Annotation of doc/build/RHEL5_install.frag, revision 1.9
1.1 albertel 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 System</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
1.5 bisitz 4: server running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 with a minimum of packages installed.
5: The computer will be configured solely as a LON-CAPA server and will be
1.1 albertel 6: expected to have no other services running. Your server is expected to have
7: a reasonably fast connection to the internet.
8: </p><p>
1.5 bisitz 9: More information is available at
1.1 albertel 10: <a href="http://install.lon-capa.org/">http://install.lon-capa.org/</a>.
11: </p>
12:
13: <h2>Before you begin</h2>
14: <p>
15: Installing Linux is getting easier and easier.
16: You will be required to log in to the machine and execute
1.5 bisitz 17: some routine Unix commands. Familiarity with the Apache web server, mod_perl,
1.1 albertel 18: perl, and MySQL are not required to install and run LON-CAPA.
19: </p>
20:
21: <h2>Installation Overview</h2>
22: <p>
23: The installation process takes the following steps:
24: </p>
25: <ol>
1.5 bisitz 26: <li><a href="#obt">Obtain Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 installation CDs</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#lin">Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5</a></li>
29: <li><a href="#upd">Update your system</a></li>
30: <li><a href="#ilc">Install LON-CAPA</a></li>
31: <li><a href="#cdc">Create a Domain Coordinator</a></li>
32: <li><a href="#sts">Start/Restart services</a></li>
33: <li><a href="#log">Log in to LON-CAPA</a></li>
1.1 albertel 34: </ol>
1.8 bisitz 35:
36: <hr>
1.5 bisitz 37: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 CDs</a></h2>
1.1 albertel 38: <p>
1.5 bisitz 39: RHEL5 CDs can be purchased from Red Hat:
1.1 albertel 40: <a href="http://redhat.com/">http://redhat.com/</a>.
41: For the minimal install on 32-bit architecture you will need only the first CD.
1.2 albertel 42: For the minimal install on 64-bit architecture you will need CDs 1, 2, and 4.
1.5 bisitz 43: </p>
1.1 albertel 44:
1.5 bisitz 45: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
1.1 albertel 46: <p>
1.5 bisitz 47: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
1.1 albertel 48: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
49: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
50:
51: <ul>
52: <li>ip address </li>
53: <li>netmask </li>
54: <li>hostname </li>
55: <li>gateway </li>
56: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
57: </ul>
58:
1.5 bisitz 59: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Install</a></h2>
1.1 albertel 60: <p>
61: Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux is quite easy if you've installed any of the Red Hat products
62: before. Documentation is available from
63: <a href="http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/">
64: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/</a>
1.5 bisitz 65: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
1.1 albertel 66: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
67: </p>
68: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
1.3 www 69: <dt>Installation Language</dt>
70: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
1.1 albertel 71: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
72: <dd>If this is a fresh install choose "Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server". If updating from a previous LON-CAPA installation on an earlier Redhat or Fedora version you may prefer to choose the upgrade option, although if you established a separate partition for /home it will be faster to perform an install instead of an upgrade, and use "Create Custom Layout" to set up partitions - making sure to select the "unchanged data" option for the /home partition, in order to preserve your existing LON-CAPA data. A full back-up to tape or some external system is also strongly advised when updating the operating system in use on an existing LON-CAPA server.</dd>
73:
74: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
75: <dd>For a fresh install may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer,
76: however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them. If you want to customize partitioning use "Create Custom Layout".
77: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
1.5 bisitz 78: majority of the disk space should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
79: of space for RHEL, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.
1.1 albertel 80: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
1.5 bisitz 81: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
1.1 albertel 82: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
83: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
84:
85: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
1.5 bisitz 86: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
1.1 albertel 87: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
88: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
89: <dt>Software</dt>
90: <dd>Click the "Customize Now" radio button and for a minimal install uncheck all packages except "Base" in the Base System category. If you leave other packages checked in any of the other categories, you'll need additional ISO CDs.</dd>
91: </dl>
92: <p>
93: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root. The
94: first time you log-in, the Setup Agent will be displayed. (If you exit it early you can enter it again buy running the command
1.8 bisitz 95: </p>
1.1 albertel 96: <pre>
97: setup
98: </pre>
1.8 bisitz 99: <h3>Firewall and SELinux Configuration</h3>
100: <p>
101: This tool should be used to configure the Firewall and SELinux.
1.1 albertel 102: </p>
1.8 bisitz 103: <ol>
104: <li>Select Security Level: Enabled, and Customize, to allow
105: incoming: SSH (remote login), WWW (HTTP) and secure WWW
106: (HTTPS).
107: </li>
108: <li>Set SELinux to Disabled.</li>
109: <li>Select OK, and then Quit</li>
110: </ol>
1.1 albertel 111:
1.5 bisitz 112: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Update your system</a></h2>
1.1 albertel 113: <p>
114: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using yum.
115: </p>
116: <pre>
117: yum update
118: </pre>
119: <p>
120: Reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
121: </p>
122: <p>
123: Retrieve the rhel5_loncapa_yum file from the LON-CAPA install site:
124: </p>
125: <pre>
126: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/5Server/rhel5_loncapa_yum.conf
127: </pre>
128: <p>
129: Install the rhel5_loncapa_yum.conf
130: </p>
131: <pre>
132: mv /etc/yum.conf /etc/yum.conf.backup
133: cp rhel5_loncapa_yum.conf /etc/yum.conf
134: yum update
135: </pre>
1.8 bisitz 136:
1.5 bisitz 137: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
1.1 albertel 138: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
139: <p> Execute: </p>
140: <pre>
141: yum install LONCAPA-prerequisites
142: </pre><p>
1.7 raeburn 143: This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
1.1 albertel 144: </p>
145: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
146: <p>
147: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
148: </p>
149: <pre>
1.7 raeburn 150: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
1.1 albertel 151: </pre>
152: <p>
153: Extract the archive with the following command:
154: </p>
155: <pre>
156: tar xf rhel5_install.tar
157: </pre>
158: <p>
159: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
160: execute the setup script with the following commands:
161: </p>
162: <pre>
163: cd installation
164: ./install.pl
165: </pre>
166: <p>
1.7 raeburn 167: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be
168: used to check the configuration of a system on which LON-CAPA has already been installed. Typically, though, you will run this script only once, when you first install LON-CAPA.
169: </p>
170: <p>
171: The script will analyze your system to determine which actions are recommended. The script will then prompt you to choose the actions you would like taken.
172: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
173: </p>
1.9 ! bisitz 174: <p>The possible actions are:</p>
1.1 albertel 175: <ul>
1.7 raeburn 176: <li>Create the www user/group</li>
177: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li>
178: <li>Set-up the MySQL database</li>
179: <li>Set-up MySQL permissions</li>
180: <li>Configure Apache web server</li>
181: <li>Configure start-up of services</li>
182: <li>Check firewall settings</li>
1.8 bisitz 183: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA,<br>
1.7 raeburn 184: e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li>
185: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li>
1.1 albertel 186: </ul>
187: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
188: <p>
189: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
190: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
191: </p>
192: <dl>
193: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
194: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
195: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
196: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
1.5 bisitz 197: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
1.1 albertel 198: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
199: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
200: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
201: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
202: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
1.5 bisitz 203: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
1.8 bisitz 204: special characters.</i><br>Domain names which include a departmental
1.1 albertel 205: abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
206: a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
207: For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
208: </dd>
209: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
210: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
1.5 bisitz 211: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
1.1 albertel 212: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
213: </dd>
214: <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
215: <dd>If you are setting up a domain with a single library server, then the domain's primary library server ID will be the LON-CAPA host id of that server (e.g., msul1). Once your domain grows and you need to add more servers, one of the library servers in the domain should be assigned as the domain's primary library server. This will be where domain-wide settings will be stored.<dd>
216: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
217: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
1.5 bisitz 218: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
1.1 albertel 219: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
220: </dd>
221: <dt>Support email address</dt>
1.5 bisitz 222: <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system
223: will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to
1.1 albertel 224: display a web form which they will complete to request support from
1.5 bisitz 225: your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents
226: will be sent to the e-mail address you specify.
1.1 albertel 227: </dd>
228: </dl>
229:
230: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
231: <p>
232: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
233: </p>
234: <pre>
1.7 raeburn 235: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.10.0')
1.1 albertel 236: ./UPDATE
237: </pre>
238: <p>
1.5 bisitz 239: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
240: in the previous section.
1.1 albertel 241: </p>
242:
1.5 bisitz 243: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
1.1 albertel 244: <p>
245: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
246: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
247: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
1.7 raeburn 248: invoked below requires that you enter the user's password.
249: Feel free to use the "passwd username" command to change it later.
250: Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate user name and your domain.
1.1 albertel 251: </p>
252: <pre>
1.7 raeburn 253: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build
1.1 albertel 254: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
255: </pre>
256:
1.5 bisitz 257: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
1.1 albertel 258: <p>
259: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
260: will be apparent at this step.
261: </p>
262: <pre>
263: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
264: /etc/init.d/httpd start
265: </pre>
266: <p>
267: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
1.5 bisitz 268: please make sure you followed the instructions in
1.1 albertel 269: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
1.4 raeburn 270: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
1.1 albertel 271: </p>
1.8 bisitz 272:
1.5 bisitz 273: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
1.1 albertel 274: <p>
275: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
276: coordinator. Congratulations!
277: </p>
278:
1.8 bisitz 279: <hr>
1.1 albertel 280: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
281: <p>
1.5 bisitz 282: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
1.4 raeburn 283: there's something wrong, please send a <a href="http://help.loncapa.org/help">help request</a> to the MSU LON-CAPA group. If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or errors during the
1.1 albertel 284: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
285: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
286: </p>
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