Install Rails/lighttpd with DarwinPorts for Tiger

install darwinports package

Add 'export PATH=/opt/local/bin:$PATH' to ~/.bashrc

sudo port -d selfupdate

sudo port install ruby

sudo port install rb-rubygems

sudo gem install rails --include-dependencies

sudo port install readline

sudo port install lighttpd

vi /opt/local/etc/lighttpd.conf [edit lighttpd.conf to your liking]

set up launchd item for lighttpd
        -- restart lighttpd: sudo launchctl stop net.lighttpd
                             sudo launchctl start net.lighttpd

sudo port install fcgi

sudo port install rb-fcgi
         
install official OS X MySQL package (not darwinports)

sudo gem install mysql -- --with-mysql-dir=/usr/local/mysql

Links:
darwinports package
launchd item
OS X MySQL package

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

Restart lighttpd script

I use this script to avoid having to do the killall dance on my local dev box constantly when tweaking my lighttpd.conf

#!/bin/sh
sudo killall -9 lighttpd
sudo killall -9 ruby
sudo /opt/local/sbin/lighttpd -f /opt/local/etc/lighttpd.conf

Make the script executable (chmod u+x), put it in your path, invoke by simply typing the name of the script. This also kills off any ruby processes, which lighttpd will restart when it reboots.

The path to lighttpd and the lighttpd.conf files are based on the installation from DarwinPorts - adjust as needed.

killing your own dispatch.fcgis

ps aux|grep youruser|grep dispatch|awk '{print $2}'|xargs kill -9

of course you can use this for any process and just change the 'dispatch' part

Typo under lighttpd

Example vhost of a typo install under lighttpd

$HTTP["host"] =~ "typo.jasonhoffman.org" {
server.document-root = "/home/jah/apps/typo/trunk/public/"
server.error-handler-404   = "/dispatch.fcgi"
server.indexfiles           = ( "dispatch.fcgi")
server.errorlog = "/home/jah/logs/error.typo.log"
  fastcgi.server = ( ".fcgi" =>
     ( "localhost" =>
       ( "socket" => "/home/jah/tmp/typo-jah.socket",
                            "min-procs" => 2,
                            "max-procs" => 2,
         "bin-path" => "/home/jah/apps/typo/trunk/public/dispatch.fcgi",
         "bin-environment" => ( "RAILS_ENV" => "production" )
  )))
}