#Deployment
Silent Overwrites on Upload: Three File Copying Traps
Upload two files with the same name together, and the second silently overwrites the first. No error, no failing exit code, and every page still returns 200. The English page just becomes a Thai page. These are three traps that let file copying cause damage without any warning.
Build APM on Windows: Apache + PHP 8.4 + MariaDB Series Index
A 7-part series on compiling Apache 2.4.69, PHP 8.4.27 and MariaDB 11.8.9 from source on Windows 11, so when PHP releases a security patch, I can change the version number in one file and rebuild within a day. This page covers the contents, overview, time, disk space and three-command shortcut.
Build APM on Windows, Part 7: Deploy, Run, and Apply Security Patches
The final part of the series on building Apache + PHP + MariaDB on Windows. Install into C:\APM, start and test it for the first time, open it to the LAN safely, walk through six real bugs (PidFile, MariaDB plugins, the DB port, the ASLR 500, paths with spaces and brackets), and cover the procedure for the next security release.
Build APM on Windows, Part 5: Compile ImageMagick 7 for PHP imagick
Part 5 of the Build APM on Windows series compiles ImageMagick 7.1.2-34 and around 40 delegate libraries from source with the official toolchain, including the channel mask patch from 64 to 32 that lets imagick build, and why HEIC cannot be written
Build APM on Windows, Part 1: Prepare Tools and Unpack the Build Kit
The first part of a series on building Apache + PHP 8.4 + MariaDB yourself on Windows. Install Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools with the required components, Git, CMake, Ninja and PowerShell 7, configure Defender, unpack the build kit into C:\apm-build, then examine the folders, versions.json and the lib.ps1 and build-all.ps1 scripts line by line.
A Report Form for a Static Site with No Backend
A calculator site made entirely of static files has no server to handle forms, but users still need a way to report mistakes in the formulas. This article covers the one approach I chose—a single worker file that accepts POST requests on one route, verifies Turnstile on the server using the real client IP, accepts images pasted from the clipboard, and sends email from the network edge—along with three traps that cost me an entire night.
A 26-Page Bilingual Site: Why .php Broke Every Link
The production page displayed PHP tags as raw text because the web server served .html as static files. Changing all 26 pages to .php broke links across the site. Then, after adding clean URLs, subpages bounced back to .php because the rewrite and 301 setup was only half done. This article includes the full .htaccess, eight cases for $base, and scripts that handle the whole site in one pass.
A Blank Page with No Errors, All Because I Named a Function top
After deployment, the page was blank, the logs had no errors, and node --check found nothing wrong. But the browser stopped the entire script before the first line ran because a function named top collided with window.top. Here are the names to avoid, the script loading order trap, and the Playwright check every project should have.
Site Not Updating After Deploy — Clear All Five Cache Layers
The files are uploaded, but the site still shows the old version, even after Ctrl+F5 — because five cache layers sit between the files on disk and what people see, and each needs a different clearing method. This article covers the sequence I use regularly, along with the trap that leaves the site stuck on 500 after clearing the view cache.
route:cache Turns Every GET into 405 — The Sub-path Trap
Deployment finished, I ran optimize as the guides suggested, and every page returned 405 Method Not Allowed even though route:list confirmed the routes were correct — a route cache that breaks only on certain servers, how to isolate it in 30 seconds, and three other issues I found while deploying an app under a sub-path.
php -l Passes, Web Pages Return 500 — A Compile Gate Before Commit
Templates broke twice in one month even though every php -l check passed, because php -l does not understand Blade syntax. This article covers the six-stage gate I put before commit — compiling the views and then linting the compiled files, plus a script that sweeps every GET route through the Kernel.
One Codebase, Two Roles: Hosted Web, Worker at Home
The whole system used to run on one machine behind a home internet connection. When that machine went down, the team could not use anything. I split it into two roles using the same codebase — the web runs on an always-on host, while heavy work stays on the home machine, which pulls jobs itself, with an atomic job-claim table and an 18-step cutover plan with a rollback path.
Automated Image Uploads Stopped for 4 Days: ssh Chosen by PATH
Write subprocess.run(["ssh", ...]) and leave the system to choose the binary from the caller's PATH. One day the caller changes, and the binary changes with it. File transfers fail silently for 4 days while reporting success every time. This article covers how I tracked it down, a helper that probes the actual binary before using it, and a completeness check before declaring the job done.
Static on DirectAdmin: GET Returns 404 but HEAD Returns 200
I uploaded a static site to public_html and could not open it. Small files worked, large files returned 404, but HEAD returned 200 for every file. The cause was Laravel's .htaccess at the docroot, funneling everything into the front controller. This article covers the diagnosis and three ways out.
Writing Scripts on Windows for Linux — Two File Cleanup Traps
Writing helper scripts on Windows and using scp to run them on Linux is routine work, but two things keep catching me out — d:\ paths embedded in scripts turn into strange filenames in /tmp that trigger the file monitor, and token/payload files get left behind on the server. This article lays out my rules for avoiding these mistakes.