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Topic: PunBB on a stick

This is continuation of the thread that started here.

To reclarify this new thread, we're looking at the feasibilty of an AMP stack with PunBB included on a USB drive.

Preliminary thoughts:

I think at least a 128mb stick would be needed.

Looking at my WinXP stack:
Apache: 15,298kb - minus the manual
MySQL: 28,157kb
PHP: 21,821kb
Total: 65,276kb

That'll leave plenty of room for your apps and database growth.

Just picked up 3 1GB PNY USB drives for $39.99 after rebates at the local Comp-USA.

Re: PunBB on a stick

here is the link to download punbb_lighttpd version
http://southernhotbody.com/lighttpd.rar
then click unzip, click ok then close
now go to my computer then open up the c drive
double click the folder lighttpd
next double click the icon labeled start-lighttpd
wait about 5 seconds then open your browser(internet explorer, firefox, opera, lynx, etc)
in the address bar type
http://localhost
hit enter
now click login
username: admin
password: password
and your logged into the admin account for punbb and you're done


Enjoy!

Q

My stuff or my style might sux, but atleast I'm willing to help when I can.
Don't be stupid and help ! We are the stupid one's !!!

3 (edited by Dr.Jeckyl 2007-01-16 19:40)

Re: PunBB on a stick

you know, if only there was a "cafe press" version where Rickard/dev team/PunBB could get some small portion of the sales of each stick. hell, i've been toying with the idea of getting a thumb drive, this would tip me over to finally purchasing one.

~James
FluxBB - Less is more

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Re: PunBB on a stick

Ok, what I've learned so far:

a) XAMPP Lite 1.5.5 occupies 129mb of the USB drive.
b) Easy to start and stop with xammp_start and xampp_stop.
c) Drive works rather well, I have it hooked to a Belkin powered hub.

http://txpun.com/images/20.png

Now, let's see how it runs PunBB.

Re: PunBB on a stick

It should run PunBB rather smoothly tongue

Re: PunBB on a stick

Nifty idea if I don't say so myself.

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Re: PunBB on a stick

Well, well, I'm impressed.

Very easy to get PunBB running:

a) Type in http://localhost in my browser which brings up the XAMMP control panel.
b) Click the phpMyAdmin link and create the PunBB database and a new user with privileges.
c) Run the install.php from the punbb folder, a couple of minutes later and I'm running PunBB.

Running great, very fast for a USB drive. Makes for a neat and very portable dev environment.

Next I installed Textpattern, wanted to test URL rewriting. Just as quick to install and it runs super fast.

For .htaccess rewriting, I had to uncomment this line from E:\xampplite\apache\conf\httpd.conf:
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so - line 118

So there you have it, a mini how-to and a proof of concept.

Re: PunBB on a stick

Don't want to kill this but...
Why would you ever want this, if you want to run punbb on your site, you almost certainly want to upload it to some kind of webhost, or if you just want to test punbb on your local system you probably know what you're doing and just want to install it :\

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Re: PunBB on a stick

Connor,

Portability comes to mind, carry your dev environment from home to work or to a client site.

http://www.webservusb.com/
http://www.chsoftware.net/en/useware/wos/wos.htm

Yes, we can run an AMP stack on a local hard drive, like I have for many years. But after using the USB stick for a day, I took off Apache, MySQL and PHP off my hard drive and I'm using the stick from now on.

Re: PunBB on a stick

wel... to carry a development environment that can be cool. But in thaat case i preffer to carry a full small linux distro.

hctv, i dont see so much the point of those who buy those products you liked. Like... is it that dificult or time consumming to install apache and php?

as pointed before you can even dload a all in one fully working package in minutes.

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Re: PunBB on a stick

pedrotuga,

I do plan on installing a small Linux distro on one of the USB disks but that would require a reboot of the host system, unless virtualization is in play. I was looking more for ease of use, no need to interfere with the host and to walk away without leaving a trace.

No, it's not that difficult to get Apache, MySQL and PHP running on Windows, this thread proves it.

An AMP stack on a stick is but one element, have you seen PortableApps?

Re: PunBB on a stick

I am a little tempted to try this out myself. The idea of being able to bring my punbb dev environment on a USB stick is very tempting. It also means I don't have to litter my work computer or my home computer with mysql, apache etc.

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

Re: PunBB on a stick

The problem is you'll probably need access to start/stop services. I know this, as I had a webserver on my 75GB drive at school. It worked well untill I lost my admin rights.

14 (edited by grudon66 2007-01-17 14:23)

Re: PunBB on a stick

If you dont have winzip you can download lighttpd.exe: http://d.turboupload.com/de/1437680/kj013dkgbb.html# You nead to wait 29 seconds and click download fille then write the code on the piczhure and then click Download Page and then click: Click here to download file And do the tings quaker write and you ar done smile. And i uploadet it smile

PunBB, the FluxBB of tomorrow - today!

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Re: PunBB on a stick

elbekko,

With XAMPP, you don't need Admin rights on the host computer.

Just tried the USB stick I made on my daughter's laptop with a limited rights user. Ran xampp_start.exe from the stick and all that WinXP complained about was the firewall settings, it was blocking access to Apache and MySQL from the network. Fired up IE7, pointed it to http://localhost and everything worked just fine.

Re: PunBB on a stick

Well, it doesn't for me. Unless you're running it without services.
And my school computer is pretty much blocked out: it even crashes when running a .bat file tongue

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Re: PunBB on a stick

hcgtv, i like the wos link you gave out.. and im playing with it now with punbb and wordpress. im trying to make the mod for it .. using punbb.. seem to be cool. and it also got a cdrom version... im going to hack at that....

Q

My stuff or my style might sux, but atleast I'm willing to help when I can.
Don't be stupid and help ! We are the stupid one's !!!

18

Re: PunBB on a stick

ok i got it working on a cf in a usb adaptor.. now i got to make it autorun with xp..lol...

My stuff or my style might sux, but atleast I'm willing to help when I can.
Don't be stupid and help ! We are the stupid one's !!!

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Re: PunBB on a stick

ok here what i got so far....
http://modelcrowd.com/portable_punbb.zip

let me know what ya think

simply unzip to usb drive. click autorun.exe

My stuff or my style might sux, but atleast I'm willing to help when I can.
Don't be stupid and help ! We are the stupid one's !!!

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Re: PunBB on a stick

quaker, nice small download, I'll give it a try and let you know.

Spent the day in USB land, what I've learned:
a) Not every USB stick is the same, even the same model from a manufacturer.
b) Your system is a determining factor, a local port, either in the front or back or a USB hub can vary speeds.
c) Online reviews or tests are to be taken with a grain of salt, use them as a baseline.
d) Dual channel technology is coming, that's why all current USB drives in the retail channel are on sale.
e) Most sticks come formatted as FAT, they can be formatted as FAT32 for extra storage.
f) FAT32 could speed up the drive or make it slower, depends on the drive.
g) NTFS can be used via a command prompt: convert e: /fs:ntfs
h) NTFS is the fastest at transferring files and overall usage, but the drive light glows all the time.

Went with a full XAMPP install on my PNY 1GB stick:
XAMPP 1.5.5: 311MB FAT, with Perl addon: 579MB FAT
Via the xampp-control.exe program, it's a cinch to start and stop the programs.

In conclusion, get the cheapest first generation 1GB stick you can find to play around. Then shop around for the dual channel versions when they come into the retail stores.

The current speed freaks: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/384/1

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Re: PunBB on a stick

it was alot bigger and i took a few wos things out..... and i went with php5_se instead of php5 full version.
15 meg ziped toa  70 meg unziped...

My stuff or my style might sux, but atleast I'm willing to help when I can.
Don't be stupid and help ! We are the stupid one's !!!

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Re: PunBB on a stick

I carry 2 stick in my pocket
1- 256m NTFS format and encrypted for my backup of source
2- 1G SD stick with TiniUSB slot i used for downloads or images for my camera.

But it is dangerous to put your work on it because stick always some day will dead, and fail to work, you must make backups to hard disk.

If your people come crazy, you will not need to your mind any more.

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Re: PunBB on a stick

hcgtv, did u get that to work? and how well does it work for you.. my version?
Q

My stuff or my style might sux, but atleast I'm willing to help when I can.
Don't be stupid and help ! We are the stupid one's !!!

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Re: PunBB on a stick

quaker, yes I tried it, pretty cool, could be used for a kiosk or demo type of application.

A few suggestions to make it slimmer:
a) Clear the ib_log files in the mysql/data directory.
b) Get rid of some of the language files in phpMyAdmin or the whole thing if it's just a PunBB demo.
c) Do we really need ImageMagick?

WOS has done a good job, it could be taken a step further to make it very small for distribution.

Related news of the day:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ … lTech/home

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Re: PunBB on a stick

quaker, where did you get the SE versions of the services from?

zaher, yes I use beyond compare to do disk backups of the USB stick.