PlayGround

Current DNS information for robotics.calpoly.edu:

;; ANSWER SECTION:
robotics.calpoly.edu.   86400   IN      CNAME   wwwclub.cpunix.calpoly.edu.
wwwclub.cpunix.calpoly.edu. 86400 IN    A       129.65.2.90

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
cpunix.calpoly.edu.     86400   IN      NS      LARRY.calpoly.edu.
cpunix.calpoly.edu.     86400   IN      NS      MOE.calpoly.edu.

As you can see this record really does point to our Cal Poly UNIX account (available at http://calpoly.edu/~roboclub). We use a directive in our '.htaccess' file to do an HTTP redirect to http://robotics.ee.calpoly.edu.

Current DNS information for robotics.ee.calpoly.edu:

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;robotics.ee.calpoly.edu.        IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
robotics.ee.calpoly.edu.   86400 IN      CNAME   robotics-1.ee.calpoly.edu.
robotics-1.ee.calpoly.edu. 86400 IN      A       129.65.126.170

robotics.ee.calpoly.edu is a CNAME record that points to the A record of the current club server. See below for how this is used in the migration process.

To upgrade the Robotics Club server to a new machine with minimal downtime, follow these steps:

1. Print out these instructions as you may lose access to them during the upgrade process. They can make for a handy checklist.
2. Install and configure the operating system. If in doubt check the configuration of the current machine.
3. Request an static IP address and DNS A record from EE Dept IT (current point of contact is Ralph Nicovich). The new A record should be robotics-2.ee.calpoly.edu (increment the old server name). If possible, you can also request that the TLL for the current robotics.ee.calpoly.edu be decreased from the default 86400 seconds (24 hours). This should help prevent visitors machines from using an old, cached value when it is time to make the CNAME switch from robotics-1 to robotics-2.
4. Configure the hostname in /etc/hosts to look like

   127.0.0.1 localhost
   129.65.126.170 robotics.ee.calpoly.edu robotics-2

5. Install the webserver, wiki, and any other software on the new machine.

When everything seems like it is running well and you can access your empty wiki via your new DNS A record. Then you are ready to start the migration process.

1. Add a posting to the home page and send a message to the club email list notifying everyone of the expected downtime.
2. When the time comes, add a message to the home page that wiki will be in readonly mode for the next couple days.
3. Set the wiki to read-only
4. Copy the Dokuwiki data to the new server ( - More info?)
5. When everything seems to be working well, request that DNS CNAME robotics.ee.calpoly.edu be updated to point to the robotics-2.ee.calpoly.edu.
6. Once DNS updated happens your new server is live!

1. Update the homepage letting users know that the upgrade/migration was successful. If you send out an email to the club you may want to include the Shift+Refresh tip.
2. Update this page with any information that would be helpful for future upgrades.