What was that all about? Well, it was about the recent security hole in php, php2shell that had me take down this website. That post was me celebrating it being back online.

There have probably been a few minutes of downtime here and there over the years but other than that, this site has been up continuously since 2009. The server that runs it has been in dire need of some updating for way too long but I have kept procrastinating on that. Now, fortunately, I had started an upgrade process a week of so before php2shell was publicized but I had shelved the project again. As the shit hit the fan, I took down the web server component of the server so it’s been offline since maybe Thursday (it’s not Sunday.) Today I got a bit of free time and with ample help from Claude, I managed to get it patched, fixed and back online.

This has been a case where I’ve really benefited from AI assistance. I am capable of setting up a server by myself (as long as I’m allowed to make heavy use of StackOverflow), but it’s not something that I can do fast. Had I not been able to have Claude holding my hand this project would have taken the better part of a week, rather than a few hours.