July 21, 2020 – We’ll be conducting some planned maintenance on a couple of servers tonight starting at about 10:30pm CDT. The maintenance will include an upgrade to server operating systems which will also include an upgrade to certain software packages including PHP.
We utilize LTS (Long Term Support) versions of our operating systems so that we can upgrade less often resulting in more stability for users. Currently, the PHP version being used by an older LTS release is showing in some software (including WordPress) as insecure and out of date. Since this version of PHP is supported by the operating system producer and is part of the distribution, it is patched and security is maintained. However, there are some improvements that have come with the newer versions. Since we are receiving an increased volume of support requests due to the notices being shown in WordPress, we’ve decided to go ahead and move to the new LTS version of the OS.
During the maintenance time, some web sites will be unavailable as the servers upgrade. Our technicians will do some testing of sites after the update, but are unable to test every page on every site. We do not expect any compatibility issues as the versions we are upgrading from and to are very similar. However, it would be prudent for customers to check over their sites to make sure all functionality is intact. We will be posting updates here as the maintenance is performed.
Update 9:45pm – Beginning the process on a Virtual Private Server which affects fewer users than the next server we are doing. We expect the shared server to start about 10:30pm.
Update 11:45pm – VPS is updated and we are now starting on shared server. The VPS took a bit longer than anticipated, but we hope that the shared server goes more quickly.
Update July 22 1:15am – Shared server is complete. We are doing some random testing.
If you have any questions or concerns about this maintenance, please contact us via email at support@internetpro.net, chat using the window to your right, or by phone at 256-547-6817.