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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    Thumbs up Various Tips for VPS administration

    VPSes are really hard to use with the memory restrictions and CPU limitations...but with some optimization they can definitely serve your websites fast!

    MySQL Optimization
    Here are my suggested settings for the my.cnf file. This should work well for a VPS with 256-512MB RAM.
    Code:
    [mysqld]
    max_connections = 400
    key_buffer = 16M
    myisam_sort_buffer_size = 32M
    join_buffer_size = 1M
    read_buffer_size = 1M
    sort_buffer_size = 2M
    table_cache = 1024
    thread_cache_size = 286
    interactive_timeout = 25
    wait_timeout = 1000
    connect_timeout = 10
    max_allowed_packet = 16M
    max_connect_errors = 10
    query_cache_limit = 1M
    query_cache_size = 16M
    query_cache_type = 1
    tmp_table_size = 16M
    skip-innodb
    
    [mysqld_safe]
    open_files_limit = 8192
    
    [mysqldump]
    quick
    max_allowed_packet = 16M
    
    [myisamchk]
    key_buffer = 32M
    sort_buffer = 32M
    read_buffer = 16M
    write_buffer = 16M
    In order to make things even faster, you can customize these settings specifically for your VPSs' usage. There's a great howto on InterWorx's forum for this --> http://www.interworx.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2346

    Lastly, I recommend installing mytop to help you monitor your usage...
    Code:
    wget http://dll.elix.us/mytop-1.4.tar.gz
    tar -zxvf mytop-1.4.tar.gz
    cd mytop-1.4
    perl Makefile.PL
    make
    make test
    make install
    Once that's done, just enter in "mytop" .

    PHP & Apache Optimization
    I strongly recommend installing eAccelerator. There's an easy to follow howto here: http://forum.ev1servers.net/showthre...t=eaccelerator. If you use the default cache dir for eAccelerator (/tmp/eaccelerator) make sure you check it reguarily and clean it every once and a while. (it can really get quite large from my experience)

    For httpd.conf I suggest:
    Timeout 200
    KeepAlive On
    maxKeepAliveRequests 100
    KeepAliveTimeout 3
    MinSpareServers 10
    MaxSpareServers 20
    StartServers 15
    MaxClients 250
    MaxRequestsPerChild 0
    HostnameLookups Off

    You can use ab to benchmark your Apache before and after you make changes.

    ab -c 5 -n 20 somephpbasedsiteonyourserver.com/file.php

    I suggest doing 2 or 3 tests like that to get an average.

    If you want to check the Apache error log, try this -->
    cat /usr/local/apache/logs/error_log

    Monitoring Usage
    On a Virtuozzo VPS you can use cat /proc/usr_beancounters to output your usage of the VZ parameters. You should pay most attention to oomguarpages and privmpages. (although anything with a failure is generally bad)

    You can find the amount of connections to Apache with this command:
    netstat -nt | grep :80 | wc -l

    To find the amount of Apache processes use this command:
    ps -A | grep httpd | wc -l (this will show the process count)
    ps -aux | grep httpd (this will show the actual processes)

    To find the amount of MySQL processes use this command:
    ps -A | grep mysql | wc -l (this will show the process count)
    ps -aux | grep mysql (this will show the actual processes)

    Just simply using top (standard view) or top -c (will show the actual command being used and/or location of each process as opposed to just the name) can help you monitor your VPS usage very wel.

    To see your disk space usage, try using this command --> df -h

    Mitigating (D)DOS
    If you're being DDOS'd or DOS'd you can use this command:
    netstat -ntu | awk '{print $5}' | cut -d: -f1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -n

    That will help you see how many connections each IP address has in total to your server.

    There's a very decent script you can use to automate the banning of IP addresses available here --> http://forums.deftechgroup.com/showthread.php?t=825

    Although I haven't tried it myself, I suggest you take a look at Scrutinizer as well which sounds very useful --> http://www.solutix.ch/cgi-bin/index.pl

    Spam Assassin
    Spam Assassin can take up a lot of memory and make it really hard to host just a few sites on a VPS, but there is a way around this...

    Login to WHM as root, scroll down to "cPanel 10.8.1-R15" (it may be slightly different depending on what version you are using) then goto "Addon Modules" and install "spamdconf". Once it's done, refresh the WHM page, scroll down to "Add-ons" on the nav bar and then click on 'Setup Spamd Startup Configuration". Set "Maximum Children" to "2". Then hit Submit. Wait a few seconds (15-30, but usually less) for exim to restart and you're done .

    cPanel Tweak Setings
    Login to WHM as root, and under "Server Configuration" on the nav bar hit "Tweak Settings".

    Here are some suggested settings:
    Default catch-all/default address behavior for new accounts. fail will generally save the most CPU time.
    - Use "FAIL". If you already have some accounts setup not to use "FAIL" (by default it will not) then run this command to convert to FAIL from BLACKHOLE --> perl -pi -e "s/:blackhole:/:fail:/g;" /etc/valiases/*

    Mailman
    - Mailman tends to use a lot of resources, so if you don't need cpanel mailing lists then uncheck this.

    Number of minutes between mail server queue runs (default is 60).:
    - You may want to set this to 180 to reduce load.

    Track the origin of messages sent though the mail server by adding the X-Source headers (exim 4.34+ required)
    - This is just generally a good idea. So check this.

    Analog Stats
    - I find this useless, so uncheck this. If you want to delete the existing analog stats files just run this command --> rm -rf /home/*/tmp/analog/*

    Awstats Reverse Dns Resolution
    - Make sure this is unchecked, I find it pretty much useless for most users.

    Awstats Stats
    - You can check this if you need a robust stats software that integrates with cPanel, if you don't need it, then don't check it. *Note most hosting clients will want to use this. If you want to delete the existing awstats stats files just run this command --> rm -rf /home/*/tmp/awstats/*

    Webalizer Stats
    - Not many hosting clients will want to use this so, you can uncheck this to reduce load. If you want to delete the existing webalizer stats files just run this command --> rm -rf /home/*/tmp/webalizer/*

    Delete each domain's access logs after stats run
    - Make sure this is checked, otherwise disk space usage can really rack up!

    That's about it for now, I may do some more later....

    Hope it helps!
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    http://www.eth0.us/mod_evasive - also a great tool for helping against DDOS attacks.
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2004
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    208
    Awesome post!...

    Thanks a lot elix.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by dcabbar
    Awesome post!...

    Thanks a lot elix.
    Glad to hear it helped =)
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  5. #5
    Bookmarked. For those of us VPS NEWBIES contemplating a shift from shared hosting to a VPS and all the responsibility that entails, posts like this are a Godsend.

    Thanks!

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by dharding
    Bookmarked. For those of us VPS NEWBIES contemplating a shift from shared hosting to a VPS and all the responsibility that entails, posts like this are a Godsend.

    Thanks!
    Your welcome!
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  7. #7
    Wow! This post is amazing! Bookmarked of course, and will definatly be trying everything that you mention out on my VPS. Good job!

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by adb22791
    Wow! This post is amazing! Bookmarked of course, and will definatly be trying everything that you mention out on my VPS. Good job!
    Thank you!
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  9. #9
    Thanks for the information. =)

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    No problem, and if anyone needs any help applying some of these tweaks, just let me know =)
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Posts
    356
    want to add somthing to elix's great thread

    How to install Rkhunter (rootkit scanner)

    You need to be in root (su)

    1.Get Files
    wget http://downloads.rootkit.nl/rkhunter-1.2.7.tar.gz

    2. Unpack
    tar -xvzf rkhunter-1.2.7.tar.gz

    3.
    cd rkhunter

    4.
    ./install.sh

    How to run

    1. Running update
    rkhunter --update

    2. Checking for rootkits
    rkhunter --checkall

  12. #12
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    Nice tutorial, pztup...

    Just one thing I wanted to amend to my MySQL config...

    wait_timeout -- you may want to set this it a lower number (like 100 or even less) if your MySQL is used more intensively. 400 is good if your MySQL isn't used a lot, therefore you can afford some more open processes..
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  13. #13
    Wow. One of the best posts I have ever read on WHT.
    "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" -- Ben Franklin
    Twice Tied Laces

  14. #14
    some great info, all in one place, thanks for the post.

  15. #15
    Join Date
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    No problem! Glad to hear it's useful.
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  16. #16
    I just signed up with a baby VPS so I can play with it and learn more, so I only have 128K of Ram. What settings would you use then? I know its not practical to have this little Ram on a production site, but it would be helpful info.
    "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" -- Ben Franklin
    Twice Tied Laces

  17. #17
    I found that most VPS hosts force you to run your own mail and DNS server. This is fine if you really want to customize those two things, but I don't need it. I prefer the way a standard hosting account works: the provider handles all the mail software and DNS.

    Anyway, I found this today:
    www dot zoneedit dot com

    They will handle your DNS for free. They also run a mail server that you can optionally have your mail sent to, and forwarded to any e-mail address.

    I should mention that I found a similar service that has a few more caveats and doesn't offer the mail server:
    freedns dot afraid dot org

  18. #18
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by vantasticman7
    I just signed up with a baby VPS so I can play with it and learn more, so I only have 128K of Ram. What settings would you use then? I know its not practical to have this little Ram on a production site, but it would be helpful info.
    What are you mainly going to use the VPS for?
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  19. #19
    Join Date
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    Great tutorial. Thanks for taking your time and posting this up!

  20. #20
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by VinaGal
    Great tutorial. Thanks for taking your time and posting this up!
    No problem!
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  21. #21
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Canada
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    can anyone help me out here? im a complete VPS newbie... how do i edit my.cnf so i can use elix settings, i have my VPS all set up, i have an account with SSH access and all that...

    i dont know if im giving the right information so just let me know, thanks!

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    New York, NY
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    PM me with access details for your VPS (if you wish to provide them, I won't do any harm as I have worked on a lot of people's servers to their satisfaction).

    Thanks

    elix
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  23. #23
    For those in the really tiny vps plans (64-96mb), lighttpd is a goodly server. Fast with a small memory footprint. meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Installing_MediaWiki_with_Lighttpd is a good guide to setting up lighttpd/php-fcgi/mysql on a Debian installation.

    In addition to eacclerator, install Zend optimizer as well, they coexist nicely and work to speed up php quite a bit.

  24. #24
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    Good suggestions there!
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  25. #25
    I'll second inferis' recommendation of lighttpd on low-memory VPSes. I've got a 32 meg VPS from unixshell, happily serving a big pile of static domains. For 8 bucks a month.

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