How TextDrive does both PHP and Rails FCGI in one thing-a-ma-bob

fastcgi.server = (
".fcgi" =>
                    ( "localhost" =>
                        (
                            "socket" => "/tmp/textdrive-new.socket",
                            "bin-path" => "/users/home/website/web/public/dispatch.fcgi",
                            "bin-environment" => ( "RAILS_ENV" => "production" )
                        )
                    ),
".php" =>
                    ( "localhost" =>
                        (
                            "socket" => "/tmp/textdrive-php5-fcgi.socket",
                            "bin-path" => "/usr/local/www/cgi-bin/php5-fcgi",
                            "bin-environment" => (
                            "PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN" => "4",   
                            "PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS" => "5000"
                                                 )
                        )       
                    )
)

yet another lighttpd restart script

#!/bin/sh

USERNAME=username
LIGHTTPD_CONF=/home/$USERNAME/service/lighttpd.conf
PIDFILE=/home/$USERNAME/service/logs/lighttpd.pid
HTTPD=/home/$USERNAME/lighttpd/sbin/lighttpd

PID=0
if [ -e $PIDFILE ]; then
    PID=`cat $PIDFILE`
    if [ "x" == "x$PID" ]; then
        PID=0
    fi
fi

case "$1" in
    start)
        if [ 0 -ne $PID ]; then
            running=`ps --pid $PID | grep $PID`
            if [ $running ]; then
                echo "lighttpd is already running"
                exit 1
            fi
            rm $PIDFILE
            PID=0
        fi
        $HTTPD -f $LIGHTTPD_CONF
        ;;
    stop)
        if [ 0 -eq $PID ]; then
            echo "lighttpd was not running"
            exit 1
        fi
        kill $PID
        tries=""
        while [ -e $PIDFILE ]; do
            if [ "x$tries" == "x.........." ]; then
                break
            fi
            sleep 2
            tries=".$tries"
        done
        if [ -e $PIDFILE ]; then
            echo "lighttpd did not go gentle into that good night, murdering"
            kill -9 $PID
            rm $PIDFILE
        fi
        ;;
    restart)
        $0 stop
        $0 start
        ;;
    reload)
        if [ 0 -eq $PID ]; then
            echo "lighttpd was not running"
        fi
        kill -HUP $PID
        ;;
    *)
        echo "Usage: "`basename $0`" (start|stop|restart|reload)"
        exit 1
        ;;
esac

Daedalus Config to Keep Lighttpd Up Nicely

This daedalus config as well as my previous snippet is meant to supplement chapter 5 of "Lighttpd the painless way".

This config is dependent on having a ~/lighttpd directory setup as described in that manual. Also, you must have the restart.rb script (again from my previous snippet) in the lighttpd folder.

As before, remember to swap out your USERNAME, DOMAIN, and PORT.

The first check here is that a lighttpd process is running. If not then it calls restart.rb which will kill any zombie dispatchers and restart lighttpd.

The second check is more of a departure from the original suggestion. Rather than checking that a specific file is generating the expected output, I go right to the source and verify that lighttpd is responding with an HTTP header on the port you were assigned. This is a pure indication of whether lighttpd is responsive on the correct port. It won't be fouled up by application errors or apache forwarding misconfiguration. More importantly, it won't generate a flood of restarts due to an unrelated code error.

Also, you will notice I set the checkinterval to 10 minutes. I felt this was a good compromise between keeping lighttpd up and saturating the server with unnecessary processing.

name: lighttpd
checkcommand: /bin/ps axww
checkregex: /lighttpd/
onfailcommand: /home/USERNAME/lighttpd/restart.rb
checkinterval: 600 
aftercommandwait: 120

name: lighttpd-external
checkcommand: /usr/local/bin/curl -I http://YOURDOMAIN.com:YOURPORT
checkregex: /^HTTP/s
onfailcommand: /usr/bin/killall -9 lighttpd; /home/USERNAME/lighttpd/restart.rb
checkinterval: 600 
aftercommandwait: 120

Killing rogue dispatch.fcgi processes and starting lighttpd on TextDrive

By using this script to start lighttpd you can be sure you won't be leaving rogues dispatchers around sucking up memory and generally pissing jason off. Don't get caught with your pants down!

Make sure to change USERNAME below, as well as any paths that may be different in your case.

#!/usr/local/bin/ruby
#Modified from Julik's original code posted to TextDrive forums.

pstab = `ps axww`

def kill_fcgi_proc(line)
  its = line.strip.split(/\s+/)
  pid = its[0]
  puts "KILLING #{line}"
  `kill -9 #{pid}`
  sleep(3)
end

if pstab =~ /\/usr\/local\/sbin\/lighttpd -f/
  
  puts "Lighttpd still running."

else

  pstab.scan(/^.*dispatch\.fcgi\s*$/) do |line|
    kill_fcgi_proc line
  end

  pstab = `ps axww`
  
  if pstab =~ /dispatch\.fcgi/
    puts "Error, rogue dispatch.fcgi's still pissing jason off."
  else
    puts "Rogue dispatch.fcgi's cleared, starting lighty!"
    `/usr/local/sbin/lighttpd -f /home/USERNAME/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf`
  end
  
end

Compile PHP5 with Fast-cgi support for lighttpd

The following is my setup on OS X 10.4.2 using PHP 5.0.5

./configure --prefix=/usr/local/php5-fcgi --enable-fastcgi --enable-force-cgi-redirect --disable-cli --enable-memory-limit --with-layout=GNU --with-regex=php

make

sudo make install

The compile flags enable a fairly basic PHP setup, you may need to add more options for things like MySQL, etc. DO NOT ADD --with-apxs OR --with-apxs2 AS A COMPILE FLAG -- THESE ARE APACHE ONLY AND WILL PROBABLY BREAK UNDER LIGHTTPD!

Add the following to your lighttpd.conf file

fastcgi.server = ( ".php" =>
                   ( "localhost" =>
                     ( "socket" => "/tmp/php5-fcgi.socket",
                       "bin-path" => "/usr/local/php5-fcgi/bin/php"
                     )
                   )
                 )

Restart lighttpd, now with PHP support

My lighttpd php-fastcgi config with it's own php.ini

fastcgi.server = (
                ".php" =>
                    ( "localhost" =>
                        (
                            "socket" => "/home/jah/tmp/jah-php5-fcgi.socket",
                            "bin-path" => "/usr/local/www/cgi-bin/php5-fcgi -c /home/jah/etc/php.ini",
                            "bin-environment" => (
                            "PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN" => "4",
                            "PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS" => "5000"
                                                 )
                        )
                    )
                 )