Why are easy-to-use PHP Linux images important? Get a breakdown from our expert in this blog.

In this blog post I’ll summarize my experience with GCP Redis Memorystore instances. Memorystore
is the managed in-memory datastore solution from Google Cloud Platform and was mentioned in
Deploy dockerized PHP Apps to production on GCP via docker compose as a POC
as the “better” way to deal with in-memory datastores in a dockerized application (compared to
running an in-memory datastore via docker).

Table of contents

• Setup Memorystore
• Create a new redis instance
  • redis AUTH and in-transit encryption
• Connecting to a Redis Memorystore instance
  • Redis Memorystore offers private IP connectivity only
  • Connecting to the redis instance from a Compute Instance VM
  • Connecting to the redis instance via SSH tunnel
• Delete a Redis Memorystore instance
• Using the gcloud CLI
  • Activate the service account
  • Enable the necessary APIs
  • Create an IP range allocation
  • Create the VPC peering with servicenetworking.googleapis.com
  • Create the redis instance
• Wrapping up

Setup Memorystore

The managed solution for in-memory datastores from GCP is called
Memorystore and provides multiple datastore technologies –
including redis. In the Cloud Console UI it is
managed via the Memorystore UI that allows us to
create and manage instances.

Create a new redis instance

To get started, we need to enable the following APIs:

• Compute Engine API
• Google Cloud Memorystore for Redis API

Creating a new instance from the
Create a redis instance UI
is pretty straight forward and well documented in the
GCP Redis Guide: Creating and managing Redis instances.

We’ll use the following settings:

• Tier Selection: For testing purposes, I recommend choosing the “Basic” option (this will
  also disable the “Read Replicas”)
• Capacity: Enter “1”
• Set up connection > Network: Select the network that the VMs are located in – default in
  my case
• Additional Conf

Truncated by Planet PHP, read more at the original (another 18097 bytes)

Hey y’all. So, I had a heart attack and bypass surgery. Here is the full story.

Friday (3/31) and Saturday (4/1) nights I had chest pain that I thought was acid reflux. On Sunday morning, the pain returned. I checked my blood pressure. It was 170/103. I took some anxiety meds, gas x, and aspirin. An hour later it was still high.

So we went to the ER. Blood work showed troponin in my blood. “When heart muscles become damaged, troponin is sent into the bloodstream. As heart damage increases, greater amounts of troponin are released in the blood.” I was then admitted for observation and further testing.

On Monday (4/3) morning they performed an echocardiogram. There were some abnormalities. They then performed a heart catheter. I had 90% blockage in at least one artery. And blockages in several others. I was immediately transferred to UAB hospital.

Later that day I met with a surgeon. After discussing it with him, we decided to do bypass surgery. The long term success rate with this surgery at my age is better than the alternatives. Surgery was booked for Thursday, April 6.

On Tuesday (4/4) and Wednesday (4/5) I just hung out at the hospital. I could have another heart attack at any moment. Going home was not an option. Friends and family visited. I had some hard conversations with family about what to do “just in case”. Those conversations don’t phase me. And the family I spoke to were very practical about it as well.

Early Thursday morning, before dawn, I broke down a little bit. The reality that I could not wake up was hitting me. I knew it was not likely. These procedures are done every day. My doctor would probably do several that day alone. Still, it could have happened. It’s normal for me to have these emotional outbursts alone. The first time I remember it happening was with my great grandmothers death when I was 15. It’s been the same with all my other grandparents’ deaths as well. It’s just how I deal with it.

Then it was time to go. The family that was there followed us down to the waiting room. Once I was in pre-op and settled they said I could have one person come back. They let two coke back. The nurse said we seemed like solid people. I don’t remember a lot about that time. I do remember Deedra deciding to read my chart. Haha. The staff walking by was confused. Then I was off. While still rolling me in, I started to feel woozy. And then black.

I wake up very confused with some voices I know and others I don’t know. I understand their instructions but don’t know how to follow them. I need to breath. Ok. There is something in my mouth. Oh it’s the ventilator of course. They can’t remove it until I breath. There are two people I know there. My ex wife, and mother of my six children, Robin, coaching me on what to do. Good I need that right now. And Amy, my platonic life partner, speaking to me softly and encouraging me to breath. Man, I really need that approach too. If you had asked me what two people I would want in that moment, I would probably not have chosen either of them. And yet, they were the perfect combination at that time. Some (I assume) nurse said “good job” and out came the ventilator. Based on when I knew I went into the OR and how long the surgery took, I would say this is around 2pm. People say they visited with me in recovery. I believe them. Still, I really don’t recall much until 5AM on Friday morning.

Friday was confusing. It’s like my mind was still trying to figure out what happened to my body.

Between Friday and Tuesday (4/11) I had good times and bad times. I eventually got to go home. That is where I am now. My strength has slowly been recovering. The last device attached to my body came off yesterday. It will be several weeks of very limited activity. Mostly I just can’t lift things or drive. Slowly that will be allowed more and more. Then once all restrictions are removed, I can start building up my strength again.

In this blog post I’ll summarize my experience with GCP MySQL Cloud SQL instances. Cloud SQL
is the managed relational database solution from Google Cloud Platform and was mentioned in
Deploy dockerized PHP Apps to production on GCP via docker compose as a POC
as the “better” way to deal with databases in a dockerized application (compared to running a
database via docker).

Table of contents

• Setup Cloud SQL
• Create a new mysql instance
• Connecting to a MySQL Cloud SQL instance
  • Connecting to the mysql instance with Cloud Shell via public IP
  • Connecting to the mysql instance via public IP
  • Connecting to the mysql instance via private IP
    • Concrete steps to connect via private IP
    • Caveats for using a private IP only
• Delete a MySQL Cloud SQL instance
• Using the gcloud CLI
  • Activate the service account
  • Enable the necessary APIs
  • Create an IP range allocation
  • Create the VPC peering with servicenetworking.googleapis.com
  • Create the mysql instance
    • Set the root password
    • Create a default database

Setup Cloud SQL

The managed solution for relational databases from GCP is called
Cloud SQL and provides multiple database technologies –
including mysql. In the Cloud Console UI it is managed
via the SQL UI that allows us to create and manage
instances.

Create a new mysql instance

To get started, we need to enable the following APIs:

• Compute Engine API
• Cloud SQL Admin API

Creating a new instance from the
Create a MySQL instance UI
is pretty straight forward and well documented in the
GCP MySQL Guide: Create instances,
though there are some configuration options under “Customize your instance” that I want to mention:

• Machine type > Machine type: For testing purposes, I recommend choosing a “Shared core”
  option here (e.g. 1 vCPU, 0.614 GB) to keep the costs to a minimum
• Connections > Instance IP assignment: For now we’ll go with a “Pu

Truncated by Planet PHP, read more at the original (another 23533 bytes)

Maintaining PHP compliance is an important consideration for many teams. Get an overview of the various PHP compliance standards teams need to meet, and tips for how to stay compliant.

In this article I’ll document my process for setting up Git Bash / MINGW /
MSYS2 on Windows including some additional configuration (e.g. installing make and apply
some customizations via .bashrc).

Table of contents

• Introduction
• How to install and update Git Bash / MINGW / MSYS2 via Git for Windows
  • Update MINGW
  • How to install make
  • Configuration via .bashrc
• Common issues
  • The role of winpty: Fixing “The input device is not a TTY”
  • The path conversion issue
    • Fixing the path conversion issue for MINGW / MSYS2
    • Fixing the path conversion issue for winpty
• Miscellaneous
  • Change the bash custom prompt to a $

Introduction

When I was learning git I started with the fantastic
Git for Windows package, that is maintained in the
git-for-windows/git Github repository and comes with
Git Bash, a shell that offers a
Unix-terminal like experience. It uses
MINGW and MSYS2 under the hood
and does not only provide git but also a bunch of other common Linux utilities like

bash
sed
awk
ls
cp
rm
...

I believe the main “shell” is actually powered by MINGW64 as
that’s what will be shown by default:

Thus, I will refer to the tool as MINGW shell or Git Bash throughout this article.

I have been using MINGW for almost 10 years now, and it is still my go-to shell for Windows. I
could just never warm up to WSL, because the file sharing performance between WSL and native
Windows files was (is?) horrible – but that’s a different story.

How to install and update Git Bash / MINGW / MSYS2 via Git for Windows

You can find the latest Git for Windows installation package directly at the homepage of
https://gitforwindows.org/. Older releases can be found on
Github in the
Releases section of the git-for-windows/git repository

Follow the instructions in the
How to Install Git Bash on Windows article on git-tower.com
to get a guided tour through the setup process.

After the installation is finished, I usually create a desktop icon and assign the shortcut
CTRL + ALT + B (for “bash”) so that I can open a new shell session conveniently via keyboard.

Update MINGW

To update Git for Windows, you can simply run

git update-git-for-windows

See also the
Git for Windows FAQ under “How do I update Git for Windows upon new releases?”

Git for Windows comes with a tool to check for updates and offer to install them. Whether or not you enabled auto-updates during installation, you can manually run git update-git-for-windows.

Truncated by Planet PHP, read more at the original (another 19960 bytes)

Introducing new Alpine Linux PHP images from Zend. Get full details on how they work and how to get started, here.

It seems like every 7-8 years I’m switching operating systems. In 2006 I first
started using Apple, because it was just so damn cool to have a well working
Unix-like system. (I’ll never forget you Snow Leopard).

In 2015 I switched to Ubuntu. Apple’s Software seemed to hit rock bottom at
this point from a quality perspective, and hardware seemed to go obsolete at
a rate I hadn’t seen before. Fed up paying a premium price for a sub-par
product, it was time for a change.

Ubuntu’s fall

Ubuntu was the obvious choice. I want something that just works, and Dell’s
XPS 13 Developer Edition ships with Ubuntu which means hardware support
from Dell itself. Breath of fresh air and fast as hell. The experience was
similar to what people have been saying about the new M1 chips.
But it’s fast because of software, not hardware.

But something changed with Ubuntu in recent years. I think linux users have
a thicker than usual skin when it comes to software issues and are willing
to look past more things. But Ubuntu’s quality has been consistently falling.
I was being worn down, and it seems to be a common sentiment in my bubble.

The best example is Ubuntu’s package manager Snap. A pretty good idea, I like
the branding too but the execution hasn’t been there. Ubuntu users have been
effectively beta-testing this for years. Just to give you an idea I made a
giant list of bugs that I ran into when Ubuntu switched Firefox from apt
to Snap.

To be honest I feel a bit bad ragging on Ubuntu, because without knowing
anything about how the project and Canonical is run, my intuition is
that the steam is just kind of running out for them. Ubuntu feels ‘depressed’,
but maybe it’s all in my head.

Installation

Installation was super smooth. I always forget to make a separate /home
mount, so it took a while to move everything to an external disk and back.

The one thing I always forget to move is my MySQL databases, and today
was no exception.

Non-free stuff

Fedora does not ship with things that aren’t open source. Nothing against that
philosophy (awesome in fact), but personally I don’t mind adding some binaries
for a better experience.

I miss Ubuntu’s Additional Drivers tool, because it told me what to
install. I’m sure the drivers I need are available for Fedora, but I don’t
know what to look for which makes me slightly worried my computer is not
running optimally. Battery feels worse but that could also be my imagination.

Video in Firefox didn’t work at all in stock Fedora. I had to install
ffmpeg to get it to barely function, but then I discovered RPM Fusion, where
I got an even better ffmpeg, plus gstreamer and Intel drivers and I can now watch
beautiful smooth 4K video, and confirmed with intel_gpu_top that I’m using
hardware acceleration.

Gnome

Ubuntu used to have their own desktop environment called Unity. In
2018 they switched to Gnome, but they modified Gnome to keep their
Unity look.

This felt like a good move, because it let them kept their look while
taking advantage of all the Gnome plumbing.

One drawback is that Ubuntu was usually a bit behind with Gnome
features.

Fedora uses stock Gnome. As a result

Truncated by Planet PHP, read more at the original (another 2756 bytes)

In this blog, our expert discusses the new Puppet PHP modules created by Zend, with details on how they work, and how to deploy them to your benefit.