WordPress MU

Hi,

I've had one unsuccessful attempt at installing wpmu at dreamhost. (please see thread http://mu.wordpress.org/forums/topic/288 if you're interested) and i am now starting over. i deleted everything and was wondering if someone that has installed wpmu at dreamhost can give me any pointers of things i will have to do achieve a successful installation. thanks in advance!

email me at andrew(at)idtstudios [dot] com explaining the problem and i'll see if I can help you.

I also recently tried to install wpmu on dreamhost, and also failed. Everything seems fine throughout the install until it is time to go to the site, and then the problem(s) surface. It appears to me that the wpmu code uses php environment variables that are not appropriate to the PHP as CGI implementation on Dreamhost. I suspect that replacing these varibles with eith hardcoded paths, or alternate variable that are supposrted would solve the problem, but I have not had the time to track through th wpmu code to identify the source of the problems.

I would like to see this work at Dreamhost, and would be happy to "recreate" my failed install and report in more detail if that would be helpful.

--rlparker

hey rlparker,

thanks for the response. yeah, i'd def like to get it up and running on dreamhost since i'm already there. it sounds like we could be looking at the same issue. did you happen to try turning the "run php as cgi" option off in the dreamhost panel and then try installing? i'm thinking that might be my next step but i really have no idea what the implications of turning that option off might be. thanks!

i just discovered this old thread. it's not for wpmu but maybe it's relevant.

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/38247

Actually, I looked at that post, and it is somewhat related, but I think not germain to our issues. I strongly suggest leaving the PHP-CGI setting intact. *SO MUCH* other stuff just will not work with DH's PHP as an apache module because of the DH restrictions. There is quite a bit of information in the KnowledgeBase about this.

I would *prefer* to debug the variables/paths in wpmu to get it to run un the PHP-CGI setting, and I think it could be done. Many times substituting variable will sove the issue, and you could always "hardcode" them to the appropriate path(s) for your server. I jusst have not had the time to muck with it, and am not familiar enough with the WPMU code to know all the places I should check.

Generally, the implications of running the apache module of php vs the PHP-CGI process are a slight performance increase (usually, IMHO, negiligable), lots of broken php functions which dreamhost does not allow, and a broken base_dir restriction system. Stuff that should woprk doesn't and no one at dreamhost can really figure out why.

I think patching WPMU to run under PHP-CGI is the way to go. It wouyld be great if someone more knoweledgable that me got interested in it, as I suspect it would not be too difficult a fix (If you know what you are doing!).
-rlparker

yeah, i wish i had the know how to do all of this. i guess i'm starting to wonder if i should host somewhere else? or is it worth trying to stay with dreamhost. are there hosts out there that have server configurations that play well with wpmu. in other words, is there somewhere i could just install and it'll work? thanks! j

hi,

can anyone recommend a host for wpmu? i went with dreamhost since they are recommending by the wp site (for the single user version) but i have unfortunately had no luck with wpmu at dreamhost. thanks!

I host at, and am a reseller for (disclosure :-)), ThinkHost (http://www.thinkhost.com). They had no problem with the DNS/Apache wildcard request and their support and prices are great!

I just checked with Support and the host I use and have been extremely happy with, A Small Orange will happily setup wildcard DNS on request on the shared hosting plans so I would recommend them. I have a VPS there along with a couple of shared hosting plans and couldn't be happier. :)

thanks for the suggestions on hosts. i think the problem i'm having with dream host is the way it handles php as cgi. it's above my head but that seems to be at least part of the problem (see above posts). so do you have wpmu up and running on a small orange? i've looked at their plans and them def seem reasonable. thanks!

http://911blogs.com is running on an A Small Orange VPS but I can confirm they run PHP as an Apache module and don't force any of the other restrictions that Dreamhost do on their shared hosting plans.

hey jaseone,

thanks for the info. i might go with a small orange then. also, great site by the way! thanks.

go here to see answers for MU on DreamHost http://wiki.dreamhost.com/index.php/WordPress_MU

I have no trouble using subdirectories at DreamHost. Not sure if subdomains would create trouble.

I am using subdomain on dreamhost and it gives error, so I emailed the support team to do the wildcard DNS thing, hope it works... fingers crossed

still same problem... I don't understand this.. I get this first:
-------------------------------
Creating Database Config File: DONE

Congrats! Your WPMU site has been set up and you have been sent details of your login and password in an email.
------------------------------

Then:

http://test.muslimways.com/cgi-system/

http://test.muslimways.com/

none of the links seems to be working! can someone advice

The cgi-system in the URL is a big huge hint. MU is NOT cgi, it's php.

Also, not impressed with Dreamhost's "wiki" on the subject. Once you get past the negative opinions and commentary, all it really says is to contact support to set up wildcard DNS, work through the install your self and then you're on your own. (like a lot of things, duh.)

I installed a MU on Dreamhost last week and had no trouble when I made sure it was running PHP5 (this is with subdirs).

I've got WPMU running on DH (with subdomains) for a while now. Do the following:

- Install WPMU; no weird stuff, just follow the instructions (obviously select subdomains and not subdirs)

- From the Dreamhost admin panel, go to your DNS settings

- Look for the box titled "Add a DNS record to your-domain.com"

- Add a CNAME, enter a wildcard (*) in the "Name" field and your root domain in "Value" (ie. your-domain.com)

- Send a support request and ask them to modify the Apache's VirtualHost entry for your domain in order to support the wildcard DNS

- Wait until the new DNS record propagates (up to a couple of days)

- That's it

Hope it helps.

Little confused about the DNS part, it it meant to look like this:
----------------------------------------------------------
Your custom DNS records For test.muslimways.com.

Record (muslimways.com zone) Type Value
*.test [edit] [X] CNAME test.muslimways.com.

Woow this is soo great, it worked! thanks!

Thank god.. I'm with ANHosting.com/

As for
"- Look for the box titled "Add a DNS record to your-domain.com"

- Add a CNAME, enter a wildcard (*) in the "Name" field and your root domain in "Value" (ie. your-domain.com)"

Don't add it at all, just send a message to support for them to enable wildcard DNS on that domain for you and they'll do it. They would rather you not add it yourself as it's something they manually do and would have to replace your ineffective one.

Dreamhost does let you install a copy of php on your own (without automatic upgrades of course) so you can modify certain aspects and install things that they won't do globally.

I killed my WPMU when I got a huge error and couldn't figure out how to fix it after a few weeks so I don't know how things are going for the moment with them. Only thing is that it was running smoothly when it was up. WPMU isn't supported by DH so probably without the support of the users helping in the wiki, the DH WPMU wiki page really hasn't been updated much for a long time. Most well experienced users don't choose DH to use, especially for a large blogging site so obviously extensive instructions on how to make WPMU work flawlessly on DH specifically won't be there. You guys can of course help that out :p.

With that said .. after your server gets a little bit more loaded with processes running, you'll notice a huge slowdown in your DH hosted website.. :F

I had the cgi-system problem but it turned out the problem was that I was installing on my old blog's domain that had been set up before PHP 5.x existed. I forgot to actually look and make sure it was set to 5.x.

A quick edit in the Domain Panel and 10 minutes, my problem was solved and I was in!

Basically posting this for people on DH who are looking for help and are making the same erroneous assumption I was. GO CHECK THE DOMAIN PANEL and make absolutely sure you are using the correct version of PHP. All that junk about running php as cgi doesn't matter.

I just updated the Dreamhost wiki entry somewhat. I'll make more edits as I come up with ideas.

Thanks for that wiki entry ... it worked magic. I was up and running in no time!

see http://mu.wordpress.org/forums/topic.php?id=10195

DreamHost wiki has a nice walkthrough here : wiki.dreamhost.com/index.php/WordPress_MU
Easy, but remember to follow every step.
I once had trouble when I didn't notice that my domain used PHP4 instead of PHP5