The majority of web content at Michigan Tech is located in the Content Management System (CMS) at http://www.mtu.edu/<department>. For those who need a more customizable site, Michigan Tech IT offers space on our cPanel servers, which allow for customized domain names (e.g., asterisk.phy.mtu.edu). Additionally, we provide a control panel similar to those found in commercial hosting services, such as InMotion or Bluehost.
Although IT maintains the underlying cPanel server, the site owner is responsible for providing all content and updating and maintaining any programs running on their site. If a site becomes unavailable, IT will ensure the server is working properly; however, it does not have the resources to troubleshoot individual sites.
To contend with increased hacking activity, IT is now automatically updating software and programming languages running on the cPanel servers, including PHP, Python, Ruby, and Node.js. Keeping this software up to date makes it harder to hack a cPanel site. Since the cPanel servers are shared by multiple websites, a hacked site can bring down the other sites that use the same server.
Although these updates generally will not affect your cPanel site, particularly if you keep your site’s code up-to-date, an update may occasionally cause a site to stop working. This article will cover our update schedule, methodology, and how to troubleshoot a broken site by rolling back the software.
Update Schedule
cPanel software will be updated twice yearly:
- Tuesday of Week 3, Fall semester, and
- Tuesday of Week 3, Spring semester
The updates will be finished by 9:00 am on Tuesday. Week 3 avoids beginning-, mid-, and end-of-term crunch times, but ensures that site owners will be around to make sure their site is still functioning.
Methodology
For each particular type of software, we install the latest stable version available. We then remove all but the previous two versions, provided they are both being actively patched for security issues.
Once this is done, all sites that use that software will be updated to the latest version. For instance, if, after updating, PHP 8.2, 8.3, and 8.4 were available, every site that uses PHP would be updated to 8.4. The previous version or versions are there so the site owner can revert to it to troubleshoot any issues that might arise from the upgrade.
Troubleshooting a broken site
If your site was working at the beginning of the semester and breaks in Week 3, you can try rolling back to an earlier version of the software your site uses. NOTE - We strongly recommend that site owners troubleshoot their site, fix the code (or plugins) causing the issue, and switch back to the latest version. Not only does that keep your site more secure, but the older version will eventually be removed per the schedule above.
In the cPanel interface, navigate to the “Software” section. The four options are at the bottom of the panel, Ruby, Python, Node.js, and PHP:
PHP
Click “Select PHP Version.” Select the desired version in the drop-down menu to the right of “Current PHP version.”
Python
Click “Setup Python App.” Then, in the “Actions” column, click the pencil icon to edit the Python app you are troubleshooting.
In the Web Applications screen, pick the version you would like to test with in the drop-down menu next to “Python version.”
Node.js
Click “Setup Node.js App.” Then, in the “Actions” column, click the pencil icon to edit the Node.js app you are troubleshooting.
In the Web Applications screen, pick the version you would like to test with in the drop-down menu next to “Node.js version.”
Ruby
Click “Setup Ruby App.” Then, In the Setup Ruby App screen, find the application you are troubleshooting, and pick the version you would like to test with in the drop-down menu next to “Ruby version.”
