PHP Installation Tracker

PHP
1

Hi,

I need to know how many users have actually installed and use my PHP product. For this I like to give an option when installing for asking users’ permission.

Is there an already implemented way for tracking installations?

What I was thinking is to have an RSS feed in the product and count number of subscribers.
But that may not provide distinguished installations.

Please add your thoughts…

Thank you…

2

‘my PHP product’… i assume you mean some package of code.

It wouldnt be foolproof, but… (pseudocode)

if (!file_exists(‘lic.txt’)) {
//Go Get contents of file from your website
//Write a lic.txt
}

and then your website tracks pulls of that page as installs.

3

Hi StarLion,

Thanks a lot for your solution.

By “My product”, I actually meant a product that I hope to develop.

In your code block, what if we write a unique number for each installation and manage to send a query to tracking site like below time to time.

http://www.example.com/tracker-of-existing-users.php?r3445465rygahgty7

4

Well i assumed you only wanted to send a single signal on installation.

It… is possible to do… but unless you’re packaging something like *AMP that would control php’s installation, you cant be sure that XYZ configuration is active/possible.

There are ways around it, but without knowing a little bit more about your product i cant answer.

1: Are you in control of PHP’s installation/configuration INSIDE your product
2: Are you using an install page to configure the setup/run database setups/etc etc (ALA every forum software)
3: Do you want a 1-time shot to your server, or a periodic, or…?

5

Hi StartLion,

My product would be a simple project management tool. It will have a wizard kind of installer that sets up the database and configuration files. But it won’t have control on PHP installation. It will be a set of PHP files packaged together.

I may create an EXE with an AMP stack for Windows users. But I guess main product (File archive) will have more exposure.

I would like a periodic tracker. But if it is not possible, even one time signal is fine.

Thanks.

6

Store a timestamp in the database somewhere (part of the config table, preferably)… part of pulling your config on pageload will be to check if the timestamp is more than <periodoftime> seconds old. If so, set the timestamp to time(), then have the server reach out and touch (file_get_contents, curl, ftp? depends on the setup what works and what doesnt) your server. Your server may want to filter that a little bit more (Ignore multiple signals from the same server at the same rough timeframe, to prevent overlap)