[consulting] Structuring Security and Module Update Services
Matt Chapman
Matt at NinjitsuWeb.com
Fri Mar 27 19:15:04 UTC 2009
There are several scripts floating out there you can find with 5 minutes
of googling. I use a slightly modified form of the update script from
the package here:
http://acquia.com/blog/drupal-cli-utils
...with a wrapper script to do all the sites, which is little more than
a `for` loop with a `wait`.
Best,
Matt
Jerad Bitner wrote:
> I'm just wondering if anyone has come up with an easy way to do this.
> For larger scale operations it would seem prudent to have something
> like your own 'update_status' that would report on the various
> installations out there that you are maintaining to tell you what
> versions they are running and what needs upgraded, on a site by site
> basis, instead of having to go to each one and check the update status
> page. Maybe even a solution that gave you some sort of alert through
> email - Site: XYZ has Views 2.2 installed. Please update it to Views
> 2.3 - etc.
>
> On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Brian Vuyk <brian at brianvuyk.com
> <mailto:brian at brianvuyk.com>> wrote:
>
> Sam,
>
> The X hours labor are included in the hosting contract - and that
> is billed regardless of whether it's used or not. However, most of
> my clients are good about making sure they make use of it. It
> covers updating to the latest maintenance release of a Drupal
> series, module updates, and someone to hold their hand, pat them
> on the back, and tell them it is OK when they break their website.
>
> Anything above the agreed upon hours is billed separately.
>
> Not all my clients go for it, but most do. It really depends on
> the needs of the client. If they have a site that has very heavy
> activity / creation of user-generated content, or are concerned
> about security and guaranteed uptime, then they will go for this.
> If they aren't so concerned about security, have more static
> websites, and can stand re-uploading from a backup if their site
> is exploited, then they generally opt out of the maintenance
> hours, or cut it down to 1 or 2 hours.
>
> Some clients use it in consulting time to talk about future
> projects, or discuss how X feature might integrate with their
> website etc. etc.
>
> Brian
>
> Sam Cohen wrote:
>
> Thanks Brian.
> Do you charge for the 3 or 4 hours whether or not you put the
> time in or is that just a cap and you bill for the actual time.
> My clients -- mostly small nonprofits, documentary films,
> small businesses-- probably aren't going to go for a $300 plus
> a monthly maintenance plan to cover upgrades, but I do want to
> start offering it.
> Sam
>
> On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 12:18 PM, Brian Vuyk
> <brian at brianvuyk.com <mailto:brian at brianvuyk.com>
> <mailto:brian at brianvuyk.com <mailto:brian at brianvuyk.com>>> wrote:
>
> Sam,
>
> I put my clients on a monthly 'maintenance' contract to handle
> these things. Generally, 3-4 hours, although some clients want
> more, some less.
>
> What I've done is create a test site which includes a copy of
> every module I've used on a client's site, along with any
> custom
> stuff I've used that depends on certain module functionality. I
> monitor that site for updates, and when a module is updated, I
> update the test site for, make sure that any client-specific
> monkeying I've done works, then roll it out to the clients.
>
> It takes a bit of time up front to replicate some stuff on a
> testsite in addition to the client's site... but it pays off
> because you can catch any bugs introduced by modules ahead
> of time.
>
> This approach is starting to get a bit a bit clunky though.
> I am
> starting to think about using SimpleTest, and writing my
> own tests
> to test for client-specific functionality to ensure that the
> module upgrades are a bit less painless.
>
> Brian
>
> Sam Cohen wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am now going to be offering all my clients security and
> module updates as an ongoing service -- I know. I
> should have
> done it all along.
> I'm curious how others structure this service. Do most
> of you
> do it at a regular interval (to cover modules) or just
> every
> time there's a new release. My thought is to
> offer an option where every time there is a
> Drupal release I will install it and at that time I
> will check
> for any module updates and install those as well. But
> pricing
> wise, it's tricky, because what if you run into trouble
> due to
> a module upgrade that leads to a conflict. Not to mention,
> the time you should take for testing ?
> It seems like the safest way to offer this service is
> to just
> say you will bill hourly for whatever time it takes
> every time
> there is a release. Is that how others do it? If not, how
> much time to you typically charge/take for this.
> Thanks,
> Sam
>
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