symfttpd

symfttpd is a set of tools to use symfony and lighttpd together, aimed at lazy developers and sysadmins.

spawn will setup and start a lighttpd server with a minimal configuration to serve one symfony project. The server will not be run as a separate user, which is ideal for developers; also, the server logs will be written in the project's "log" directory and will include PHP errors.

mksymlinks will help you create all the necessary symbolic links to setup a project. It handles:

• symfony symlinks (configurable)
• web/sf (was done as an alias in Apache config examples)
• publish-assets, even for symfony 1.0 and 1.1
• genconf (see below)

Once configured (which is straightforward), it will take only one command to create all the symlinks.

genconf will generate all the rules necessary to setup a vhost in lighttpd. It leverages the include_shell directive which means no endless copy/pasting and easy updates (only restarting lighttpd is necessary).

spawn

If you don't want to configure a full-blown webserver, edit your host file, edit the configuration, have a web server running even when you don't need it, or deal with permissions, then this tool it for you.

Quick start

First, make sure that all required symbolic links are created. You can use mksymlinks (see below) to help you with that.

cd /path/to/your-project
/path/to/symfttpd/spawn

It will display something like that:

lighttpd started on 127.0.0.1, port 4042.

Available applications:
 http://127.0.0.1:4042/backend.php
 http://127.0.0.1:4042/backend_dev.php
 http://127.0.0.1:4042/frontend_dev.php
 http://127.0.0.1:4042/index.php

Press Ctrl+C to stop serving.

All done!

Configuration

You can alter the default lighttpd.conf template and the default paths, by using the symfttpd.conf.php mechanism.

Available options

• --port=<port> or -p<port>: Use a different port (default is 4042) (useful for running multiple projects at the same time)
• --all or -A: Listen on all interfaces (overrides --bind)
• --bind=<port> or -b<ip>: Listen on a specific IP (default is 127.0.0.1)
• --path=<path>: Use a different project path (default is current dir)
• --tail or t: Display server logs in the console (like the UNIX tail command would do)
• --no-color or C: Disable colored output (also automatically disabled if the output is piped)
• --single-process or -s: Do not try to run lighttpd in another process (not recommended, you will lose auto-reloading of the rewriting rules)

mksymlinks

If you don't want to spend time with repetitive symlink creation each time you set up a new project, then this tool is for you.

Quick start

mkdir -p ~/Dev
cd ~/Dev # default path, you can customize it (see Configuration)
# get all symfony branches
svn co http://svn.symfony-project.com/branches symfony

Create a config/symfttpd.conf.php file with the following contents:

<?php
$options['want'] = '1.2'; // The version of symfony used by your project
$options['lib_symlink'] = 'lib/vendor/symfony'; // lib/vendor/symfony will lead to the "lib" directory of symfony

cd /path/to/your-project
/path/to/symfttpd/mksymlinks

All done!

You should ignore all the symlinks in your version control system, but commit config/symfttpd.conf.php so other developers can use symfttpd instantly if they wish to do so.

Other typical setups

Typical contents for a symfony 1.0 project:

<?php
$options['want'] = '1.0';
$options['lib_symlink'] = 'lib/symfony';
$options['data_symlink'] = 'data/symfony'; // leads to the "data" directory of symfony

Typical contents for a symfony 1.1 project:

<?php
$options['want'] = '1.1';
$options['lib_symlink'] = false;
$options['symfony_symlink'] = 'vendor/symfony'; // leads to the root directory of symfony

Configuration

You can override many default options globally (user-level) or locally (project-level). For example, putting this in ~/.symfttpd.conf.php will change the path of symfony 1.0 to ~/symfony-1.0 for all of your projects.

<?php
$options['sf_path']['1.0'] = getenv('HOME').'/symfony-1.0';

If you want to know all available options and their use, you can open symfttpd.conf.php in the symfttpd directory.

As a rule, user-level config is for things that only concern your computer, while project-level config is for things that only concern your project.

Available options

• --path=<path>: Use a different project path (default is current dir)

genconf

If you don't want to copy/paste lighttpd configs, handle regexps when you add files, or fight rewriting issues (which can often happen considering that most available examples are badly written), then this tool is for you. It is also used internally by spawn.

Quick start

This first part is unnecessary if you used mksymlinks:

cd /path/to/example.com/config
ln -s /path/to/symfttpd/genconf ./lighttpd.php

lighttpd config:

$HTTP["host"] == "example.com" {
  include_shell "/path/to/example.com/config/lighttpd.php"
}

or if you want a different default application:

$HTTP["host"] == "mobile.example.com" {
  include_shell "/path/to/example.com/config/lighttpd.php --default=mobile"
}

If symfttpd is running in single-process mode, or you only running an independent lighttpd, you have to restart it each time you add a file the the web/ root. Hopefully, it doesn't happen often. Also, don't forget to run php symfony plugin:publish-assets, or even better, mksymlinks before.

Available options

• -d <app> (default): Change the default application (default being index)
• -o (only): Do not allow any other application
• -a <app1,app2> (allow): Useful with -o, allow some other applications (useful for allowing a _dev alternative, for example)
• -n <dir1,dir2> (nophp): Deny PHP execution in the specified directories (default being uploads).

For portability reasons, only short options (one letter) are used.

How is the /sf/ alias handled?

Since now plugins' web dirs are handled by symbolic links, using an alias in the server config for /sf/ doesn't make sense. You can use mksymlinks to create this symlink and many others for you (including the symlink for genconf!).

FAQ

How do I pronounce it?!

lighttpd being pronounced lighty, I recommend symfy.

Is Windows supported?

No, and it probably never will be.

Can I use genconf in production?

Yes. I'd say you should, since the command line options of genconf are thought for that particular use. genconf does not run symfony or any other external files, nor writes anything anywhere, so it is very little risk.

Can I use mksymlinks in production?

Yes.

Can I use spawn in production?

No!

Can I start spawn in the background?

Yes, just add & after your command.

/path/to/symfttpd/spawn &

To stop a running symfttpd (backgrounding or not), just run:

/path/to/symfttpd/spawn --kill