An outage (in more ways than one)
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1:50 pm, July 11th, 2021 - 22 comments
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First off – my apologies for letting the site drop out over the past days. We had several outages, computer and human.
Sometime on Wednesday (I think), the site started to die after a operating system update and during the same day (I think), a automatic wordpress plugin update.
The system update was that (somehow) the database server got rolled back to an older version. This was the cause of the increasing levels of sluggishness in the site. The PHP was literally timing out on the database accesses because the some of the old default settings weren’t even close to optimal at even our base levels of traffic. Logged errors provided no easy diagnosis because it didn’t indicate what subsystem was causing the timeouts.
At roughly the same time an unwanted automatic update of WordPress plugins happened – something that was meant to have been a manual process that I pretest in a staging test site. This had the effect of effectively disabling what little access was there to the back end administration of WordPress by blowing up the javascript processing.
That was the computer outage.
Unfortunately I’d also had a bug from Monday onwards. Some kind of virus (probably) that pushed my lymph nodes into painful action, put me to sleep a lot, dropped my appetite to nil, and by Wednesday were making me vomit any solid food and in the last few days has eased off into diarrhea. It also pushed me into a bird brain lack of focus.
That was the human outage(s).
It wasn’t covid-19 as I have had my third (maybe fourth) unfortunate experience in getting tested – it never gets any better. I’ve lost 3kgs in a week, and I’m still on water, barley sugars, soup and soft scrambled eggs until I stop puking up solid food.
This week hasn’t been good times for me exactly in a good condition to try to solve this. However I had a crack at last night and found the data problem. This morning I managed to fix the other issues by detaching backend plugin to the point I could reactivate the functionality.
Let me know if there are any obvious problems. But for now I’m going to sip soup and have a bit of a lie down…. I’d suggest avoiding this human bug. It rather takes the joy out of life.
lprent: Opps – that got published as my testing alter ego AncientGeek, who as a mere whatever privilege level he is on, could change the author of the post
22 comments on “An outage (in more ways than one) ”
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- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
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- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
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- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour fully supports greyhound racing ban
The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
- Greyhound racing industry ban marks new era for animal welfare
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- Rangatahi voices must be centred in Government’s Relationship and Sexuality Education refresh
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt introduces archaic anti-worker legislation
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- Internationally-trained doctors jump at chance to boost health workforce
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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...2 days ago
- New intelligence oversight appointments
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- Ending contracted emergency housing in Rotorua
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...2 days ago
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- Reducing the environmental impact of synthetic refrigerants
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...2 days ago
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People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...2 days ago
- Appointments to the ENZ board
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- Government to celebrate Waitangi Day around NZ
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...3 days ago
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State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...3 days ago
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Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...4 days ago
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- Torture redress for survivors of the Lake Alice Unit
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...4 days ago
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- Greater reporting on Treaty settlement commitments
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...4 days ago
- New appointments to the Charities Registration Board
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...4 days ago
- Building consent processing times improve
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...4 days ago
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- New Zealand to assist Vanuatu on earthquake response
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...4 days ago
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If anyone is wondering (like I did) why the comments are bit sparse on the right hand side, it is because there is a 5 day cutout as well as a maximum number of comments.
These were the comments that some detirmined people managed to push through despite the outrage.
Good to see the Replies list is still there (logged in).
Replies just works off a number of replies that match the logged in or the current ’email’ secret in use on the cookies (the latter is there for those who aren’t logged in) – which are the ‘id’ of the user.
The all comments gets expensive to pull up in database processing time. Limiting by time allowed the database to efficiently optimise the query. But comments change all of the time. So as an optimisation, as each comment is made it simply flags a change, that causes the page refresh of the author to trigger an update of the cached list from a database query. This means that everyone else who isn’t making comments doesn’t have to query for the list from the database.
It is reasonably efficient and is one of the reason why leaving a comment takes longer than just switching a page. Everyone else just gets the most recent cached list of comments.
I was willing to expend more database resources on replies because it only gets calculated when someone with an ‘id’ asks for a page and it isn’t cached. The first load, and whenever someone replies to them. When the person making the comment, the id of who they are replying to is looked up in the cache of replies. If it is there, then that cached list of replies to deleted. Causing the replies list for that id to be recalculated on their next page load.
But being replied to is far rarer than having a comment made for everyone, so the server load isn’t irkcome.
I tested those both logged off and logged on.
Anyway nap time for the sysop.
testing to correct a comment
adding to comment
If this posts all working on windows with firefox
Thanks for your work keeping the site running
Yeah. I also changed the wysiwyg comment editor from CK editor to the more usual Javascript editor. It is the one we use in writing the posts.
I have tested with Linux Chrome/ Firefox, current Android Chrome / Firefox and whatever Samsung browser is. Windows 10 Chrome / Edge.
Haven’t looked at the Mac side yet. I will do that on the remote website testing tools or plead with my partner to touch her toys (and that will be a difficult bearing in mind the state of my health).
This editor seems to get around that issue of not being able to edit comments on Android inside the desktop (non mobile) theme.
Thanks LPrent for all you do.
Cancel reply doesn’t work – latest opera version, and it also makes the ‘leave a comment’ disappear from the bottom of the page, which takes a page refresh to reappear.
Yep. Shows on Linux Chrome / Firefox as well. Probably everything.
The javascript code appears to be doing a passive event handler that just ain’t working
I’ll look at it when I wake up.
Dang – AncientGeek – definitely a birdbrain today.
Though bizarrely, if you right click on ‘cancel reply’ and open in a new tab, that tab will be as it should.
Yeah it breaks the javascript whilst setting up the action. The underlying link is still there.
Can’t remember about Opera. But in Chrome (similar in Firefox) you can just right click the cancel, go Inspect and it will give you diag split screen defaulting to the object model at the object that will show the link at some expansion. If you go into the top menu item ‘console’ it will show you javascript errors after you open things up a bit. You can use the source link to see the problem code. Clicking Pretty Print will shift from minified code to something that is slightly more readable. That is the code that I have to track down and correct. If I had to guess, it is an old non-standard Internet Explorer action that hasn’t been isolated.
That bug sounds pretty nasty. They sure hit you like a brick sometimes – a particularly disgusting brick.
What a week for you Iprent!
so sorry you’ve been unwell. Take it easy and thanks for getting the site up and running again
Appreciate the work you put in.
I’m sure everyone else that reads the standard does also.
Well lprent, there WAS a brief moment of excitement around 8pm last night. Muttonbird joined Adrian Thornton in the list of comments. Two of them instead of just one! Definitely a step in the right direction.
There is no doubt in my mind that you are running a valuable and important public service.
I feel it would be churlish to simply go back into BAU commenting, and debating, and airing my views, that this site furnishes myself and others, without remarking on this remarkable act of public service that you provide.
What more can I say, really.
Other than saying, long may it last.
Appreciate your efforts in running and maintaining this site, and the stamina and doggedness in getting it back up when you were unwell.
We could all have waited till you were back on form, but I was delighted to see The Standard back online again. Thanks.
Missed the site. Hope your bug gives you a rest. Thanks so much for providing this site, even if the computer technology is way out of my understanding.
Very sorry to hear how poorly you have been Lyn. Still, 3 kgs is 3 kgs.
Thanks again for your tireless work supporting this venue.
I too wish you well and to your work keeping The Standard available.regards Alex
Thanks for all your good works Lyn, really appreciated – be well soon.