixed bag.

Time

I have a problem with time or should I say the material on the Internet. I think I am reading something new; only to find that it is way past its sell buy date.

Well I have revamped this site not only because I screwed up the links, I also underestimated how much I ramble on. OK! To the point of boring; but when was I that boring, no problem; peg in the ground every page now shows when it was last changed.

With the release of 3.5 material on this site is fast becoming out of date I will endeavor to update it as and when I can in the mean time I have started a new section for 3.5 this will be maintained in preference to other sections.

• UniCenter Site Content Copyright © 2006-2008  Mike Gleaves  All Rights Reserved 24-12-2008 •

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