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Containerisation for LAMP websites


  • Service Group: Collaboration and Communication Services
  • Users: Staff

Service Description

IT Services hosts various web sites on behalf of the University and generally these are maintained by Marketing and Communications.

Containerisation for LAMP websites (LAMP containers) provides a minimal segregated environment for Wordpress web sites or web applications, with the Wordpress content management system preinstalled.

Example Uses

Here are a handful of examples of what existing users are doing with their LAMP Containers.

  • Public, promotional web sites for research teams and projects, particularly where QMUL is only one of a number of partner organisations
  • Special marketing or branding campaigns related to special QMUL initiatives
  • Blogs with Wordpress

Technical Details

  • Wordpress version: The latest Wordpress release, updated weekly.
  • Processing: Shared CPU at a ratio of approximatly 5 Containers per CPU Core.
  • RAM: Up to 2GB
  • Disk Space: 5GB

Other points to note about the service is that ssh access is not permitted and access to maintain, edit, or develop the Wordpress web site is via the Wordpress Admin interface. This includes the installation of custom or third party plugins and themes for Wordpress. From time to time service may be unavailable for maintenance, which would be announced in advance.

Domain Names and SSL Certificates

Domain names should match the following criteria and if so, IT Services may be able to supply an SSL certificate at no cost to your department.

Domain names should:

  • end with "qmul.ac.uk"
  • not include the prefix www.
  • end with a suitable school or departmental domain (e.g. history.qmul.ac.uk or sllf.qmul.ac.uk)
  • must not already be in-use, unless by your existing website which you plan to move to this service.

With agreement from Marketing and Communications, your domain name could:

  • end with "qmul.ac.uk" and not use a departmental prefix.

Non qmul.ac.uk domain names may be used, however this is not generally recommended and there could be further ongoing costs and obligations you will be responsible for.  Please note it is not possible to use Idcheck authentication with a Non-qmul.ac.uk domain name.

If you are unsure, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

The University House Style requires URLs or web addresses not include the "www." prefix.  Therefore, we do not issue those domain name as standard, and won’t normally provide an SSL certificate at no cost.  Where necessary, we can provide a redirect from your domain name with a "www." prefix to your domain name without it.

Backups

Nightly backups are taken, primarily for disaster recovery purposes. Backups are retained for at least one month.

You're encouraged to maintain your own backup copies of your web site, particularly before applying updates or modifying your application code.  Please contact us if you would like guidance on tools and techniques to backup your website and maintain a version history.

If requested, we will restore your container to a previous days backup.

Life-Cycle

The supported life-time of a Container is limited by the life-cycle of the Wordpress developers container image. As the developers release new versions of the software, these are applied automatically to your container. This may have implications for any custom or third party themes or plugins, which will need maintenance  or replacement from time to time in order to remain compatible with the latest releases of Wordpress.

Information Classification

LAMP Containers are not suitable for sensitive information.

Information classified as "Open" or "Protect", as defined in DG09 Information Classification, can be hosted in a LAMP container.

Service Classification

This service is classified as Non-Critical and is not suitable for any business critical web sites such as the main college web site.  Any business critical web sites will require their own special service design and build.

Your Obligations

In addition to normal University policies (including the IT Regulation and Web Policy) you are obliged to maintain your LAMP Container web site and any additional software or code added to it. This includes any third party or custom plugins and themes you may add to the Wordpress installations.

From time to time we may identify security or other issues with your LAMP Container and in some cases you may need to make modifications or updates.

If your LAMP Container is no longer required, please let us know so that it can be decommissioned. If you are leaving the organisation or changing roles, please ensure your Container is handed over to a colleague and IT Services are informed.

If you are writing code for a LAMP container, please refer to the Web Application Best Practice guidance document.

How To Request This Service

Contact the Marketing and Communication team <websupport@qmul.ac.uk> in the first instance. Your web site may be suitable for web design and management provided by them.

If your web site is not related to services provided by Marketing and Communications, please make your request through the Service Desk.

If your domain name doesn't meet the criteria described above, you may need to manage the domain name registration, the purchasing and updating of SSL certificates, and any additional costs required to do so.  If you are unsure, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

Lead Time

LAMP Container Hosting related requests should be made at least 4 working weeks in advance.

Cost

There may be some costs involved, this needs to be consulted with the Marketing and Communication Team and IT Services.

Availability

Hours of Service: 24/7/365

Supported Monday to Friday 8am-6pm (excluding bank holidays and university closure days).

Support

Support is provided for the core features of the LAMP Container, Apache web server, MySQL and PHP Installation.  Support is also provided for the preinstalled Wordpress software and Microsoft Entra authentication.

You will be able to install additional software such as Wordpress plugins and themes. However, we're unable to provide support for your changes or additional software.  We will endeavor to provide advice and guidance where possible.

Some faults may require your LAMP container to be restored to a known working backup.

Bespoke PHP programming and application support are not provided, users must maintain their website, application and code.

Contact the IT Helpdesk

Call: +44 (0)20 7882 8888
Email: servicedesk@qmul.ac.uk
Visit: Queens' Building, Room W209, Mile End
Self-service: Service Desk

Dependent Service

This service is dependent on Infrastructure Services.

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