Help requested with performance tuning (v1.1.3)

[f150guy]

First off, would it make any difference performance-wise that I ran the install for vBulletin on one virtual Apache server and moved the files over to a different virtual Apache server running on the same box?

Hardware is a dedicated PII400 with 256MB of RAM, 4GB SCSI drive, RedHat Linux 5.x.

After installing vBulletin (as noted in other threads), the performance of my vB is painfully slow. It takes at least three to five minutes to even load http://www.f150online.com/f150forums/index.php

Here is a link to my phpinfo:

http://www.f150online.com/f150forums/phpinfo.php

The mySQL neophyte that I am, I cannot figure out how to get a list of variables for mySQL...help?

Steve Eppinger
F-150 Online
http://www.f150online.com

[werehere]

The mySQL neophyte that I am, I cannot figure out how to get a list of variables for mySQL...help?

If you can telnet into the box, then use "mysqladmin variables" to list all the variables out for you. Then post them.

Basically it is wise for large forums to up the key_buffer, and the sort_buffer, and you may want to bump the max_connections from the default. :)

There are many more, but those are a couple that should be bumped most likely.

[f150guy]

On a whim and a suggestion, I decided to upgrade to PHP4. It seems to be serving PHP documents just fine:

http://www.f150online.com/f150forums/phpinfo.php

But now I am getting an error from vB when attempting to access my forums:


Warning: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (111) in admin/db_mysql.php on line 31

There seems to have been a slight problem with the database. Please try again by pressing the refresh button in your browser.

An E-Mail has been dispatched to our Technical Staff, who you can also contact if the problem persists.

We apologise for any inconvenience.


Anyone? Bueller?

And, when trying to run ./mysqladmin variables, I get the message:


./mysqladmin: connect to server at 'localhost' failed
error: 'Access denied for user: 'root@localhost' (Using password: NO)'


I feel like such an idiot...help!

[wandrer]

Try:

mysqladmin -u username -p variables

It will then ask you for your password and then print out the variables.

Also:

mysqladmin -u username -p extended-status

Will print out more stats on mysql.

[f150guy]

+----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| back_log | 5 |
| connect_timeout | 5 |
| basedir | / |
| datadir | /var/lib/mysql/ |
| delayed_insert_limit | 100 |
| delayed_insert_timeout | 300 |
| delayed_queue_size | 1000 |
| join_buffer | 131072 |
| flush_time | 0 |
| key_buffer | 33550336 |
| language | /usr/share/mysql/english/ |
| log | OFF |
| log_update | OFF |
| long_query_time | 10 |
| low_priority_updates | OFF |
| max_allowed_packet | 1048576 |
| max_connections | 100 |
| max_connect_errors | 10 |
| max_delayed_insert_threads | 20 |
| max_join_size | 4294967295 |
| max_sort_length | 1024 |
| max_write_lock_count | 4294967295 |
| net_buffer_length | 16384 |
| pid_file | /var/lib/mysql/linux534.pid |
| port | 3306 |
| protocol_version | 10 |
| record_buffer | 1044480 |
| skip_locking | ON |
| skip_networking | OFF |
| socket | /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock |
| sort_buffer | 4194296 |
| table_cache | 600 |
| thread_stack | 65536 |
| tmp_table_size | 1048576 |
| tmpdir | /tmp/ |
| version | 3.22.32 |
| wait_timeout | 28800 |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------+

AND

+--------------------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+--------------------------+-------+
| Aborted_clients | 0 |
| Aborted_connects | 0 |
| Created_tmp_tables | 0 |
| Delayed_insert_threads | 0 |
| Delayed_writes | 0 |
| Delayed_errors | 0 |
| Flush_commands | 1 |
| Handler_delete | 0 |
| Handler_read_first | 0 |
| Handler_read_key | 1 |
| Handler_read_next | 0 |
| Handler_read_rnd | 11 |
| Handler_update | 0 |
| Handler_write | 0 |
| Key_blocks_used | 0 |
| Key_read_requests | 0 |
| Key_reads | 0 |
| Key_write_requests | 0 |
| Key_writes | 0 |
| Max_used_connections | 0 |
| Not_flushed_key_blocks | 0 |
| Not_flushed_delayed_rows | 0 |
| Open_tables | 2 |
| Open_files | 4 |
| Open_streams | 0 |
| Opened_tables | 6 |
| Questions | 9 |
| Running_threads | 1 |
| Slow_queries | 0 |
| Uptime | 20612 |
+--------------------------+-------+

One thing that I noticed is...

The socket that appears to be used by my installation of mysql is not the same as the one referenced in the error that I am getting that is posted above...could that be the problem and, if so, how can I fix it?

Steve

[werehere]

Have you restarted mysqld?

You can try to use "safe mysqld &" to restart it.

[f150guy]

Yep, stopped and restarted using safe mysqld &, which is how I ordinarily run mySQL...anything else I can try? :)

[Freddie Bingham]

I think you need to look at config.php as


./mysqladmin: connect to server at 'localhost' failed
error: 'Access denied for user: 'root@localhost' (Using password: NO)'


I believe when it says "password: NO" that you have supplied the server with a blank password.

[werehere]

Thanks rangersfan,

As always, I believe you are correct :)

[f150guy]

I think there are two different issues here...

I was able to view my mySQL configuration information and variables using the command line switches wandrer gave me, which was the error rangersfan just pointed out.

I am still getting a mySQL connection error at http://www.f150online.com/f150forums/index.php using the same config.php (we are talking about the one in the f150forums/admin directory, right?) that I connected successfully to the database with when (SLOWLY) running PHP 3.016 yesterday and this morning. The user, password, database, etc. have not changed.

John, are you out there? :)

[Freddie Bingham]

Well try something. Open config.php and change the Ip to it's numeric (xx.xxx.xxx.xx)

List your config.php (minus your password)

[f150guy]

<?php

// only mysql is supported at the moment
$dbservertype="mysql";
// hostname or ip of server
$servername="localhost";
// username and password to log onto db server
$dbusername="root";
$dbpassword="****";
// name of database
$dbname="forums";
//allow password viewing / editing in control panel
// 0 = not visible or editable
// 1 = not visible, but can be edited
// 2 = visible and can be edited
$pwdincp=0;

?>

I also tried using the hostname of the server and the IP address in place of localhost...here are the results:

Warning: Host 'linux534' is not allowed to connect to this MySQL server in admin/db_mysql.php on line 31

and

Warning: Host 'linux534' is not allowed to connect to this MySQL server in admin/db_mysql.php on line 31

Same error message using the hostname or the IP, I found that odd, but I tried it in two different browsers...

Remember, this config.php worked (SLOWLY) when I was using PHP3.016. Nothing has changed since then to this file.

Steve

[Shaman]

I'll bet your IP address has changed, or was wiped out of the hosts table in the 'mysql' database, and that's why you're not allowed to connect.

It's possible that the naming structure of the network changed too, hard to say.

[wandrer]

When the forums are running slow, is the load extremely high or not ? Could you post a 'top' command when the forums are active ?

Could you turn off 'logging' in the my.cnf file or probably switch to Username's my.cnf file and see what that does ?

[f150guy]

I'll bet your IP address has changed, or was wiped out of the hosts table in the 'mysql' database, and that's why you're not allowed to connect.

Checked that out, still ftp'g and telnet'g to the same IP/host, so I don't think that is it.

Webmin is telling me that has All permissions in mySQL to localhost and linux534.dn.net.

Additionally, host permission exist for Any on localhost to Select | Insert | Update | Delete | Create | Drop | Grant | References | Index.

I am actually using setting from one of the my.cnf's posted here. Performance has not been an issue with PHP4 because I have never gotten the chance to connect to the database, as noted above. Thus, no TOP, sorry!


Should I try to reinstall vBulletin? Or will that "kill" any template or database settings (ie the 150000 posts that I imported from UBB)?

[f150guy]

Well, I messed around with some of the permissions in mySQL and now my board index.php will launch, but displays some unusual behavior:

1) All of the user counts, thread and posts appear to be correct, including the last user to register, etc which is pulling from the database, correct?

2) I cannot login to /admin using the account that should have admin rights...it had rights yesterday, no mas!

3) Clicking on of the forum links brings up the vBulletin message, "No forum specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the webmaster" ??? There are link

4) The Members display shows the memberlist, but does not allow for sorting, top 10, etc. Any request just displays the same information.

5) Clicking on a username for their profile brings up the registration screen.

HELP! I know that I did not change any templates to create this behavior...could this still be a database permissions problem??

Steve

http://www.f150online.com/f150forums/index.php

[f150guy]

In using Webmin to administer my mysql databases, I can see that there are User, Database and Host permission defined. By "messing around" with these is how I got to the point I am now (see 1 message above). There are not, however, any Table or Field permissions defined. Is this correct? Does vBulletin create any of these and perhaps my data got somehow corrupted? Please help!! This is killing my wallet!!

Steve

[Shaman]

huh

Well you have to issue a "flush privileges" if you make any changes to the host or user permissions in mysql itself.

[f150guy]

Allright, I just issued the command

mysqladmin -u root -p flush-privileges

and I still get the same exact behavior as posted a couple of messages above...this is getting really frustrating. Especially considering the software's author has not replied to either support message I've sent to him up to 48 hours ago...

Steve

[Shaman]

hmm.

tapped me out, I haven't had any problems so I haven't had an opportunity to debug anything

[wandrer]

If no 'top' command, try running 'uptime' and/or 'ps -ax'...


Second suggestion is:

If you have the UBB info/members/threads, install 1.1.2 in a separate directory and create a separate database. Then inport the UBB info and run the 'new install' of 1.1.2 and see if any of the problems you are experiencing still exist. If they do not, then I would 'blow away' the 1.1.3 directory and move the 1.1.2 directory to where the 1.1.3 directory was. That will at least get your site up and running.

If 1.1.2 still has the same problems as 1.1.3 on your site even though you set it up as a separate directory/database, then i'll comment further.

Have you installed UserName's my.cnf file ?

[f150guy]

wandrer (thank you very much for your help),

Check out http://www.f150online.com/forum/admin/install.php

It is my attempt to do what you suggested. It is 1.12 installed in a different directory, pointing to a different database (which does not exist yet) and it just seems to fail. The install never gets past Step 1/2!

So, it appears that I cannot even install another version in a different directory? This has to be a PHP or mySQL problem...how can an install at http://www.f150online.com/f150forums/index.php, obviously see the database (otherwise how could it render the entire page) but nothing else. (and the phpinfo.php page still displays info)

Incidentally, my my.cnf file has exactly the same parameters as those posted at http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=1067

Here are the results of a "top" (keep in mind that the forums are not working properly right now...

3:13pm up 49 days, 15:02, 1 user, load average: 14.43, 5.58, 2.50
123 processes: 98 sleeping, 25 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped
CPU states: 10.5% user, 13.6% system, 75.7% nice, 0.0% idle
Mem: 257508K av, 252444K used, 5064K free, 99876K shrd, 87004K buff
Swap: 530104K av, 16516K used, 513588K free 68640K cached

John, where are you??? Switching to vBulletin has now caused me more downtime than the UBB!

[werehere]

f150guy,

I am a little confused. Did you order the install, or did you install this yourself. I do not believe that John offers support for fine tuning of anything, nor debugging your host's install of PHP or MYSQL.

Did you upload the light version to make sure it worked? It sounds as though it was working and cannot connect to your MySQL now. I am not sure this is a problem that he can help you with or not. Have you tried contacting your host about the reason that MySQL seems to be down?

I dont mean to sound rude, but I am not sure this sounds like a problem with vBulletin, but maybe has to do with your host's configuration, more likely.

It may be a good move to contact them about this as well.

I will try and contact John and direct him to this thread, just so he knows. :)

[f150guy]

Hi werehere,

Very fair questions, here is the order of events:

1) I installed PHP3.016 on my dedicated server at digitalNation.
2) I installed the vBulletin Lite and it worked fine
3) I purchased vBulletin and installed it and imported my UBB data.
4) I entered the board and it ran REALLY slowly. I begged for help here and sent a message to support@vbulletin.com for direction (and offered to pay whatever hourly rate John wanted to charge me, I'm not looking for something that might be out of the ordinary for free)
5) I modified the PHP.ini and my.cnf files as suggested by several people here.
6) Again, at the suggestion of people here, I upgraded to PHP4. The boards were no longer accessible at all through vBulletin.
7) The messages in this thread began to accumulate and here we are now.

Please let me reiterate, I am not looking for free support if what I have done is beyond the ordinary.

At this point, I am no longer looking for performance tuning, but to get the boards operating properly. Check out http://www.f150online.com/f150forums/index.php to see the behavior that I am talking aobut.

The downtime is killing my mind and my wallet! I'll say it again, I'd gladly supply a login and pay the hourly rate of someone that is competent enough to get the boards working in short-order. I am not looking for something for nothing.

My comment about wanting my money back had nothing to do with performance tuning (as the thread topic initially indicates), but getting vBulletin to run as advertised and as purchased and/or to actually get some sort of response from the vendor.

Hope that clears things up. No harm, threat or insult is meant by this...

Steve

[SonnetCelestial]

Wow... Don't know much about fixing this problem but I'm just here to wish you the best of luck f15 and hope someone on here can help! BTW I know it's a bit too late for me to say this but when you installed php4 you didn't install vblite, correct?

[WebStyles]

Your forums are working... I just visited them. :)

There is a problem with your forumbit template though, it doesn't have the forum specified in the URL. You need to compare your template to the defaults in the members area. :)

[werehere]

They actually seemed quite fast as well, even though there may not be many people on them right now.

So what did you change? Just so we know :)


Actually there were more than 40 guest online when I checked

[Edited by werehere on 06-28-2000 at 05:12 PM]

[f150guy]

I feel like I've dragged everyone in here! :)

Here is the unusual part, which tells me that (at least) part of the problem IS vBulletin and not a result of the "tuning" I've done...it's a pretty face right now, but has no substance...

1) Once the main index page loads, that tells me that vBulletin/PHP can successfully communicate with the database. Woo-hoo! (I mean that seriously, not sarcastically)

2) Try this: click on one of the forum names...what happened? If you are getting the same results as me, you are seeing a message that says "No forum specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the webmaster" To quote Kevin Meeney, "that's not right!"

3) Try clicking on "Register" - now choose one of the dates. What happened? Did it return you right to the same register screen?

4) Click on "Members" - cool, the list of members...but, now click on "Top 10" - what happens, same thing!

WebStyles,

Can you explain what you mean by a problem with the forumbit template? Could that be the cause of what I noted above?

Steve

[WebStyles]

It sounds like a template problem... In my forumbit template, the HREF looks like this:

<A HREF="forumdisplay.php?forumid=$forumid">$forumtitle</A>

Is that what yours looks like?

[wandrer]

pointing to a different database (which does not exist yet) and it just seems to fail. The install never gets past Step 1/2!

Is the db username/password for the 1.1.2 setup exactly like the 1.1.3 setup ? If 1.1.2 can't connect to the database/mysql, and 1.1.3 can, than there is a problem with the username/password you put in for 1.1.2


14.43 load is very high and what is causing the 75% nice ?? Could you do a 'ps -ax' to see all the processess running ??

Mem: 257508K av, 252444K used, 5064K free

What does your 'mysqladmin extended-status' look like ? Are you getting slow querries ? What applications are using the 250MB ?

At this point, I am no longer looking for performance tuning, but to get the boards operating properly

, I'd gladly supply a login and pay the hourly rate of someone that is competent enough to get the boards working in short-order. I am not looking for something for nothing.

Couldnt email you, so email me at wandrer@glcomputers.com and I will, if needed, work with you to try and get this thing going tonight. (include phone #/contact info if possible).


Edit: 4:44pm time here - will be checking email till 6:15pm or so. Email me before then or it may be tomorrow before I could help.




[Edited by wandrer on 06-28-2000 at 05:48 PM]

[f150guy]

I want to thank everyone for their help in trying to get vBulletin working on my server. I desperately needed to get my message board software back up and running and wound up reverting back to my UBB installation for the time being.

I will likely be changing over to a different dedicated server solution next month (dellhost?) and will start all the installs over from scratch, including PHP, mySQL and vBulletin. Thanks again and I'll keep everyone posted that is interested!

Steve