Configure Cherokee web server with MySQL database optimization and performance tuning

Update system packages

Start by updating your package manager to ensure you get the latest versions of Cherokee and MySQL.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

sudo dnf update -y

Install Cherokee web server

Install Cherokee along with its admin interface for easy configuration management.

sudo apt install -y cherokee cherokee-admin libcherokee-mod-libssl libcherokee-mod-streaming

sudo dnf install -y cherokee cherokee-admin cherokee-devel

Install MySQL server and development libraries

Install MySQL server along with development headers needed for Cherokee's MySQL integration.

sudo apt install -y mysql-server mysql-client libmysqlclient-dev php-mysql php-fpm

sudo dnf install -y mysql-server mysql-devel php php-mysqlnd php-fpm

Start and secure MySQL

Enable MySQL service and run the security script to set up initial authentication.

sudo systemctl enable --now mysql
sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to set a root password and remove test databases.

Create MySQL database and user

Create a dedicated database and user for your web application with optimized privileges.

sudo mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE webapp_db CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'webapp_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_password_here';
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON webapp_db.* TO 'webapp_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Optimize MySQL configuration

Configure MySQL with performance optimizations for web applications and Cherokee integration.

[mysqld]
InnoDB Optimization
innodb_buffer_pool_size = 256M
innodb_log_file_size = 64M
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2
innodb_flush_method = O_DIRECT

Query Cache (for read-heavy workloads)
query_cache_type = 1
query_cache_size = 64M
query_cache_limit = 2M

Connection Optimization
max_connections = 200
max_connect_errors = 10000
connect_timeout = 10
wait_timeout = 600
interactive_timeout = 600

Thread Cache
thread_cache_size = 16
thread_stack = 256K

Table Cache
table_open_cache = 4000
table_definition_cache = 2000

Slow Query Log
slow_query_log = 1
slow_query_log_file = /var/log/mysql/slow.log
long_query_time = 2

Binary Logging
log_bin = /var/log/mysql/mysql-bin.log
binlog_expire_logs_seconds = 259200
max_binlog_size = 100M

Restart MySQL and verify optimization

Apply the configuration changes and verify MySQL is running with optimized settings.

sudo systemctl restart mysql
sudo systemctl status mysql
mysql -u root -p -e "SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'innodb_buffer_pool_size';"

Configure PHP-FPM for Cherokee

Set up PHP-FPM with optimized settings for Cherokee web server integration.

[www]
user = www-data
group = www-data
listen = /run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock
listen.owner = www-data
listen.group = www-data
listen.mode = 0660

pm = dynamic
pm.max_children = 20
pm.start_servers = 4
pm.min_spare_servers = 2
pm.max_spare_servers = 6
pm.max_requests = 500

; Performance tuning
request_terminate_timeout = 60s
rlimit_files = 65536
rlimit_core = 0

; Security
security.limit_extensions = .php .php3 .php4 .php5 .php7 .php8

Optimize PHP configuration

Configure PHP with MySQL optimizations and performance settings for Cherokee.

; Memory and execution limits
memory_limit = 256M
max_execution_time = 60
max_input_time = 60
post_max_size = 32M
upload_max_filesize = 32M
max_file_uploads = 20

; MySQL/MySQLi optimization
mysql.connect_timeout = 10
mysql.default_socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
mysqli.default_socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock

; PDO MySQL optimization
pdo_mysql.default_socket = /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
pdo_mysql.cache_size = 2000

; OPcache configuration
opcache.enable = 1
opcache.memory_consumption = 128
opcache.max_accelerated_files = 4000
opcache.validate_timestamps = 1
opcache.revalidate_freq = 60

; Session optimization
session.save_handler = files
session.gc_maxlifetime = 1440
session.gc_probability = 1
session.gc_divisor = 100

Start PHP-FPM service

Enable and start PHP-FPM to handle dynamic content processing for Cherokee.

sudo systemctl enable --now php8.3-fpm
sudo systemctl status php8.3-fpm

Start Cherokee admin interface

Launch Cherokee's web-based admin interface for easy configuration management.

sudo cherokee-admin -b
sudo systemctl enable cherokee

The admin interface will be available at http://your-server-ip:9090. Note the one-time password displayed in the terminal.

Configure Cherokee FastCGI for PHP

Set up FastCGI to connect Cherokee with PHP-FPM for dynamic content processing.

In the Cherokee admin interface:

• Go to vServers → default → Behavior
• Click Rule Management → Add new rule
• Select Extensions and enter: php
• Set Handler to FastCGI
• Configure the FastCGI source:

Information Source: Local Interpreter
Host: localhost
Socket: /run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock
Spawn Server: No

Configure Cherokee caching

Enable Cherokee's built-in caching system for improved performance with database-driven content.

In the Cherokee admin interface:

• Go to vServers → default → Behavior
• Add a new rule for Directory: /
• Set Handler to Static Content
• Enable Only allow GET and HEAD methods
• Configure caching in the Expiration tab:

Mode: Specify max-age
Time: 1h
No cache: Uncheck
Public: Check

Configure Cherokee compression

Enable GZIP compression to reduce bandwidth usage and improve load times.

In the Cherokee admin interface:

• Go to vServers → default → Encoding
• Check Allow x-gzip and Allow gzip
• Set compression level to 6 (balanced speed/ratio)
• Add MIME types:

text/plain
text/html
text/css
text/javascript
application/javascript
application/json
application/xml
text/xml

Create MySQL connection pool configuration

Configure connection pooling to optimize database performance under load.

host};dbname={$this->database};charset=utf8mb4";
            $options = [
                PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
                PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC,
                PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT => true,
                PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND => "SET NAMES utf8mb4",
                PDO::ATTR_TIMEOUT => 10,
            ];
            
            $this->connection = new PDO($dsn, $this->username, $this->password, $options);
        } catch (PDOException $e) {
            error_log("Database connection failed: " . $e->getMessage());
            throw $e;
        }
    }
    
    public static function getInstance() {
        if (self::$instance === null) {
            self::$instance = new self();
        }
        return self::$instance;
    }
    
    public function getConnection() {
        return $this->connection;
    }
}
?>

Set proper file permissions

Configure secure file permissions for Cherokee and web application files.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html
sudo find /var/www/html -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/html -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
sudo chmod 640 /var/www/html/config/database.php

Apply Cherokee configuration

Save and apply all configuration changes in the Cherokee admin interface.

In the Cherokee admin interface, click Save to apply all changes, then restart Cherokee:

sudo systemctl restart cherokee
sudo systemctl status cherokee

Enable Cherokee performance logging

Configure detailed logging to monitor Cherokee performance and identify bottlenecks.

In the Cherokee admin interface:

• Go to vServers → default → Logging
• Enable Access Log
• Set format to Combined Log Format
• Add custom log for timing:

%h %l %u %t "%r" %>s %b "%{Referer}i" "%{User-agent}i" %D

Monitor MySQL performance

Set up monitoring for MySQL query performance and connection usage.

mysql -u root -p -e "SHOW GLOBAL STATUS LIKE 'Connections';"
mysql -u root -p -e "SHOW GLOBAL STATUS LIKE 'Threads_connected';"
mysql -u root -p -e "SHOW GLOBAL STATUS LIKE 'Slow_queries';"
mysql -u root -p -e "SHOW PROCESSLIST;"

Create performance monitoring script

Set up automated monitoring for Cherokee and MySQL performance metrics.

#!/bin/bash

Cherokee + MySQL Performance Monitor
LOGFILE="/var/log/cherokee_mysql_performance.log"
DATE=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')

echo "[$DATE] Performance Check" >> $LOGFILE

Cherokee process info
CHEROKEE_PROCS=$(ps aux | grep cherokee | grep -v grep | wc -l)
echo "Cherokee processes: $CHEROKEE_PROCS" >> $LOGFILE

MySQL connections
MYSQL_CONNECTIONS=$(mysql -u root -p"$MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD" -e "SHOW GLOBAL STATUS LIKE 'Threads_connected';" -s -N | awk '{print $2}')
echo "MySQL connections: $MYSQL_CONNECTIONS" >> $LOGFILE

PHP-FPM processes
PHP_FPM_PROCS=$(ps aux | grep php-fpm | grep -v grep | wc -l)
echo "PHP-FPM processes: $PHP_FPM_PROCS" >> $LOGFILE

Load average
LOAD_AVG=$(uptime | awk -F'load average:' '{print $2}')
echo "Load average: $LOAD_AVG" >> $LOGFILE

echo "---" >> $LOGFILE

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/monitor_cherokee_mysql.sh
sudo crontab -e

Add this line to run monitoring every 5 minutes:

/5    * /usr/local/bin/monitor_cherokee_mysql.sh