[BETA] Dead Man's Switch

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Dog Cow
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by Dog Cow »

IPB_Refugee wrote:That's of course an idea which should be considered, Dog Cow!

But what happens when the trustee forgets his/her password?
Presumably, the trustee is someone who regularly visits the site, so he wouldn't forget his password. If he did, he can just use the 'I forgot my password' feature.
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IPB_Refugee
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by IPB_Refugee »

@Dog Cow:

I see. When the forum's password is used, the trustee might not forget it so easy. But what if you have more than one trustee? And I think, deadman.txt should be save enough due to .htaccess and the possibility to rename the file. Yes, your hoster has also access to your webspace. But he doesn't need the data in deadman.txt as he already has them. ;)

@Martin:

As far as I can tell, your code looks pretty. :) Unfortunately I can't tell much about the PMing part because I'm not so familar with it yet. I will learn from you. The idea of sending dead_man_alert_pm, dead_man_reset_pm and dead_man_trigger_reset_pm is surely a nice one.

A few notes:
trigger_error('Invalid $dead_man_file', E_USER_ERROR);
Does that solve the mentioned problem? Interesting.

Code: Select all

if (!isset($config['dead_man_status']))
{
	set_config('dead_man_status', 'checking');
	set_config('dead_man_trigger', time() + $dead_man_days * 86400);
}
Ha ha, that's the best solution! When you install the MOD, it's clear that you are still alive - even when you don't visit the board. :lol:

A question: Is it not necessary to set is_dynamic to true for example in set_config('dead_man_trigger', time() + $dead_man_days * 86400, true) or have you only forgotten it?

Regards
Wolfgang
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MartectX
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by MartectX »

IPB_Refugee wrote:
trigger_error('Invalid $dead_man_file', E_USER_ERROR);
Does that solve the mentioned problem? Interesting.
E_USER_ERROR outputs are the kind of outputs you get when your database is down - no style information is used for them. Errors should not occur - so they don't have to be pretty. ;)
IPB_Refugee wrote:A question: Is it not necessary to set is_dynamic to true for example in set_config('dead_man_trigger', time() + $dead_man_days * 86400, true) or have you only forgotten it?
The is_dynamic field sets whether the field is cached or not. When is_dynamic is set to 1, the config value is not cached and is instead loaded at every page load. If it's set to 0, it's cached and not loaded every page load.

So it's best to set it to 0 unless you have a value that changes often... i.e. total board posts/members.
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by IPB_Refugee »

Thanks for your answers!
MartectX wrote:So it's best to set it to 0 unless you have a value that changes often... i.e. total board posts/members.
I see. Or when you heavily test this MOD... I even installed primehalo's Anti Cache MOD because I got angry in having always to purge the cache. :roll:

Have a nice weekend!
Wolfgang
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by MartectX »

Version 0.1.1
  • Security related changes
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darksnow.co.uk
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by darksnow.co.uk »

I like this idea for a MOD and will install it on my site but I have a couple of ideas, tell me why I'm wrong.

It can be assumed that anyone going to take over the site is a user already, mod or admin or not, so why not just PM the message, with any security related details, to the user. That would save any need for email addresses and the likes and would mean that any registered email addresses that have been forgotten or are otherwise not used don't cause a problem.

A good admin interface to enter the text of the message and select a list of users that message will go to is all that is needed and should be included in the ACP.

Also, I don't think there is a way to retrieve passwords from the database due to the encryption, so this mod should simply be a text file, as you have, with an arbitrary message in it. Perhaps a template message could be included to remind the admin what details need to be sent.

Finally, I'm not sure if I got the wrong end of the stick here, but doesn't phpbb already have it's own cron facilities, you don't need to create a real cron job for the check.

Anyway, good mod, sorry if I'm misunderstanding something and good luck getting this finished.
Welcome to the DarkSide - http://www.darksnow.co.uk - UK Snowboarding Forum
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MartectX
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by MartectX »

darksnow.co.uk wrote:It can be assumed that anyone going to take over the site is a user already, mod or admin or not, so why not just PM the message, with any security related details, to the user. That would save any need for email addresses and the likes and would mean that any registered email addresses that have been forgotten or are otherwise not used don't cause a problem.
My server hosts multiple sites and I would not want to give access to it all to any forum member. If I would create a user for my trustee, on the other hand, I can bet he'll forget the password because he had no interest in the board in the first place.
darksnow.co.uk wrote:Also, I don't think there is a way to retrieve passwords from the database due to the encryption, so this mod should simply be a text file, as you have, with an arbitrary message in it. Perhaps a template message could be included to remind the admin what details need to be sent.
I cannot encrypt the FTP passwords and database access passwords because then my trustee cannot use them!
darksnow.co.uk wrote:Finally, I'm not sure if I got the wrong end of the stick here, but doesn't phpbb already have it's own cron facilities, you don't need to create a real cron job for the check.
Yes, it does. May be worth a look, thanks.
Christopher
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by Christopher »

wow what a cool freaking mod! I was just thinking about this the other day as I run quite a few forums. I don't give the password to my websites to my wife! So if anything happened to me, poof that's it no more site. This really is a very cool mod.

Although I'm a little weary of installing it...don't wont to jinx anything :P
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by MartectX »

Christopher wrote:Although I'm a little weary of installing it...don't wont to jinx anything :P
In its current state its difficult to jinx anything. The only changes to the database are a couple of entries into the config table.
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by Christopher »

when I say jinx, I mean me crashing my car on the way to work :)
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MartectX
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by MartectX »

Christopher wrote:when I say jinx, I mean me crashing my car on the way to work :)
:lol:
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adcantu
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by adcantu »

actually, after having read the 5 pages of this thread, I think NOT installing the mod is a jinx lol. Now that someone is working on something like this, if I dont use it, I will NEED it tomorrow! :shock:

It looks great, I will install it on my test site probably tomorrow, and look forward to helping test it as you progress through!

Awesome idea.
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by MartectX »

Version 0.1.2
  • Prevent instant triggering when using an older, restored database
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by Neuropass »

is there a roadmap or something?
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MartectX
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Re: [BETA] Dead Man's Switch

Post by MartectX »

Neuropass wrote:is there a roadmap or something?
Neither.
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