The virtual machine which runs “taper.alienbase.nl” as well as “docs.slackware.com“is still crashing under the load caused by massive downloads. The server’s rsync access is already limited to a few known sources but when half the community is downloading my Slackware-current install ISOs and the Live ISOs using HTTP, this is still killing the server. I have to hard reset it at least once a week.
On top of that, the bandwidth usage is still between 50 and 200 Mbit/sec continuously, causing financial issues for the person who donated the use of this virtual machine.
I am afraid I have to take additional measures, and prohibit future access to the ISO images. I am thinking about how I can still make the slackware-current install ISOs available – probably they will get mirrored on slackware.uk where you already can download the Live ISOs.
I wanted to rent a small VPS at online.net which offers unlimited bandwidth for a fixed monthly price but they are currently not able to deliver. So currently I have no real options for moving my repositories.
Again my apologies for the inconvenience caused.
However I consider the downtime for docs.slackware.com which is caused by the frequent crashes unacceptable – just as much as I think my pal should not suffer from financial backlash as a result of the growing popularity of these ISO images.
Eric
What can we do in the meantime? Are there other mirrors that are basically the same as Taper?
I have mentioned several times that slackware.uk has everything except the slackware-current-iso and slackware64-current-iso and I am working on those.
SO please switch to slackware.uk.
The hoster has blocked all HTTP traffic which makes the SlackDocs wiki and my git repositories inaccessible.
I used usbboot.img of the …/usb-and-pxe-installers/ . I install the Slackware via FTP by USB.
Just for the record
Thanks for all
Offer a BitTorrent option? Just like Slackware proper. A permanent seeder with limited bandwidth can be run on cheap hosting, and then popularity takes care of making the downloads go faster. No?
Maybe you should tell the slackpkgplus people, that they change the default links to your repositories to the slackware.uk url. I think slackpkgplus gets widely used since some time, for your multilib, libreoffice and stuff.
Thx for your time and effort
I see no issue in using slackware.uk – thanks for that Eric
I quit using your taper server last month for syncing (rsync) after reading your February 19th post and switch to the slackware.uk server for ktown and multilib.
Until today I was still using taper for downloading specific slackbuilds and only the build directory or an x64 package with a script using lftp or wget. Since last month that was only four programs, the build for vlc and x64 packages for calibre qt5 and libreoffice. I will switch to the slackware.uk server for all downloads now.
oh that’s why last night it was so desperately slow to download KDE5 updates, so that I had to switch to slackware.uk for completing…
I suppose there’s nothing wrong switching to slackware.uk on all my machines, even if I always dislike changing things from how they’ve always been 😀
Hi Alien,
Why not share the iso’s as torrents with web seeding?
Perhaps post the iso’s on Archive.org?
Perhaps advertise your ‘mirror-slackware-current.sh’ script for these ISOs? I’ve used it for years (tweaked a bit for my use) to d/l current (etc.) tree updates every 2 days (from osuosl.org) and then generate ISOs locally.
I’ll switch to slackware.uk for the remaining sborepos and restricted files. No problem.
Sorry to hear that is there really any reason to have to do those huge dvd iso’s. The script and a mirror of slackware is all they need. I kind of figured this may happen.
Having a -current install DVD ISO has always been good attracting curious users whoi do not know how to use the script to download a local copy of the repository and then create a local ISO file – plus the people that aren’t running Linux at all and just want an installer.
I want to keep creating these two ISO images but I guess I will have to find alternate means of distrubition. I doubt that seeding them through bittorrent is useful, since these ISOs sometimes have a lifespan of only a few days and by the time enough seeders are online to take the pressure off my server, a new ISO takes its place and I have to create a new tracker.
Another download server where the owner does not complain about the bandwidth or where I get enough bandwidth for my monthly payments is probably the only good alternative. That small VPS with unlimited bandwidth at online.net was exactly what I need but it’s currently unavailable.
Ah, they have a new offering, https://www.online.net/en/dedicated-server/dedibox-scg2
At a cost, 30% higher than their previous offering. But it has more RAM.
Unfortunately, the 120GB SSD version is too small for what taper currently holds – I am using 160GB on taper. Their other offering (500GB SATA disk) has already sold out.
Plus I do not find PayPal as one of their accepted payment methods. Bah. Otherwise just hosting all the Slackware releases plus -current ISOs would just fit on the 120 GB SSD. I could then leave ktown and my own repositories on taper, since they are not causing the excess bandwidth usage.
Has the hoster blocked HTTPS (port 443)? I know my ISP blocks port 80 but not 443.
The block on port 80 has been lifted almost a day ago.
POrt 443 was never blocked. But I am not looking to evade a block – it was done for good reasons and in mutual agreement. It was either that, and then hide the Slackware release directories, or I would lose this server completely. I do not want to be responsible for someone else having to pay his provider for the excess bandwidth generated by ISO downloads when people can generate these ISOs themselves.
Eric, what do you mean by "when people can generated these ISO’s themselves." I didn’t know there was a script that would generate the ISOs from our local copy or from slackware.osuosl.org or slackware.uk? Please tell us more..
Brian, read this older article: http://alien.slackbook.org/blog/local-slackware-mirror/
Re-generating an install ISO from your local repository is faster than downloading 2.5 GB every time you need a fresh -current ISO.
I’ve been creating my own -current ISO for years now using using mirror-slackware-current.sh for both x86_64 and x86. Thanks Eric.
slackpkgplus.conf should update links as well.
Thanks for the people who donated some money after reading this article (you know who you are!). You deserve my eternal gratefulness.
As a result, I have just ordered a new server. I t will take while to get rid of the CentOS on that disk and install Slackware manually (it is not offered as an install option) using kikinovak’s HOWTO for that server: http://www.microlinux.fr/microlinux/Linux-HOWTOs/Dedibox-HOWTO.txt
I will let you know about the progress. The server has an unlimited data plan and 120 GB disk storage. More than enough for all the ISO images and then some.
http://slackware.uk/ has been and still is my preferred Slackware source. For current install ISOs I use http://slackware.no/.
😀
For Slackware-current I always used ponce’s mini iso:
http://ponce.cc/slackware/iso/
The packages can be obtained by various mirrors.
Sad to see that alienbase had to be taken down 🙁 No way to access the liveslak git now.
schmatzler, you can not reach the git repository because the server buckled again. I am currently rebooting it and http://taper.alienbase.nl/cgit/liveslak/ should be accessible in a couple of minutes.
Thanks, now I could sync my cinelerra buildscripts with your changes. 🙂
The distro variable is very useful. Now I don’t have to edit the menu files anymore.
Hooray. Rented a new server, it is now running Slackware instead of CentOS (took a while and a couple of support tickets) and currently downloading content at amazing speeds (94 MBytes/sec).
Hope to have the server available as a mirror before easter.
Congratulations to your new Dedibox. BTW, instead of the 120 GB SSD disk, you could have had a good old 500 GB SATA disk. Enough to host all your stuff.
Niki, the SATA version of the 2016 Dedibox SC was already sold out when I discovered they had a batch of new servers. The SSD version sold out a day after I ordered mine.
<quote>
http://slackware.uk/ has been and still is my preferred Slackware source. For current install ISOs I use http://slackware.no/.
</quote>
slackware.uk now has a mirror of alienBOB’s current ISOs in http://slackware.uk/people/alien-current-iso/
Also, everything that alienBOB provides is mirrored on the server under various sub-project directories. See http://slackware.uk/people/
Feel free to use the server for mirroring and/or day-to-day use 🙂
I second slackware.no is a reliable alternative at good speed, at least if in Northern Europe. I have a cron job running that syncs packages every day and creates the iso. It runs your script, Eric, a little modified of course.
More choice is good 🙂 It also distributes the required bandwidth.
My new server is up and ready now:
http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/ (rsync://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/) and it contains the Slackware Live ISO images as well as uptodate slackware*-current ISO’s.
Please try how speedy this is for you and thanks again to the people who donated money for setting up this new mirror.
Hi Bob,
I have a question. Today, I came across this page from IBM:
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/fe313521-2e95-46f2-817d-44a4f27eba32/entry/IBM_Advance_Toolchain_for_Linux_on_Power_9_0_2_released?lang=en
Apparently GCC 5.3.1 has been released since at least February 2016 but the GNU project still shows GCC 5.3.0 as the latest in the 5.x series.
Not sure what to make out of this. Is there really a 5.3.1 release out but it was never made official? If so, will release 5.3.1 make it into Slackware 14.2?
Thanks for your input.
Also, quite a few other websites including the Fedora forums mention GCC 5.3.1
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?p=1750565
Well, if the gcc developers do not show it on their releases page and a 5.3.1 source tarball is nowhere to be found on the official mirror locations, I highly doubt that 5.3.1 is meant to be used in production.
If you want to know whether 5.3.1 would be included in the upcoming Slackware release, you would have to ask Patrick Volkerding, not me. But we are in Release Candidate stage, so the probability would be low, considering the impact a compiler update has.
Note that Fedora is already putting gcc-6 previews in their fc24 so what they are telling about anything can be taken with a grain of salt.
Ok, thanks for the input Bob.