CentOS 8.x Centmin Mod CentOS 8 status

Yeah, that was a bit part of waiting to see for original CentOS 8 compatibility work - as some YUM packages in CentOS 7 are not easily available in CentOS 8 - whether it would be for Centmin Mod itself or non-Centmin Mod i.e. user using CentOS 7 with a specific web app wants to switch to CentOS 8 but then finds out the YUM packages they require don't exist on CentOS 8.

Usually, that wouldn't be too much of a concern if it was CentOS 7 related when I had enough free time on my hands, I could also usually work around that by either installing the software via source compile and/or building my own custom RPM for the task - which is easier with CentOS 7 as I have more experience with it. CentOS 8/EL8 is newer so would take even more time to do such workarounds + test them before release. Just time I wouldn't have right now to do. There's also the risk that in future EL8 releases they end up providing those missing YUM packages so they can end up conflicting with whatever workarounds I add and that would mean more work to fix such conflicts.

Thanks much appreciated

---

Yes it will be. I just know it will be a lot of private testing on my end even before a public EL8 compatible version of Centmin Mod is released! I don't think folks know how much private testing went into Centmin Mod as is to get to where it is! Let's just say ALOT!

 

For paid work can be up to US$350/hr depending on the job. But hours for Centmin Mod testing, in the past I'd done as much as 14+hrs/day in long stretches! Most test Centmin Mod install runs I've done in a day is ~50-60 for various server hardware/cpu compatibility testing i.e. making sure PHP profile guided optimisations and nginx/php-fpm compiled with GCC 8, 9, 10 and now 11 work with various CPU models on different web hosts/servers Yes that also means a lot of $$$ for testing different dedicated server/VPS server configurations.

edit: recent example of fixing such cpu/GCC issues for FFMPEG installs https://community.centminmod.com/threads/ffmpeg-wont-install.22121/

 

Yeah it's only some web hosts and some web servers. OVH/Hetzner's Intel E3-22xx and Ryzen 59xx seem to be the ones. But OVH's newer Intel E3-23xx works with CentOS 7 it seems. Hivelocity servers for E3-22xx work with CentOS 7 fine too. Eventually, will get Centmin Mod CentOS/AlmaLinux/Rocky Linux 8 support done. Will take time. In the meantime, getting Centmin Mod Nginx PCRE2 support sorted out is my focus so https://community.centminmod.com/threads/centmin-mod-nginx-1-21-5-pcre2-beta-testing.22326/

 

Well, the Nginx PCRE2 testing is a 2 step process that tests both PCRE and PCRE2 new install routines/paths at https://community.centminmod.com/threads/centmin-mod-nginx-1-21-5-pcre2-beta-testing.22326/. Step 1 part is still needed for EL8 - CentOS/AlmaLinux/RockyLinux 8 given how Nginx is built. And the Nginx PCRE2 testing also tests new logging to Dropbox routine too which will come in handy for EL8 testing and feedback in the future as it makes it easier for Centmin Mod users to provide diagnostic logs for troubleshooting as I extend the feature to sending other logs i.e. PHP update/recompiles It's all connected - so having a solid foundation to build upon will help down the road

EL8 development/testing is much more involved compared to Nginx PCRE2 testing so will take more dedicated time than I've had available to date. FYI, from Dec 24th till now, with very little paid client work due to the holidays, I've done more on Centmin Mod work i.e. Nginx PCRE2, than I've done in a long time.

 

To elaborate more on why PCRE2/PCRE interchangeable testing is important for the long term future, here's some examples:

• CentOS 7 or CentOS 8 equivalent OS Centmin Mod user uses an app that requires PCRE2, so they do a yum install of PCRE2. With EL8 there's also a higher chance of newer packages having PCRE2 dependencies due to aging PCRE. Since Nginx 1.21.5 defaults to PCRE2 if detected, then next centmin.sh menu option 4 Nginx update/recompile for Nginx 1.21.5+ or higher will break.
• If the user also enabled ModSecurity and/or Nginx Lua modules and runs centmin.sh menu option 4 will also break as Centmin Mod's Nginx routine isn't ready for Nginx PCRE2 without the PCRE2 beta testing/compatibility work.
• PCRE no longer gets security updates (yeah it hasn't in a while but pcre.org has now also removed the download mirrors for PCRE too - luckily PCRE is one download file I serve from centminmod.com site local copy ). Since Centmin Mod Nginx's PCRE library is outside of distro backported security patches regardless of EL7/EL8, then Centmin Mod Nginx needs to have in place routines to be able to switch between PCRE and PCRE2 - allowing users to eventually default to PCRE2 and if compatibility issues arise, fall back to PCRE

The beta testing work I've done has added the correct logic for such example scenarios. So that if ModSecurity/Nginx Lua is enabled and PCRE2 is detected, the routine will fall back to PCRE instead of PCRE2 for now. Once ModSecurity and Nginx Lua are compatible with PCRE2, then I will update the routines accordingly.