Web Development

Rails tip - run FCGI if you can't do Mongrel

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A small tip, but one I just encountered. If your web hosting provider can't allow you to set up a nice proxied Mongrel cluster, your best bet is to use the FastCGI (aka "FCGI") interface to Apache as the plain-Jane CGI interface is just slow as a dog. I ran into this little issue when using RedMine for my project management, and let me tell you it was slow. Well, it finally dawned on me to take a look see if it was using CGI or FCGI - low and behold by default it is set to use CGi, no wonder it was so slow!

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Apache+SSL for Windows

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There's a site called Apache Lounge that has put together a collection of binary files for Apache for Windows. What's notable about these is the inclusion of the SSL module, which the Apache Foundation don't distribute in their Windows binaries anymore. Along with the core Apache install they also have some some plugins/modules for Apache that are worth using - a log rotator (so that the traffic log doesn't fill your drive), an interesting looking security plugin, and updated plugins for PHP and Perl.

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Rails on OSX tip: MySQL access

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After wasting lots of time trying to get a database connecting to Rails on my MacPro at work I finally found the magic combination for MySQL.

  • Install MySQL.
  • Install the MySQL GUI Tools set.
  • Using the MySQL Administrator from the GUI Tools add a new user.
  • When adding permissions for the use set the hostname to be "(computername).local", e.g. "mymac.local".

It is that last part that had me pulling my hair out - using just "%" didn't work for me, it had to be "(computername).local". Silly thing.

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MySQL + Rails on Cygwin tip

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Here's a really quick tip for anyone using Rails on Cygwin. If you want to connect to a MySQL database the understood practice is to compile MySQL and go through the hassle of getting it all working within Cygwin itself. After what I've gone through with it all, the best way of getting this combination to work is to:

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Redmine - excellent RoR-based project management tool

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I've just been converted to a tool called Redmine, a combination of the ubiquitous Trac and something like ActiveCollab. Able to work directly with Subversion code repositories, Redmine gives you support for multiple projects, per-project tasks, content management (blog, news, document management, wiki), both a calendar and GANTT chart to view progress, a very comprehensive user management system that can even authenticate against LDAP (i.e.

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