Microsoft SQL Server 2008 no longer allows you to truncate the transaction log using the no_log syntax. Essentially, Microsoft decided (arguably correctly) that too many people were “abusing” the statement and doing harm to themselves.

But when your logfiles have grown too large because you are not backing them up often enough, you can use the following code to accomplish the same results as “with no_log”. If you don’t understand why Microsoft deprecated the “with no_log”, you should probably do more digging before you use anything posted here.

The Code

USE MASTER
GO
ALTER DATABASE database_name SET RECOVERY SIMPLE
GO
USE database_name
GO
DBCC SHRINKFILE (database_name_log, 1)
GO
ALTER DATABASE database_name SET RECOVERY FULL
GO

SQL 2008 returns a table of shrinkfile related results plus the following confirmation:

(1 row(s) affected)
DBCC execution completed. If DBCC printed error 
messages, contact your system administrator.

Use the following code snippits to identify and rename logical file names in Microsoft SQL Server.

Determine the logical file names

USE [database_name]
GO
sp_helpfile
GO

Rename logical file names

USE master
GO
ALTER DATABASE database_name
MODIFY FILE  ( NAME = 'current_logical_name', 
NEWNAME = 'new_logical_name')
GO

SQL 2008 returns the following confirmation:

The file name 'new_logical_name' has been set.

After restoring a database from a remote server backup, the “Login name” is often disassociated.

The Solution

USE [database_name];
GO
EXEC sp_change_users_login 'Auto_Fix', 'Username';
GO

SQL should respond with the following:

The row for user 'Username' will be fixed by updating its login link to a login
already in existence.
The number of orphaned users fixed by updating users was 1.
The number of orphaned users fixed by adding new logins and then updating users was 0.

For more info:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms174378.aspx

After having done several ExpressionEngine deployments at MediaTemple, I decided to post my steps…so I wouldn’t have to remember them.

Get the Files:

Step 1: Visit EE and download the latest version of the core after reading the EULA
Step 2: Post the file to the (gs) via FTP to the root directory of your website.
Step 3: Login to your (gs) via SSH.
Step 4: Change directory to find the zip you just uploaded.

cd ~/domains/uhleeka.com

Step 5: Unzip the EECore archive, then delete the archive

unzip EECore1.6.5.zip
rm EECore1.6.5.zip

Step 6: Move the EECore directory into a subdirectory of html (e.g. html/ee)

mv -fv EECore1.6.5 html/ee
cd html/ee

Step 7: Set the file permissions as required by the EE installation docs.

chmod 666 path.php
chmod 666 system/config.php
chmod 666 system/config_bak.php
chmod 777 images/avatars/uploads/
chmod 777 images/captchas/
chmod 777 images/member_photos/
chmod 777 images/pm_attachments/
chmod 777 images/signature_attachments/
chmod 777 images/uploads/
chmod 777 system/cache/

Step 8 (optional but recommended): Rename the “system” folder as a security precaution

mv -fv system newsystemfoldername

Step 9 (optional): Find and download a theme at http://expressionengine.com/templates (see the EE install docs for more information).  Note: EE does not allow dynamic switching of themes after installation.

cd themes/site_themes
wget http://expressionengine.com/files/templates/zips/alex_blue.zip
unzip alex_blue.zip
rm alex_blue.zip

Step 10: Logout of SSH

logout

The Database:

Creating the database cannot be done via SSH because the (gs) MySQL user does not have CREATE DATABASE permissions. So, you have to use the MediaTemple control panel which is, thankfully, very simple and straightforward.

Once you login to your (gs) contol panel, click the “Manage Databases” link.

Click the “Add A Database” tab.

Specify the database name (e.g. dbXXXX_uhleeka_com) and select MySQL for the type.

Now that you’ve created your database, click the “Global Settings” tab to create a new user for your database (e.g. dbXXXX_uhleeka). Make sure to give your new user “Read/Write” access to your database.

Also, take note of the “Internal Hostname” listed under “Your Server Info”. It should be something like “internal-db.sXXXX.gridserver.com”.

The Configuration:

Step 1: Start the configuration by navigating to the website EECore folder (e.g. http://www.uhleeka.com/ee)
Step 2 (optional but recommended): if you renamed your system folder in the Files process, enter the value you renamed the folder to (e.g. newsystemfoldername)
Step 3: Fill out the configuration form and select your template. Example Database parameters are as follows:

Database Name: dbXXXX_uhleeka_com
User Name: dbXXXX_uhleeka
Password: ThisIsMyVerySecurePassword
Database Host: internal-db.sXXXX.gridserver.com
Table Prefix: exp_

After successfully trying the 1-Click Applications installer offered by the MediaTemple (gs) control panel, I decided I would rather know what was going on behind the scenes…not to mention that they have all sorts of warnings saying “DO NOT(!) use the one-click installer to upgrade any…yada yada yada or we will torture small animals to scare you…yadda yadda.”

Although it was a very straightforward process, after having stepped my way through the manual install, I felt inclined to record my paces.

The Files:

The first step is to download and extract the latest files from WordPress.org. Being new to Linux/UNIX, I decided to do things via SSH.  If you are not so inclined, FTP is a simple and viable option that I decline to discuss in this post.

Login to your (gs) via SSH.

Change directory to the domain where you want to install WordPress (e.g. uhleeka.com):

cd ~/domains/uhleeka.com

Download the latest release from WordPress.org:

wget http://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz

Decompress the archive into the default directory “wordpress” and delete the tar.gz file:

tar xvzf latest.tar.gz
rm latest.tar.gz

Make the “wordpress” directory a subdirectory called “blog” (e.g. uhleeka.com/blog):

mv wordpress html/blog

Or put the contents of the wordpress folder into the root directory (e.g. uhleeka.com/):

mv wordpress/* html
rm -dr wordpress

The Database:

Creating the database cannot be done via SSH because the (gs) MySQL user does not have CREATE DATABASE permissions. So, you have to use the MediaTemple control panel which is, thankfully, very simple and straightforward.

Once you login to your (gs) contol panel, click the “Manage Databases” link.

Click the “Add A Database” tab.

Specify the database name (e.g. dbXXXX_uhleeka_com) and select MySQL for the type.

Now that you’ve created your database, click the “Global Settings” tab to create a new user for your database (e.g. dbXXXX_uhleeka).  Make sure to give your new user “Read/Write” access to your database.

Also, take note of the “Internal Hostname” listed under “Your Server Info”.  It should be something like “internal-db.sXXXX.gridserver.com”.

The Configuration:

The last thing you will need to do is access and configure your new WordPress blog.  Browse to the home page, and you will be directed to the configuration.  Enter the following fields in the configuration, and you are done:

Database Name: dbXXXX_uhleeka_com
User Name: dbXXXX_uhleeka
Password: ThisIsMyVerySecurePassword
Database Host: internal-db.sXXXX.gridserver.com
Table Prefix: wp_