Downtime
Moderator: Site Moderator
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- Site Admin
- Posts: 3950
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Downtime
Sorry folks, my fault.
HD has been running out of RAM recently so I arranged for 2 more gigs from our service provider. It costs more but they gave me a deal on it since I'm a long time customer.
Got the RAM and rebooted not realizing the server was not in shape to do it!
Had to spend hours doing what is known in FreeBSD land as "making world" which means rebuilding the entire system from source. Couldn't bring HD up while doing this.
Still finishing up with this upgrade. Went from FreeBSD 11.0 to 11.1 which includes a lot of good enhancements and security fixes but... sorry for the downtime!
Again, not quite finished.
HD has been running out of RAM recently so I arranged for 2 more gigs from our service provider. It costs more but they gave me a deal on it since I'm a long time customer.
Got the RAM and rebooted not realizing the server was not in shape to do it!
Had to spend hours doing what is known in FreeBSD land as "making world" which means rebuilding the entire system from source. Couldn't bring HD up while doing this.
Still finishing up with this upgrade. Went from FreeBSD 11.0 to 11.1 which includes a lot of good enhancements and security fixes but... sorry for the downtime!
Again, not quite finished.
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
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- Master of Distillation
- Posts: 2691
- Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 4:38 pm
- Location: little puffs of dust where my feet used to be
Re: Downtime
Uncle Jesse; I'm going to nominate you for sainthood, ya I know rule #5,
but your getting nominated regardless
but your getting nominated regardless
be water my friend
- jon1163
- Rumrunner
- Posts: 502
- Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:57 pm
Re: Downtime
Thanks brother for all the work you put into the site so that we can all meet up and bull#&*-
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- Site Admin
- Posts: 3950
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Re: Downtime
For those of you who speak tech geek, we were averaging 44-50% swap use. Now we aren't swapping. I've done some intensive MySQL operations and we're currently sitting at 683MB free RAM.
Much better.
Much better.
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
- Still Life
- Distiller
- Posts: 1545
- Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 4:24 pm
- Location: Great State Of Missouri
Re: Downtime
Thought the reading finally sent me blind when the site went dark.
Glad the site is back up and healthier than ever.
You're the best, Uncle Jesse.
Glad the site is back up and healthier than ever.
You're the best, Uncle Jesse.
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- Site Admin
- Posts: 3950
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Re: Downtime
Sorry folks. Site went down again sometime last night - actually powered off! I'm not sure why. I've fixed it and will contact the ISP to see if they had a power out... but this one was strange. I'll be keeping an eye on it today.
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
- nuntius01
- Rumrunner
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- Location: upper midwest
Re: Downtime
great work 

I'm just the bank and the mule
post your still pics here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 16&t=66917
post your still pics here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 16&t=66917
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- Site Admin
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- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Re: Downtime
Still haven't swapped. Looking good!
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
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- Swill Maker
- Posts: 319
- Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2016 6:35 am
Re: Downtime
Thank you UJ. ...and to the rest of the lot fer puttin' up with me.
- Canuckwoods
- Swill Maker
- Posts: 227
- Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:18 am
Re: Downtime
Thanks, Uncle Jesse
I don't think most of us realize how much time and effort goes into sites like this.
I don't think most of us realize how much time and effort goes into sites like this.
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- Site Admin
- Posts: 3950
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Re: Downtime
Second time in a few days the system was powered off. I'm in touch with the ISP and looking into causes.
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
Re: Downtime
I've found that "shutdown -h now" generally isn't a good idea in the daily cron job 

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- Site Admin
- Posts: 3950
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Re: Downtime
Hopefully found the issue. Rebooted a bit ago which some of you may have noticed.
Keeping a close eye on the server.
Keeping a close eye on the server.
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
- Coyotey
- Novice
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- Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:39 am
- Location: Over the hills and far away.
Re: Downtime
"Bridge to Engineering"...."Scotty, status on the new reactor" ...."You'll have warp capability in a jiffy, running diagnostics now...stand by"
Thanks for your efforts and a great platform Uncle Jesse! Make sure you have enough time for stillin too though!
Skål!
Thanks for your efforts and a great platform Uncle Jesse! Make sure you have enough time for stillin too though!
Skål!
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is the noblest; Second, by imitation, which is the easiest; and Third, by experience, which is the bitterest. - Confucius
- Chixter
- Bootlegger
- Posts: 135
- Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2017 1:39 pm
Re: Downtime
Thanks for all your work and dedication.
When I was a boy, I prayed for a bicycle. I soon learned G~d doesn't work like this so I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness.
- fizzix
- Master of Distillation
- Posts: 3698
- Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:08 pm
Re: Downtime
Like the others, I appreciate all you do Uncle Jesse, and thanks for allowing my sorry butt to join.
I thought maybe someone kicked the extension cord out of the socket this morning when the site was down.
I know you're on it though.
I thought maybe someone kicked the extension cord out of the socket this morning when the site was down.
I know you're on it though.
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- Site Admin
- Posts: 3950
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Re: Downtime
I've got the ISP scratching their heads. Meanwhile I have checked, double-checked, triple-checked everything on the server and I can't find any reason for it to power down every day. I don't get it. I'll keep trying until it is fixed for good.
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
- fizzix
- Master of Distillation
- Posts: 3698
- Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:08 pm
Re: Downtime
If it's any help, it's been going down around 4am thru 6am Central U.S. time.
Out at 6-ish CST this morning (Dec. 9th).
Anything power related at that time or alien abduction schedule?
Out at 6-ish CST this morning (Dec. 9th).
Anything power related at that time or alien abduction schedule?
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- Master of Distillation
- Posts: 3387
- Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2016 6:27 pm
- Location: Ontario
Re: Downtime
This maybe of help..
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id- ... maged.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
https://redmondmag.com/articles/2011/03 ... tages.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Mars
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id- ... maged.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
https://redmondmag.com/articles/2011/03 ... tages.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Mars
" I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent. Curiosity, Obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my knowledge and understanding "
– Albert Einstein
– Albert Einstein
- Kareltje
- Distiller
- Posts: 2207
- Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:29 pm
Re: Downtime
Maybe if we all donate our fores and heads to use as fuel?
It feels desolated, if I can not reach HD.
But all my respect for your attempts, Uncle Jesse! Thank you!


It feels desolated, if I can not reach HD.
But all my respect for your attempts, Uncle Jesse! Thank you!


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- Site Admin
- Posts: 3950
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Re: Downtime
ISP dropped us back to 4 gigs of RAM and no power off weirdness last night.
Huh?
Huh?
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
- Expat
- Distiller
- Posts: 2251
- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:58 pm
Re: Downtime
Sounds like the VM host is having issues, over allocated perhaps.Uncle Jesse wrote:ISP dropped us back to 4 gigs of RAM and no power off weirdness last night.
Huh?
Side note, Thank you for all you do to keep the site online!
_____________________
EXPAT
Current boiler and pot head
Cross flow condenser
Modular 3" Boka - pics tbd
___________________
EXPAT
Current boiler and pot head
Cross flow condenser
Modular 3" Boka - pics tbd
___________________
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- Site Admin
- Posts: 3950
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Re: Downtime
Yet another reason FreeBSD jails are better than Xen or VMWare.ExpatLad wrote:Sounds like the VM host is having issues, over allocated perhaps.Uncle Jesse wrote:ISP dropped us back to 4 gigs of RAM and no power off weirdness last night.
Huh?
Side note, Thank you for all you do to keep the site online!
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
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- Site Admin
- Posts: 3950
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:00 pm
Re: Downtime
Still running. I really believe the bump to 6 gigs of RAM from 4 gigs somehow caused those crashes.
I did a ton of work on the unix side trying to tighten things up and couldn't find anything which would cause the server to power down.
Unix servers don't normally power down. They core dump or panic or reboot.
Still keeping an eye on it.
I did a ton of work on the unix side trying to tighten things up and couldn't find anything which would cause the server to power down.
Unix servers don't normally power down. They core dump or panic or reboot.
Still keeping an eye on it.
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
- Single Malt Yinzer
- Trainee
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2016 3:20 pm
Re: Downtime
Put SNMP on it & setup a monitoring server locally. Solarwinds, tons of other that you can run free for a small number of nodes. I doubt it will give you the root cause but it might point you in the right direction. Plus : STATS AND GRAPHS! Who can resist them?!?!?!
And thanks as always!
And thanks as always!
- fizzix
- Master of Distillation
- Posts: 3698
- Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:08 pm
Re: Downtime
Uncle Jesse, don't forget to reset The Parent Site.
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- Rumrunner
- Posts: 591
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- Location: Never one place very long
Re: Downtime
UJ, I know you're a busy man. Just wanted to let ya know the parent site is down today at 1612 Eastern time. Thanks for providing a place for hooligan to conspire and learn from one another