Field notes from keeping LAMP systems healthy.
September 16, 2026 · StackPioneer
ALTER TABLE on a large InnoDB table is the migration that takes the site down at 2 a.m. Here is how to tell which changes are instant in MySQL 8, when to reach for pt-online-schema-change or gh-ost, and how to rehearse either one.
Read moreSeptember 15, 2026 · StackPioneer
TLS 1.0/1.1 off, an honest cipher list, HSTS you can roll back, security headers that do not break the admin, mod_status and .git left exposed, and renewals that fail loudly instead of silently.
Read moreSeptember 14, 2026
The 5.x-to-8.0 jump gets all the attention, but the minor-version treadmill is where most estates are stuck now. Security support for PHP 8.1 ended on 31 December 2025. Here is what actually breaks between 8.1 and 8.4, and how to roll it out with a warm rollback.
Read moreSeptember 14, 2026 · StackPioneer
`composer audit` takes seconds and usually produces an alarming list. Here is how to read it honestly, separate reachable CVEs from noise, handle abandoned and vendored code, and get the count to zero without a rewrite.
Read moreSeptember 14, 2026 · StackPioneer
CentOS 7 lost updates in June 2024. Here is the honest comparison of in-place upgrade versus build-new-and-cut-over, plus the four things that actually break on EL9: OpenSSL 3 crypto policies, MariaDB-by-default, SELinux, and the PHP that came from SCL.
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