As I announced yesterday the server is now down again and won't be up until this afternoon, I'll update here when I have a better idea of how long everything is going to take.
UPDATE: 13:00 - Server is coming back up now!
UPDATE: 17:00 - Full details of the switch-over will be announced tomorrow!
InfoBar
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Monday, 22 April 2013
Downtime
As announced yesterday the server is now down and won't be up until this afternoon, I'll update here when I have a better idea of how long everything is going to take.
UPDATE: 17:00 - I'm having some issues with the world files, I'll update as soon as I know more.
UPDATE: 17:50 - I'm starting the server up now, sorry it took longer than planned!
More downtime will be required tomorrow in preparation for the switch-over, it will be the same sort of time to minimise the impact.
UPDATE: 17:00 - I'm having some issues with the world files, I'll update as soon as I know more.
UPDATE: 17:50 - I'm starting the server up now, sorry it took longer than planned!
More downtime will be required tomorrow in preparation for the switch-over, it will be the same sort of time to minimise the impact.
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Server Downtime Tomorrow
I'm taking the server down for most of the day tomorrow, Monday daytime is always very quiet with 1-3 players most of the time so the impact should be minimal.
I will be taking it down around 8am UK time and estimate it will be back online by 4-5pm, this is to clear out a significant amount of data and test for issues relating to the hosting company switch.
If everything goes to plan this could mean that we will be switching before the 26th, so keep your fingers crossed!
I will be taking it down around 8am UK time and estimate it will be back online by 4-5pm, this is to clear out a significant amount of data and test for issues relating to the hosting company switch.
If everything goes to plan this could mean that we will be switching before the 26th, so keep your fingers crossed!
Saturday, 20 April 2013
New Hosting Company & Changes
I can confirm that hosting fees with our new hosting company are now paid up until 18th July!
I spent Thursday/Friday testing various things and getting used to the new interface, which I must say is far more flexible than our current hosting company provides and has some great features which automatically deal with day to day admin and other common issues.
Me and DigginChickin spent virtually the whole of today testing the new plugin setup and tweaking the related permissions. To give you an idea of how big the changes are we have removed 9 of the plugins in use on the current server and added in 6 new ones, 4 as direct replacements for much of the functionality of ones we removed (as well as adding some new features) and two that add some entirely new features which we have big plans for and are sure you're going to love!
I know you have a lot of questions so here are some answers to common ones:
When is the switch-over taking place?
We will be moving over to the new server on the 26th at the latest, hopefully a day or two sooner.
Why is it taking so long to switch?
We decided to use this opportunity to make some significant changes to the plugins we use which means we have to do a lot of testing to make sure we don't have serious issues when we move the world & data over, we'd hate to have to roll back the world after a day or two because of a problem we missed. It'll be worth it in the long run though!
Will we loose anything when the switch takes place?
On the day of the switch the server will go down straight after the daily backup, the world and player data from that backup will then be used for the new server, which means in theory that nothing should be lost. Alchemical bag data can be temperamental though which is why we've asked everyone to empty the bags into chests, read the last couple of posts on here for more information.
What do the plugin changes mean?
That would be telling! I can confirm that ranks and their chat colours etc will be staying the same, although new benefits for Member rank and above have been added along with some new tools for Helpers & Moderators.
One big change is that banned items will be automatically removed and notifications sent to Admins & Moderators, in some cases players may even be automatically banned, if you currently have any banned items you'll want to get rid of them before the switch over to avoid this possibility.
I'll post another update tomorrow!
I spent Thursday/Friday testing various things and getting used to the new interface, which I must say is far more flexible than our current hosting company provides and has some great features which automatically deal with day to day admin and other common issues.
Me and DigginChickin spent virtually the whole of today testing the new plugin setup and tweaking the related permissions. To give you an idea of how big the changes are we have removed 9 of the plugins in use on the current server and added in 6 new ones, 4 as direct replacements for much of the functionality of ones we removed (as well as adding some new features) and two that add some entirely new features which we have big plans for and are sure you're going to love!
I know you have a lot of questions so here are some answers to common ones:
When is the switch-over taking place?
We will be moving over to the new server on the 26th at the latest, hopefully a day or two sooner.
Why is it taking so long to switch?
We decided to use this opportunity to make some significant changes to the plugins we use which means we have to do a lot of testing to make sure we don't have serious issues when we move the world & data over, we'd hate to have to roll back the world after a day or two because of a problem we missed. It'll be worth it in the long run though!
Will we loose anything when the switch takes place?
On the day of the switch the server will go down straight after the daily backup, the world and player data from that backup will then be used for the new server, which means in theory that nothing should be lost. Alchemical bag data can be temperamental though which is why we've asked everyone to empty the bags into chests, read the last couple of posts on here for more information.
What do the plugin changes mean?
That would be telling! I can confirm that ranks and their chat colours etc will be staying the same, although new benefits for Member rank and above have been added along with some new tools for Helpers & Moderators.
One big change is that banned items will be automatically removed and notifications sent to Admins & Moderators, in some cases players may even be automatically banned, if you currently have any banned items you'll want to get rid of them before the switch over to avoid this possibility.
I'll post another update tomorrow!
Friday, 19 April 2013
Changes Next Week - Update
Promotions On Hold
I've set up all the plugins on the new server using a 'dummy' world and have started to set up groups and permissions etc, to ease the transition promotions are now on hold until the switch-over meaning that no more players will be promoted using the existing system.
We are still keeping a list though and anyone who would have been promoted this week will be immediately promoted on the new server!
Alchemical Bags
As you should know we recommend against using these for long term storage, I would strongly advise everyone to move items from alchemical bags into chests or safes for the switch-over just in case they are reset. Any items lost from alchemical bags that do reset cannot be recovered and will not be replaced.
Old Data
Their are currently over 6000 world and player data related files on the server, totalling more than 1.2 GB.
To reduce this size, clear out unneeded data and speed up the switch-over we will be purging player data over 21 days old, this will include all data of players that have not logged in 21 days as well as transmutation tablet & alchemical bag data that has not been changed within this time. I have estimated that together with the removal of other old data this will reduce the size by around 25%.
Protection Stones
On the day of the switch-over Protection stones belonging to players who have not logged in for 21 days or longer will be automatically removed and their protection area regenerated.
If you live in a region originally protected by someone who no longer plays or has not logged in for 21 days contact DiggyWig or DigginChickin as soon as possible (preferably within the next 2-3 days in case we switch early) to remove the stone so that you can place your own.
More updates to follow over the next few days!
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Changes Next Week
Next week the hosting company change will take place and as we'll have more memory with the new company we've decided to make some changes to the plugins we use, we will be asking Helpers and some Member+ players to help us test the changes on the new server before we switch over.
What you need to do before the switchover:
1) Remember you will loose all your waypoints, carefully note down the coordinates of any waypoint you don't want to lose.
2) Make a note of your 'home' coordinates, home locations will be reset as part of the plugin changes.
3) Bookmark this page! Details of the new server and any command changes will be posted on here when we switch over.
What you need to do before the switchover:
1) Remember you will loose all your waypoints, carefully note down the coordinates of any waypoint you don't want to lose.
2) Make a note of your 'home' coordinates, home locations will be reset as part of the plugin changes.
3) Bookmark this page! Details of the new server and any command changes will be posted on here when we switch over.
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