[CentOS] Apache/PHP Installation - opinions

[Paul Heinlein]

On Tue, 26 Apr 2016, Tim Dunphy wrote:

> So what I'd like to know is it better in your opinion to install 
> from repos than to install by source as a best practice?

"Better" all depends on your workflow and your customers' concerns.

If you are always available to update all your customers' 
installations, esp. when there's a security update, then installing 
from source may allow you to roll out new features more quickly than 
stock CentOS.

OTOH, if you go on vacation, or get injured, or whatever -- then your 
clients may be left exposed when a new exploit is released. Someone at 
Red Hat (and from there CentOS) will be dealing with it, and your 
customers get the benefit of that work with a simple "yum update".

At the very least, I'd inform the clients of the benefits and risks of 
both approaches and see what best matches their concerns.

> Is it always better to use puppet, chef, ansible etc even if the 
> environment is small? I'm sure this is a matter preference, but I 
> would like to know what your preferences are.

Personally, I've found the break-even point to be three to four 
systems. That is, once I'm managing four systems, I'll spend less time 
over the life-cycle of those hosts spinning up puppet or cfengine than 
I will managing those systems by hand. Other admins may have a 
different opinion, but that's what I've discovered.

-- 
Paul Heinlein
heinlein at madboa.com
45°38' N, 122°6' W