I'm new to the Linux world and to the world of server administration. I bought a used Pentium D (2.66) to use as a personal web server. I have Ubuntu Server running with Apache2, php5, and mysql.
My next step is to venture into the world of php based CMS's. Until now I have only really worked with proprietary CMS's in ASP and ASP.NET and I'm trying to expand my horizons. I was reading about server requirements for WordPress and one of the things that caught my eye was that the server needed to allow outgoing http requests (remote connections.)
How do I test an outgoing HTTP request? If my test fails, how do I allow it?
I assume I would need to modify a config file somewhere. I also assume that I would need to modify my router as well.
Thanks for any help.
link to wordpress page: http://codex.wordpress.org/Hosting_WordPress
Best Answer
This isn't quite as big of a deal as it sounds. Basically you don't want to block ports (via IP Tables or firewall, etc) that would be necessary for Wordpress to function. For example, if you host your database on a separate server, don't block the ports required to communicate with that server.
Wordpress also has a few feature built in that need to open a connection. For example, Wordpress will check to see if the current installed version matches the latest version available from Wordpress. You can also download themes and plugins from within Wordpress - so a connection has to be opened by Wordpress to download the files you select.
You can test this one of two ways - fire up your server with wordpress installed and navigate to Appearance->Themes, click the "install themes" tab, type in a term like 'simple' and search. If you see results, you know Wordpress is able to connect out to the world.
Another method is to ensure that you have Curl enabled in PHP.ini and use the example found at:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/curl.examples-basic.php
Edit the URL. If successful, this will write a sample file to the directory you run the script from.