Creating a Maintenance Page - Revision history

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk: Updated supported ciphers to remove weak ones

2025-09-09T12:05:49Z

Updated supported ciphers to remove weak ones

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk at 14:02, 4 July 2025

2025-07-04T14:02:22Z

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk: Added ErrorDocument for 503 so it uses homepage

2024-08-02T15:37:56Z

Added ErrorDocument for 503 so it uses homepage

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk: Need space between ^ and /index.html in HTTPS config

2024-08-02T15:33:54Z

Need space between ^ and /index.html in HTTPS config

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk: Fixes config typo

2024-06-13T09:08:27Z

Fixes config typo

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk: reworked various steps

2024-03-17T00:54:03Z

reworked various steps

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk: Added info abouu update auto... filenames in index page

2024-03-15T23:59:36Z

Added info abouu update auto... filenames in index page

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk at 11:31, 15 March 2024

2024-03-15T11:31:29Z

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk: Reformatted layout to make it easier to maintain

2024-03-15T11:25:45Z

Reformatted layout to make it easier to maintain

Drn@ecs.soton.ac.uk at 11:14, 15 March 2024

2024-03-15T11:14:58Z

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
       SSLCompression off
       SSLSessionTickets off
-      SSLCipherSuite ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256
+      SSLCipherSuite ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
       SSLCertificateFile /opt/eprints3/archives/example/ssl/eprints.example.org.crt
       SSLCertificateKeyFile /opt/eprints3/archives/example/ssl/eprints.example.org.key

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
       SSLCompression off
       SSLSessionTickets off
-      SSLCipherSuite ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA2
+      SSLCipherSuite ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256
       SSLCertificateFile /opt/eprints3/archives/example/ssl/eprints.example.org.crt
       SSLCertificateKeyFile /opt/eprints3/archives/example/ssl/eprints.example.org.key

@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
       DocumentRoot /var/www/maintenance
       <Directory /var/www/maintenance/>
           Options +Indexes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews
@@ Line 48: / Line 49: @@
           RewriteRule ^ /index.html [R=503]
       </Directory>
-−
       ErrorLog logs/error_log
       TransferLog logs/access_log
@@ Line 71: / Line 72: @@
       DocumentRoot /var/www/maintenance
       <Directory /var/www/maintenance/>
           Options +Indexes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
           RewriteEngine On
           RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(index|style|javascript|images)
-          RewriteRule ^/index.html [R=503]
+          RewriteRule ^ /index.html [R=503]
       </Directory>

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
           RewriteEngine On
           RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(index|style|javascript|images)
-          RewriteRule ^ /index.html [R=503]
+          RewriteRule ^/index.html [R=503]
       </Directory>

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 Sometimes there is a need to be able to completely disable access to content on your repository, but you want users to be aware that the repository is just unavailable temporarily for scheduled maintenance, which turning off your web server would not be possible.  A common situation where you may want to do this is when you need to make alterations to the database and you want to ensure this does not otherwise change whilst you are making these alterations.  The best way of doing this is to create a maintenance page, for which requests to your repository will be redirected.
-The following guide provides instructions on how to produce a fully branded maintenance page.  It is based on an approach originally developed for the CentOS 7 Linux but should work more generally, however, file paths are liable to be different. Similarly, if you are running Apache 2.2, then the '''Require all granted''' line will be different (see [https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/upgrading.html#access Apache's Upgrade Note]).
+The following guide provides instructions on how to produce a fully branded maintenance page.  It is based on an approach originally developed for the CentOS 7 Linux but should work more generally, however, file paths are liable to be different.
-* Create a directory to host your maintenance page and move to this directory:
+. Create a directory to host your maintenance page:
-  mkdir /var/www/maintenance</code>
+  mkdir /var/www/maintenance
-* On the repository's server, as root symlink the images, javascript and style directories from your archives HTML cache directory E.g.<br>
+. Copy the images, javascript and style directories from your archive's HTML cache directory to the maintenance page directory:
-  ln -s /opt/eprints3/archives/example/html/en/images
+  cp -rf /opt/eprints3/archives/example/html/en/images /var/www/maintenance/
-  ln -s /opt/eprints3/archives/example/html/en/javascript
+  cp -rf /opt/eprints3/archives/example/html/en/javascript /var/www/maintenance/
-  ln -s /opt/eprints3/archives/example/html/en/style
+  cp -rf /opt/eprints3/archives/example/html/en/style /var/www/maintenance/
-* Move to the '''/var/www/maintenance/''' directory and download the homepage of your repository.  E.g.
+. Download the homepage of your repository.  E.g.
-  wget -O index.html http://eprints.example.org/
+  wget -O /var/www/maintenance/index.html <nowiki>http://eprints.example.org/</nowiki>
-* Edit '''/var/www/maintenance/index.html''' and update the '''auto-X.Y.Z.css''' and '''auto-X.Y.Z.js''' with '''auth.css''' and '''auto.js'''. Then insert the following HTML markup, adjusting the dates '''DD/MM/YYYY''', time '''HH:MM''' and '''REPOSITORY_NAME''' as appropriate.  Where to put this will vary between repository; it is usually best placed after the title in the main content part of your page.  (It may also be worth removing various parts of this page, such as the Latest Additions, as visitors will not be able to access them):
+. Edit '''/var/www/maintenance/index.html''' and update the '''auto-X.Y.Z.css''' and '''auto-X.Y.Z.js''' with '''auto.css''' and '''auto.js'''. Then insert the following HTML markup, adjusting the dates '''DD/MM/YYYY''', time '''HH:MM''' and '''REPOSITORY_NAME''' as appropriate.  Where to put this will vary between repository; it is usually best placed after the title in the main content part of your page.  (It may also be worth removing various parts of this page, such as the Latest Additions, as visitors will not be able to access them):
   &lt;div class="ep_msg_warning"&gt;
     &lt;div class="ep_msg_warning_content"&gt;
@@ Line 36: / Line 35: @@
   &lt;/div&gt;
-* Create '''/root/eprints-maintenance.conf''' containing the following lines, while updating '''ServerName''' and '''ServerAdmin''' as appropriate:
+. Create '''/root/eprints-maintenance.conf''' containing the following lines, while updating '''ServerName''' and '''ServerAdmin''' as appropriate:
   <VirtualHost *:80>
       ServerName eprints.example.org
@@ Line 56: / Line 54: @@
   </VirtualHost>
-* If your repository uses '''HTTPS''' you will also need to create a file called '''/root/eprints-maintenance-ssl.conf''' with the following contents. Update '''ServerName''', '''ServerAdmin''', '''SSLCertificateFile''', '''SSLCertificateKeyFile''' and '''SSLCertificateChainFile''' as appropriate:
+. Assuming your repository uses '''HTTPS''' you will also need to create a file called '''/root/eprints-maintenance-ssl.conf''' with the following contents. Update '''ServerName''', '''ServerAdmin''', '''SSLCertificateFile''', '''SSLCertificateKeyFile''' and '''SSLCertificateChainFile''' as appropriate:
   <VirtualHost *:443>
@@ Line 93: / Line 91: @@
   </VirtualHost>
-* Next you will need to find the following line line in '''/etc/httpd/''' (On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora) or '''/etc/apache2/''' (on Ubuntu/Debian) and comment it out:
+. Next you will need to find the first line below in '''/etc/httpd/''' (On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora) or '''/etc/apache2/''' (on Ubuntu/Debian) and comment it out and add the second line:
   Include /opt/eprints3/cfg/apache.conf
   Include /root/eprints-maintenance.conf
-* Again if you are running HTTPS on your repository you will need to find the following or similar line in '''/etc/httpd/''' or '''/etc/apache2/''' and comment it out:
+. Assuming you are running HTTPS on your repository you will need to find the first line of something in '''/etc/httpd/''' or '''/etc/apache2/''' and comment it out and then add the second line:
   Include /opt/eprints3/archives/*/ssl/securevhost.conf
   Include /root/eprints-maintenance-ssl.conf
-* Finally, you will need to restart the web server:
+. Finally, you will need to restart the web server:
-  apachectl graceful
+  apachectl restart
 You should now see that any request to your repository is redirected to '''/index.html''' (e.g. <nowiki>http://eprints.example.org/index.html</nowiki>), which displays your maintenance page.
-Once maintenance is completed all you need to do is uncomment the line(s) commented out in step 6 (and step 7) where appropriate and to save time for future scheduled maintenance, comment out the new lines you added.  Then just restart the web server like in step 8.
+Once maintenance is completed, all you need to do the reverse the commenting out in steps 7 and 8 as appropriate. (Keeping the new lines but commented out will save you time if you need to re-enable the maintenance page in future).  Then just restart the web server again.
-If you have planned maintenance again, assuming your branding does not change in the meantime, all you need to do is update the times in '''/var/www/maintenance/index.html''' uncomment and comment out the lines in steps 6 and 7 as appropriate and restart the web server and your maintenance page is back in place.
+If you have planned maintenance again, assuming your branding does not change in the meantime, all you need to do is update the times in '''/var/www/maintenance/index.html''' uncomment and comment out the lines in steps 7 and 8 as appropriate and restart the web server and your maintenance page is back in place.

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
         &lt;tr&gt;
           &lt;td style="padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; vertical-align: top;"&gt;
-            &lt;img alt="Warning" src="/style/warning.png" /&gt;
+            &lt;img alt="Warning" src="/style/images/warning.png" /&gt;
           &lt;/td&gt;
           &lt;td&gt;

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 <code>ln -s /opt/eprints3/archives/example/html/en/images</code>
 <code>ln -s /opt/eprints3/archives/example/html/en/javascript</code>
 <code>ln -s /opt/eprints3/archives/example/html/en/style</code>
 </li><li>