I’ve been toying withe the idea of using a new template for my Web site.  I’ve done some work and created several new pages, but they’re on my production Web site intermingled with my current pages.  I really needed to set up a test environment for my Web site that will allow me to test changes before I deploy them to cloppermillweather.org. This means setting up a Linux server with Apache, PHP, SSH, and SFTP.  Luckily I had a spare computer around that would fit the bill just fine.  I installed Centos Linux on it, enabled the services I needed, and added the necessary software.  I’m also planning to add database software, either Postgres or MySQL, so I can test saving my weather data in a database and generating reports and graphs from that database.

I got everything set up and working, and installed my Web site on the server.  I did have to track down one bug in my PHP code which didn’t show up in production but did cause a problem on my test server.  Just needed to add a simple typecast to float in one of my functions and all was well.  So now I have a test site to work with along with a new version of Linux I haven’t used before.

My rain gauge is still disabled due to the problematic readings I was getting from it.  I’m not entirely sure when I will get around to looking at it, as the weather is getting pretty cold and wet, I need to spend some time with my family, and this is the busiest time of year at my job.  So it may take a while before I get back to it.