Instant localhost sites for PHP developers

Linc · May 2013

1-step dev sites on your laptop:

Set up PHP, nginx, and Percona
Use regex to capture all .dev domains in nginx
Write a shell script to create a site folder, database, and hosts file entry

In my default site definition in nginx (step 2 above):

server_name  ~^(www\.)?(?.*)\.dev$;
root         /www/$domain;

My shell script, dropped in ~/bin, named 'mkdev' and made executable (step 3 above):

read -p "Name: " SITE

#/etc/hosts
sudo cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.original
echo -e "127.0.0.1\t${SITE}.dev" | sudo tee -a  /etc/hosts

# copy files
sudo cp -R /www/_copy /www/${SITE}
sudo chown -R lincoln /www/${SITE}

# database
sudo echo "create database ${SITE}" | mysql -u root

The stuff in '/www/_copy' (being used to populate new sites) is a skeleton copy of Vanilla Forums created with symlinks to my local git repo. So, whenever the git repo changes, Vanilla updates on every dev site.

Now I type mkdev at the command prompt, give it a name, and go to [name].dev in my browser and start using the new site.

I posted about the Vanilla symlinks part here: http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/23877/1-step-vanilla-dev-sites

shwaip · May 2013

Wow, this seems like a really convenient way to test changes on a website before I make them live.

Thrax · May 2013

US SARCASM SURVEY DETECTS MINOR SMUGNESS ON US WEST COAST

Los Angeles, Calif. -- 5/29/2013

The US Sarcasm Survey (USSS) reported today that minor smugness with a preliminary magnitude of 3.7 was detected in the area of Seattle, WA.

"It was a short stint of priggishness," said Dr. Charles Lancer, USSS Chief Sarcasmologist. "Early figures suggest it was subtle beyond the notice of many, but we are nevertheless delighted that our sensitive detectors were able to identify it at the moment of its conception. We will continue to monitor for additional aftersnarks."

It was the "morning hour" when the sarcasm struck, said one bystander we interviewed on the street who added that it was "a devilishly subtle jab."

Story unfolding.