Server Structure

Server Structure Reference

AWS Production Server: 18.218.4.234

Standard Linux Directory Structure

/                           <- Root of everything
|-- home/                   <- User home directories (like Users/ on Mac)
|   |-- ubuntu/             <- Your personal space when you SSH in
|   +-- otheruser/
|
|-- var/                    <- "Variable" data - things that change during operation
|   |-- www/                <- Web server files (convention, not required)
|   |-- log/                <- System logs
|   +-- mail/               <- Email storage
|
|-- etc/                    <- Configuration files
|   |-- nginx/              <- Nginx config
|   +-- ssh/                <- SSH server config
|
|-- usr/                    <- User programs (installed software)
|   |-- bin/                <- Commands like git, php, etc.
|   +-- lib/                <- Libraries
|
|-- bin/                    <- Essential commands (ls, cp, etc.)
|-- root/                   <- Root user's home directory (admin)
|-- tmp/                    <- Temporary files
+-- opt/                    <- Optional/third-party software

Why /var/www/?

• var = “variable” - data that changes frequently (as opposed to system files)
• Web content changes often (uploads, edits, etc.), so it lives in /var
• /var/www/ is a convention that web servers (Apache, Nginx) use by default
• You could technically put websites anywhere, but this is the standard

Home Directory vs Web Root

/home/ubuntu/	/var/www/sftp/app/
Your personal workspace	Where the website actually runs
Only you can access	Web server (Nginx) serves this to the internet
Put scripts, tools, personal projects here	Put website files here
Not publicly accessible	Publicly accessible via HTTP

---

Our Server’s Actual Structure

/
|-- home/
|   +-- ubuntu/                     <- Where you land when you SSH in
|       |-- my-websocket-app/       <- Node.js WebSocket app
|       |-- twilio-caller/          <- Twilio integration
|       |-- native-websocket/
|       +-- whisper-env/            <- AI/transcription related
|
|-- var/
|   +-- www/
|       |-- html/                   <- Default Nginx page (mostly unused)
|       |-- sftp/                   <- Our actual websites live here
|       |   |-- app/                <- Main PHP app (My Marketing Pro)
|       |   |-- wordpress/          <- Main WordPress site
|       |   |-- wordpress-mylabelteam.com/
|       |   |-- wordpress-mylawyeradvertising.com/
|       |   |-- wordpress-myprospectingpro.com/
|       |   |-- wordpress-myrealtimeoffers.com/
|       |   |-- wordpress-themycoinc.com/
|       |   |-- wordpress-marketingmenus.com/
|       |   |-- wordpress-mygigpromoter.com/
|       |   |-- acellemail/         <- Email marketing software
|       |   +-- events/
|       +-- sftp.tar.gz             <- 2GB backup file
|
|-- etc/                            <- Configs (Nginx, PHP, MySQL, etc.)
|-- nfs/                            <- Network File System (shared storage)
|-- opt/                            <- Third-party software
|-- tmp/                            <- Temporary files
+-- root/                           <- Root user's home (not same as /)

---

Main Application: /var/www/sftp/app/

This is the My Marketing Pro PHP application. Key directories and files:

/var/www/sftp/app/
|-- admin/                  <- Admin panel files
|-- ajax/                   <- AJAX handlers
|-- api/                    <- API endpoints
|-- app-functions/          <- Shared PHP functions
|-- app-dashboard.php       <- Main dashboard
|-- app-crm-full.php        <- CRM functionality
|-- app-auth.php            <- Authentication
|-- admin-dashboard.php     <- Admin dashboard
+-- ...                     <- Many more PHP files

---

File Ownership

Owner	Meaning
root	System files, requires sudo to modify
www-data	Web server user (Nginx/PHP runs as this)
sftp	Files uploaded via SFTP by coworker
ubuntu	Your user account

---

SSH Access

# SSH into server (manage server)
ssh mymarketingpro

# Or directly
ssh -i ~/.ssh/mymarketingpro ubuntu@18.218.4.234

SFTP Access

# SFTP into server (file access)
sftp mymarketingpro

---

Important Notes

• Disk Usage: Server is 86% full (41GB of 48GB). Monitor this.
• Backup file: /var/www/sftp.tar.gz is 2GB - can be deleted if not needed
• Git: Version 2.43.0 is installed on the server

---

Git Workflow

Branch Strategy

Branch	Purpose
main	Your changes (dev team) - deploy from here
production	Coworker’s FTP changes - auto-committed every 15 min

How It Works

Coworker (FTP) ──► Production Server ──► Cron auto-commits to `production` branch
                                                      │
                                                      ▼
                                         GitHub `production` branch
                                                      │
                                         You review changes via PR
                                                      │
                                                      ▼
You (local dev) ──► Push to `main` ◄─── Merge approved changes
                          │
                          ▼
              Deploy: ssh + git pull on server

Your Workflow

# 1. Check for coworker's changes
#    Go to: https://github.com/my-marketing-pro/mmp-webapp/compare/main...production

# 2. If there are changes you want, create a PR to merge production → main

# 3. Work on your changes locally
git checkout main
# ... make edits ...
git add .
git commit -m "Your changes"
git push

# 4. Deploy your changes to production server
ssh mymarketingpro "cd /var/www/sftp/app && sudo git checkout main && sudo git pull"

Auto-Commit Cron Job

• Runs every 15 minutes (at :00, :15, :30, :45)
• Script location: /usr/local/bin/auto-commit-mmp.sh
• Log file: /var/log/auto-commit.log
• Commits to: production branch

Deploy Script

# To deploy main branch changes to production:
ssh mymarketingpro "cd /var/www/sftp/app && sudo git stash && sudo git checkout main && sudo git pull && sudo git stash pop"

Viewing FTP Changes

To see what your coworker changed via FTP:

• GitHub compare: https://github.com/my-marketing-pro/mmp-webapp/compare/main…production
• Create PR: https://github.com/my-marketing-pro/mmp-webapp/pull/new/production