Trying to switch from mod_php to mod_fcgi

[ashleykaryl]

I have a server which seems to be working fine for the most part except with a wordpress install, where it is proving impossible to apply any updates either to plugins or wordpress itself. This became apparent as the server was being set up but the server manager I hired liked to go walkabout for extended periods and eventually disappeared.

I have just hired another server manager to look at this and he tells me this problem exists because the server has been set up using mod_php which he advises against and said it could be fixed by switching to mod_fcgi. After many hours of trying however, every time he attempts to fix this and restarts the httpd you see the "Internal Server Error" page with the error in the logs. He has tried changing the client limits.

He said:

"The fix is to use either:

suPHP
CGI
FastCGI

which run under the sites username. Any files made are made under your name, which resolves the plugin issue. The only PHP process that works on your server is mod_php, which, while fast, is not that secure as it runs under "apache".

FastCGI and CGI come up with the same issue:

[Sun Sep 19 05:06:45 2010] [warn] (104)Connection reset by peer: mod_fcgid: read data from fastcgi server error.
[Sun Sep 19 05:06:45 2010] [error] [client 124.168.0.12] Premature end of script headers: phpinfo.php

suPHP also refuses to work."

Does anybody here know how to get this to work? It seems to be surprisingly tricky.

Thanks

Ashley