FAQ LAMP hosting | Terms of use for LAMP

Effective date of the guideline:

2013

Last updated:

05 February 2013

Guideline owner:

Enterrprise Infrastructure Services (EIS)
ICTS

Table of contents

Background

The LAMP environment is used for sites that cannot be accommodated in either of the other environments due to the technical complexity or due to specific technical requirements.

The LAMP server environment provides a flexible solution for site development and is better suited for building custom sites.

Acronyms and Terms

Acronym

Explanation

ICTS

Information and Communication Technology Services

UCT

University of Cape Town

EIS

Enterprise Infrastructure Services

CMS

Content Management System

CMD

Communications and Marketing Department

Site owner and Administrator

The person responsible for getting approval and managing the site.

LAMP

Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP

Applicable to

UCT faculties, departments and associated units as determined by the Registrar.

Exceptions

Entities outside of the UCT community and for personal use.

Guideline summary

This guideline covers the following aspects:

  1. Eligibility
  2. General
  3. Updates of application software or configuration
  4. Security

Guideline details

  1. Eligibility
    • Only permanent staff my request a site.
    • Only sites for official UCT business or associated units as determined by The Registrar will be catered for.
    • UCT's Communications and Marketing Department (CMD) needs to agree that this is the most appropriate hosting environment for the particular content.
    • Only sites for official UCT business or associated units as determined by The Registrar will be catered for.
    • An organisational entity of UCT, including but not limited to a faculty, department, school, centre, division, group, unit, office, or service.
    • Student groupings may request a website to be developed for either a:
      • Residence
      • Registered Student Society
      • Sports Club
    • Postgraduate students may request a website for their research, work or studies at UCT.  
NOTE:
  • UCT's Communications and Marketing Department (CMD) needs to determine (in consultation with ICTS if necessary) and approve the most appropriate hosting environment for their particular content.
  • The request must be done by either a permanent staff member or student who will be the owner of a site.
  1. General
    • The LAMP environment provides a hosting platform that caters for sites that cannot be accommodated in any of the other hosting environments due to their specific technical complexity.
    • The LAMP environment may not be used for HTML/JavaScript websites. You should use the WordPress environment instead. In WordPress, you can easily add content without having to use HTML coding. You also have the benefit of migrating your web content should the need arise.
    • Site owners may create custom websites with supported technologies.
    • The server will not cater for any CMS systems or items that require installation and configuration or imposes on the default structure.
    • Configuration changes to the webhosting server or MYSQL server will not be allowed unless ICTS deems it beneficial for the entire hosting environment. Only permanent UCT staff will have access to upload site content, files or databases.
    • Development for this platform must be done in line with the versions and configurations that is currently running on the server and must be updated as future versions become available.
    • The webserver will only provide HTTP and HTTPS accessibility.
    • Bulk mailing from the server will not be allowed.
    • A valid/current site owner or active administrator must at all times be assigned to a site.
    • Sites with old or inappropriate content will be removed should the site owner not respond to requests to update their site.
    • Only one site owner per site is allowed and remains the primary contact for that site.
    • Site owners must inform ICTS when ownership is transferred.
    • No advertising may be added to any site without the approval of CMD.
    • Only site owners may request a backup or restore of a particular site.
  2. Updates of application software or configuration
    • Site owners will be notified of upgrades to the hosting platform.
    • Site owners will be responsible for upgrading any necessary code to ensure their sites work with the latest versions of the core software.
    • Site owners will be responsible for testing site functionality on completion of an upgrade of the hosting platform.
  3. Security
    •  Configuration changes and updates to increase the platform's security will be done by ICTS.
    •  Should any pages or databases pose a security risk to the platform, the items will be restricted for the security of the hosting environment and the site owner will be informed to address the issue.