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Posts Tagged ‘Zeus’

Zeus and WordPress Part 3: SSL Issues

Saturday, February 4th, 2012

While working to get WordPress functioning properly on a Zeus Web server, one of the issues I came across was the fact that I couldn’t seem to get any SSL functions working properly. I tried 2 or 3 different plugins, and all of them started causing infinite redirect loops as soon as they were activated.

Eventually, after quite a bit of investigating and testing, I found the cause of the issue: that particular server (and, presumably, all Zeus servers) doesn’t use any of the same indicators that SSL is being used that apache does. On apache servers, PHP usually has a handful of indicators that SSL is currently being used to serve the page. For instance, there’s a server global variable called “HTTPS” that gets set to “on” for many PHP configurations; SSL is generally served over port 443 instead of port 80; etc.

The WordPress HTTPS plugin runs four different checks to see if SSL is running, but all of them fail on Zeus. Following is the check that WordPress HTTPS runs:

public function is_ssl() {
    $https_url = parse_url($this->https_url);
    // Some extra checks for proxies and Shared SSL
    if ( is_ssl() && strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'], $https_url['host']) === false && $_SERVER['SERVER_ADDR'] != $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] ) {
        return false;
    } else if ( isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO']) && strtolower($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO']) == 'https' ) {
        return true;
    } else if ( $this->diff_host && !is_ssl() && isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_SERVER']) && strpos($this->https_url, 'https://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_SERVER']) !== false ) {
        return true;
    } else if ( $this->diff_host && !is_ssl() && strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'], $https_url['host']) !== false && (!$this->ssl_port || $_SERVER['SERVER_PORT'] == $this->ssl_port) && (isset($https_url['path']) && !$https_url['path'] || strpos($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], $https_url['path']) !== false) ) {
        return true;
    }
    return is_ssl();
}

Like I said, at least on the Zeus server I was dealing with, all four of those checks failed, so it kept reporting that the page wasn’t running over SSL, so it caused an infinite redirect loop.

After a while, I did find a variable (actually, 3 of them) that, while it doesn’t seem to have any consistent value, always seems to be set when running SSL, and never seems to exist when running without SSL. That variable is the $_SERVER['HTTP_SSLCLIENTCERTSTATUS'] variable. Checking for the existence of that variable seems to consistently report whether or not SSL is running for the page.

For my purposes, I ended up editing a plugin called WPSSL (simply because it was simpler than making sure I’d edited all of the correct places within WordPress HTTPS) to check the existence of that variable.

Have you come across this same issue on a Zeus server? Is this common, or is this an issue unique to the particular host that’s being used for this project?

HTMLCenter Web Development Blog

Tags: Issues, Part, WordPress, Zeus
Posted in Web Development | No Comments »

Zeus and WordPress Part 2: Fixing Query Strings

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

If you’re trying to get WordPress working on a Zeus Web server, and you’ve gotten as far as using a good rewrite script to make permalinks work properly, you might have noticed that query strings don’t work at the ends of your permalinks. At first, it seemed like this wouldn’t be too big of an issue; it just meant that users wouldn’t be able to preview posts/pages, and there would be one or two other issues they’d have to live with. However, after using the site that way for a little while, we started coming across more and more issues that this caused, and it finally reached a tipping point.

To solve the issue, I wrote a simple function that runs any time a 404 error occurs on the site. Essentially, it parses the path of the requested page, cuts off the query string temporarily, and then searches the database for a post or page that has the slug at the end of the path.

You may be wondering why I didn’t just parse the request/get variables sent with the page. The problem is, those were empty in each of the cases I tested.

Anyway, following is the function I ended up writing.

function zeus_reply_fix() {
	if ( ! isset( $_SERVER['PATH_INFO'] ) ) {
		return;
	}
	if ( ! is_404() ) {
		return;
	}

	$path = $_SERVER['PATH_INFO'];
	$parts = explode( '/', $path );
	$qs = array_pop( $parts );
	$parsed = array();
	if ( strstr( $qs, '&' ) || strstr( $qs, '?' ) ) {
		parse_str( $qs, $parsed );
	} else {
		return;
	}
	if ( is_array( $parsed ) ) {
		global $wpdb, $post, $wp_query;
		$post_ID = $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT ID FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE post_name=%s", array_pop( $parts ) ) );

		if ( empty( $post_ID ) ) {
			return;
		}

		$wp_query = new WP_Query( array( 'page_id' => $post_ID ) );
		$wp_query->is_404 = false;
		foreach ( $parsed as $k=>$v ) {
			if ( ! empty( $k ) && ! empty( $v ) )
				set_query_var( $k, $v );
		}

		$_GET = $_GET + $parsed;

		$use_template = 'index.php';
		$post = $wp_query->get_queried_object();

		load_template( trailingslashit( get_template_directory() ) . $use_template );
		die();
	}
}
add_action( 'wp', 'zeus_reply_fix', 99 );

Have you found a better way of dealing with this issue? Do you see anything that could be done better? I’d love to see other solutions to this particular problem with Zeus & WordPress.

HTMLCenter Web Development Blog

Tags: Fixing, Part, Query, Strings, WordPress, Zeus
Posted in Web Development | No Comments »

WordPress and Zeus Part 1: Getting Permalinks Working

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

For those of you that might not know (and I was one of you about a month ago), Zeus is a Web server package that’s used instead of apache by some Web hosts. If you’re planning to use WordPress, and you have a choice between apache and Zeus, I would definitely recommend choosing apache. However, sometimes you don’t have a choice in the matter; and you have to do what you can to make things work.

WordPress will work out of the box with Zeus, but a lot of things won’t behave the way you might expect. One of those things is the permalink structure.

Instead of getting nice, clean URLs like “http://example.com/blog/2012/01/my-first-blog-post/”, you get “index.php” shoved in there (like “http://example.com/index.php/blog/2012/01/my-first-blog-post/”). You can correct this issue, but it’s not quite as simple as updating an .htaccess file (in fact, without some jiggery-pokery by your Web host, Zeus doesn’t support .htaccess at all). Instead, you have to apply a rewrite script to your server configuration.

After quite a bit of searching and trial & error, I finally found a working rewrite script configuration for WordPress. A hosting company called ZipHosting posted the scripts below in their knowledgebase. The first script is set up for you to use if WordPress is hosted in a subdirectory, and the second is for use with WordPress in the root directory.

WordPress in a Subdirectory

RULE_0_START:
    # Get the document root path and put value into the SCRATCH array.
    # This is the server path not the web URL.
    # i.e. /clientdata/clients/p/h/php.testing.au.com/www/

map path into SCRATCH:DOCROOT from /

    # Get the URL without the domain.
    # e.g. /test&colour=red
    # e.g. /an-example-post/?color=red

 set SCRATCH:ORIG_URL = %{URL}
 set SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI = %{URL}

    # See if there are any queries in our URL.

 match URL into $ with ^(.*)\?(.*)$

    # If there are...

 if matched then
    # Set a var to path without the domain part.
    # e.g. /an-example-post

     set SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI = 

    # Set a var to the passed queries.
    # e.g. colour=red

     set SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING =
 endif
 RULE_0_END:

RULE_1_START:
    # This is setting a var to the server path and sub folders.
    # e.g. /clientdata/clients/p/h/php.testing.au.com/www/wordpress/an-example-post/

 set SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME = %{SCRATCH:DOCROOT}
 set SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME . %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI}

    # Check to see if the file exists.

 look for file at %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME}
 if not exists then

    # The file wasn't found so is it a folder?

     look for dir at %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME}
     if not exists then

    # No folder either. So now check the URL for special hosting folders.

         match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with ^/stats|^/logs
         if matched then

    # If a special folder was requested end the script.

             goto END
         else

    # There were no files, folders or special folders so set the new URL.
    # -- Sub directory -------------------------------------------------------------
    # If the blog is in a sub directory...replace the words in bold  with your directory name.
    # e.g. /wordpress/index.php/an-example-post

             match SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI into $ with ^/wordpress(.*)
             if matched then
                 set URL = /wordpress/index.php
             endif

    # -- Sub directory ends --------------------------------------------------------
    # or...
    # -- Top level -----------------------------------------------------------------
    # If the blog is in the top level of the site...
    # e.g. /index.php/an-example-post
    # set URL = /index.php%{SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI}
    # -- Top level ends ------------------------------------------------------------
    # Go to the next rule.

             goto RULE_2_START
         endif
     endif
 endif

    # If files or folders were found end the rewrite script.

 goto END
 RULE_1_END:

RULE_2_START:

    # Check for queries in the requested URL.

 match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with \?(.*)$
 if matched then

    # If queries were found add them to the new URL.
    # e.g. /index.php/an-example-post/&colour=red

     set URL = %{URL}&%{SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING}

 endif

    # -- Sub directory -------------------------------------------------------------
    # If you only want to rewrite the sub directory uncomment this bit.
      match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with ^/wordpress
 if matched then
    # -- Sub directory ends --------------------------------------------------------

    # End the script.

     goto END

    # -- Sub directory -------------------------------------------------------------
 endif
    # -- Sub directory ends --------------------------------------------------------
 RULE_2_END:

WordPress Installed in the Root Directory

RULE_0_START:
    # Get the document root path and put value into the SCRATCH array.
    # This is the server path not the web URL.
    # i.e. /clientdata/clients/p/h/php.testing.au.com/www/

map path into SCRATCH:DOCROOT from /

    # Get the URL without the domain.
    # e.g. /test&colour=red
    # e.g. /an-example-post/?color=red

 set SCRATCH:ORIG_URL = %{URL}
 set SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI = %{URL}

    # See if there are any queries in our URL.

 match URL into $ with ^(.*)\?(.*)$

    # If there are...

 if matched then
    # Set a var to path without the domain part.
    # e.g. /an-example-post

     set SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI = 

    # Set a var to the passed queries.
    # e.g. colour=red

     set SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING =
 endif
 RULE_0_END:

RULE_1_START:
    # This is setting a var to the server path and sub folders.
    # e.g. /clientdata/clients/p/h/php.testing.au.com/www/wordpress/an-example-post/

 set SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME = %{SCRATCH:DOCROOT}
 set SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME . %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI}

    # Check to see if the file exists.

 look for file at %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME}
 if not exists then

    # The file wasn't found so is it a folder?

     look for dir at %{SCRATCH:REQUEST_FILENAME}
     if not exists then

    # No folder either. So now check the URL for special hosting folders.

         match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with ^/stats|^/logs
         if matched then

    # If a special folder was requested end the script.

             goto END
         else

    # There were no files, folders or special folders so set the new URL.
    # -- Sub directory -------------------------------------------------------------
    # If the blog is in a sub directory...replace the words in bold  with your directory name.
    # e.g. /wordpress/index.php/an-example-post

    # match SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI into $ with ^/wordpress(.*)
    # if matched then
    #     set URL = /wordpress/index.php
    # endif

    # -- Sub directory ends --------------------------------------------------------
    # or...
    # -- Top level -----------------------------------------------------------------
    # If the blog is in the top level of the site...
    # e.g. /index.php/an-example-post
     set URL = /index.php%{SCRATCH:REQUEST_URI}
    # -- Top level ends ------------------------------------------------------------
    # Go to the next rule.

             goto RULE_2_START
         endif
     endif
 endif

    # If files or folders were found end the rewrite script.

 goto END
 RULE_1_END:

RULE_2_START:

    # Check for queries in the requested URL.

 match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with \?(.*)$
 if matched then

    # If queries were found add them to the new URL.
    # e.g. /index.php/an-example-post/&colour=red

     set URL = %{URL}&%{SCRATCH:QUERY_STRING}

 endif

    # -- Sub directory -------------------------------------------------------------
     # If you only want to rewrite the sub directory uncomment this bit.
    # match SCRATCH:ORIG_URL into % with ^/wordpress
 if matched then
    # -- Sub directory ends --------------------------------------------------------

    # End the script.

     goto END

    # -- Sub directory -------------------------------------------------------------
 endif
    # -- Sub directory ends --------------------------------------------------------
 RULE_2_END:

Unfortunately, that won’t solve all of your permalink issues, but it will get you started. One serious issue you might encounter is the fact that query strings aren’t recognized at the end of your permalinks; instead, WordPress shows a 404 error page whenever a query string is attached. In my next article, I’ll explain how I fixed that issue.

HTMLCenter Web Development Blog

Tags: Getting, Part, Permalinks, WordPress, Working, Zeus
Posted in Web Development | No Comments »

blogdelwebmaster.net

Posts Tagged ‘Zeus’

Zeus and WordPress Part 3: SSL Issues

Zeus and WordPress Part 2: Fixing Query Strings

WordPress and Zeus Part 1: Getting Permalinks Working

WordPress in a Subdirectory

WordPress Installed in the Root Directory

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