[rt-users] New user considering to use RT + FreeBSD port for 3.8

[Angelo Turetta]

Joe Mailinglists wrote:
> Hi Angelo,
> 
> My name is Krishna...I am subscribed to too many mailing lists, hence a 
> separate email address for every mailing list.

Thanks, that's a good habit (look at my address), but I nonetheless like 
to know who I'm talking to. The name need not be fake, even if the 
address is.

> Our primary concern here is the upgrade procedure and of course 
> stability.  Will everything magically work from one port
> to the other?

Every upgrade is a sensible operation, no matter how you installed the 
software. The biggest challenges are upgrades involving DB schema 
changes,  RT is a shining example of how to do it right, but you cannot 
expect to do such a thing 'magically': based on your business continuity 
policies, you may even need a test installation to validate the upgrade 
before deploying it on a production system.
The port of rt38 by Philip M. Gollucci is actually the first which seems 
to allow for a comfortable upgrade to future versions.

> Can I just download rt38 port from the link you mentioned and install 
> it?  Is it stable enough?  One of the users was
> suggesting that I install it from source.  What do you suggest?

The freebsd port infrastructure is a solid one, and it is one of the few 
way you have to keep the dependencies sane if you install more than one 
application per system. I personally don't like to install software from 
source other than by using a port, but I have to admit that previous 
versions of the rt port where somewhat unfriendly.
The rt38 port is not yet finished, so you should be prepared to some 
non-pleasant surprise, but it has much more solid structure than 
previous ones.
Only you, based on your expertise with the ports collection, can decide 
which way to go. If you try the port, please try my patch attached to 
the PR.

Angelo.

> Thanks,
> 
> On Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 10:39 AM, Angelo Turetta 
> <aturetta+rt at bestunion.it> wrote:
> 
>     Joe Mailinglists wrote:
> 
>         1) We use a FreeBSD system.  I see that there is a port
>         available (rt36) for version 3.6 but none for 3.8 yet.  Is it ok
>         if I go ahead and install rt36 now and later on upgrade to rt38
>         whenever it is available?  If not, do you suggest that I
>         manually download the latest version of rt3.8.1 and then install
>         it from the source?  Which method is safer/easier for upgrades
>         in the long run?
> 
> 
>     There is a port for 3.8.1 in the works, look at
>     http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=ports/125745 (check all
>     replies), and the user's work space at
>     http://people.freebsd.org/~pgollucci/rt38
> 
>     The port is really well thought, and for the first time it will be
>     possible to pre-package rt. Unluckily Philip seems to have vanished for
>     the last two months, and the work on it has stopped.
> 
>     I may send you an updated shar if you whish.
> 
>         3) I've been reading that RT is memory intensive.  Is 2 GB
>         enough?  This machine also runs the DHCP server.  Do you guys
>         recommend to have a separate system for RT?
> 
> 
>     If you need a high-performance system you'd sure need to consider a DB
>     server optimization (including cache memory etc..), but I don't think
>     the web application is inherently memory intensive.
> 
>         I hope these questions belong to this list.
> 
> 
>     Yes, they do. Eventually, you may consider posting using your real
>     name :)
> 
>     Angelo.
> 
>