[CentOS] Apache/PHP Installation - opinions

Tue Apr 26 22:27:48 UTC 2016
Tim Dunphy <bluethundr at gmail.com>

Hey guys,

I tend to work on small production environments for a large enterprise.

Never more than 15 web servers for most sites.

But most are only 3 to 5 web servers. Depends on the needs of the
client.I actually like to install Apache and PHP from source and by
hand. Although I know that's considered sacrilege in some shops.

I do this because on RH flavored systems like CentOS the versions of
Apache, php and most other software are a little behind the curve in
terms of versions.

And that's intentionally so! Because the versions that usually go into
the various repos are tested and vetted thoroughly before going into
the repos.

I like to use the latest, stable versions of apache and php for my
clients without having to create a custom RPM every time a new version
comes out.

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? 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.

Thanks,
Tim

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