doc/build/RHEL7_install.frag - view

File: [LON-CAPA] / doc / build / RHEL7_install.frag
Revision 1.5: download - view: text, annotated - select for diffs
Sat Mar 13 20:58:10 2021 UTC (3 years, 1 month ago) by raeburn
Branches: MAIN
CVS tags: version_2_12_X, version_2_11_X, version_2_11_4_uiuc, version_2_11_4_msu, version_2_11_4, version_2_11_3_uiuc, version_2_11_3_msu, version_2_11_3, HEAD

- Either firewalld or iptables can be used with LON-CAPA 2.11.3.
- system-config-firewall-tui available from rhel-7-server-optional-rpms repo.

1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System</h1> 2: <p> 3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA 4: server running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 with a minimum of packages installed. 5: The computer will be configured solely as a LON-CAPA server and will be 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> 9: More information is available at 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 17: some routine Unix commands. Familiarity with the Apache web server, mod_perl, 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> 26: <li><a href="#obt">Obtain Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 installation iso file or media</a></li> 27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li> 28: <li><a href="#lin">Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7</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> 34: </ol> 35: 36: <hr> 37: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7</a></h2> 38: <p> 39: RHEL7 downloads are available from Red Hat: 40: <a href="http://redhat.com/">http://redhat.com/</a>. 41: Either download the Boot ISO or the RHEL 7 binary 42: </p> 43: 44: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2> 45: <p> 46: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation. 47: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA. 48: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported. 49: 50: <ul> 51: <li>ip address </li> 52: <li>netmask </li> 53: <li>hostname </li> 54: <li>gateway </li> 55: <li>domain name server(s) </li> 56: </ul> 57: 58: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Install</a></h2> 59: <p> 60: Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux is straightforward. 61: Documentation is available from 62: <a href="https://access.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/"> 63: https://access.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/</a> 64: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory. 65: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below. 66: </p> 67: <dl style="list-style:square outside none"> 68: <dt>Installation Language</dt> 69: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd> 70: <dt>Installation Destination</dt> 71: <dd>For a fresh install may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer. 72: If you want to customize partitioning check the "I will configure partitioning" radio button. 73: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the 74: majority of the disk space should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB 75: of space for RHEL, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 GB. 76: Since Mariadb uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should 77: have at least 4 GB of space available on /var. Be sure to 78: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 MB, but you should 79: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd> 80: <dt>Network and Hostname</dt> 81: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic 82: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect 83: the DHCP option and enter your network information. Enter your hostname</dd> 84: <dt>Software Selection</dt> 85: <dd>Select the "Minimal Install" radio button.</dd> 86: </dl> 87: <p> 88: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root. 89: </p> 90: <h3>Firewall Configuration</h3> 91: <p> 92: Starting with LON-CAPA 2.11.3 you have the option of using either firewalld or iptables to 93: manage the Firewall on your RHEL7 server/VM, as both are compatible with LON-CAPA's 94: port management.</p> 95: <p>Enable access to standard web server ports (i.e., http and https) as follows if using 96: firewalld:</p> 97: <pre> 98: systemctl enable firewalld 99: systemctl start firewalld 100: firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-service=http 101: firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-service=https 102: firewall-cmd --reload 103: </pre> 104: <p>If you prefer to use the traditional iptables package instead of the default firewalld, 105: you will need to install iptables-services, disable firewalld, enable iptables, and then 106: use the system-config-firewall-tui tool to configure the Firewall. 107: </p> 108: <pre> 109: yum install iptables-services 110: systemctl mask firewalld 111: systemctl enable iptables 112: systemctl enable ip6tables 113: systemctl stop firewalld 114: systemctl start iptables 115: systemctl start ip6tables 116: </pre> 117: <p> 118: If you have a subscription to Red Hat you can use subscription-manager to enable the 119: rhel-7-server-optional-rpms, and then install system-config-firewall-tui. 120: </p> 121: <pre> 122: subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-7-server-optional-rpms 123: yum install system-config-firewall-tui 124: </pre> 125: <p>If your server/VM does not currently have a Red Hat subscription you can install wget, 126: then download system-config-firewall-tui from the LON-CAPA installation site and install it. 127: </p> 128: <pre> 129: yum install wget 130: rpm --import http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/RPM-GPG-KEY-loncapa 131: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/7Server/system-config-firewall-tui-1.2.29-10.el7.noarch.rpm 132: yum localinstall system-config-firewall-tui-1.2.29-10.el7.noarch.rpm 133: </pre> 134: <p> 135: If using iptables, use the system-config-firewall-tui tool to configure the Firewall. 136: </p> 137: <pre> 138: system-config-firewall-tui 139: </pre> 140: <ol> 141: <li>Select Security Level: Enabled, and Customize, to allow 142: incoming: SSH (remote login), WWW (HTTP) and secure WWW 143: (HTTPS). 144: </li> 145: <li>Select OK, and then Quit</li> 146: </ol> 147: 148: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Update your system</a></h2> 149: <p> 150: Enable access to the EPEL repository 151: </p> 152: <pre> 153: yum install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm 154: </pre> 155: <p> 156: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using yum. 157: </p> 158: <pre> 159: yum update 160: </pre> 161: <p> 162: Reboot your system before continuing with the installation. 163: </p> 164: <p> 165: Retrieve the rhel7_loncapa_yum file from the LON-CAPA install site: 166: </p> 167: <pre> 168: yum install wget 169: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/7Server/rhel7_loncapa_yum.conf 170: </pre> 171: <p> 172: Install the rhel7_loncapa_yum.conf 173: </p> 174: <pre> 175: mv /etc/yum.conf /etc/yum.conf.backup 176: cp rhel7_loncapa_yum.conf /etc/yum.conf 177: yum update 178: </pre> 179: <p> 180: Verify the required repositories are enabled: 181: </p> 182: <pre> 183: yum repolist enabled 184: </pre> 185: <p> 186: The list of enabled repos should be as follows: 187: </p> 188: <table style="border: 0px; border-collapse: collapse;"> 189: <tr><th>repo id</th><th>repo name</th></tr> 190: <tr><td>epel</td><td>Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 7 - x86_64</td></tr> 191: <tr><td>loncapa-updates-basearch</td><td>RHEL 7Server LON-CAPA x86_64 Updates</td></tr> 192: <tr><td>loncapa-updates-noarch</td><td>RHEL 7Server LON-CAPA noarch Updates</td></tr> 193: <tr><td>rhel-x86_64-server-7 </td><td>Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7 for x86_64)<td></tr> 194: <tr><td>rhel-x86_64-server-optional-7</td><td>RHEL Server Optional (v. 7 x86_64)</td></tr> 195: </table> 196: 197: <h3>Configure SELinux</h3> 198: <p> 199: The default RHEL7 installation includes SELinux enabled. Until such time as an SELinux security policy has been created for LON-CAPA, SELinux should be disabled. 200: Retrieve the loncapa_selinux_config file from the LON-CAPA install site: 201: </p> 202: <pre> 203: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/7Server/loncapa_selinux_config 204: </pre> 205: <p> 206: Install the selinux config file 207: </p> 208: <pre> 209: mv /etc/selinux/config /etc/selinux/config.backup 210: mv loncapa_selinux_config /etc/selinux/config 211: reboot 212: </pre> 213: 214: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2> 215: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3> 216: <p> Execute: </p> 217: <pre> 218: yum install LONCAPA-prerequisites 219: </pre><p> 220: This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies. 221: </p> 222: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3> 223: <p> 224: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command: 225: </p> 226: <pre> 227: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar 228: </pre> 229: <p> 230: Extract the archive with the following command: 231: </p> 232: <pre> 233: tar xf install.tar 234: </pre> 235: <p> 236: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and 237: execute the setup script with the following commands: 238: </p> 239: <pre> 240: cd installation 241: ./install.pl 242: </pre> 243: <p> 244: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be 245: 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. 246: </p> 247: <p> 248: 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. 249: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made. 250: </p> 251: <p>The possible actions are:</p> 252: <ul> 253: <li>Create the www user/group</li> 254: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li> 255: <li>Set-up the MySQL (Mariadb) database</li> 256: <li>Set-up MySQL (Mariadb) permissions</li> 257: <li>Configure Apache web server</li> 258: <li>Configure start-up of services</li> 259: <li>Check firewall settings</li> 260: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA, e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li> 261: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li> 262: </ul> 263: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3> 264: <p> 265: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order 266: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions. 267: </p> 268: <dl> 269: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt> 270: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In 271: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create 272: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect 273: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at 274: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you 275: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd> 276: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt> 277: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain. 278: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but 279: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or 280: special characters.</i><br>Domain names which include a departmental 281: abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in 282: a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently. 283: For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example. 284: </dd> 285: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt> 286: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names 287: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word, 288: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i> 289: </dd> 290: <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt> 291: <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> 292: <dt>Host administrator email</dt> 293: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages 294: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in 295: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>. 296: </dd> 297: <dt>Support email address</dt> 298: <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system 299: will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to 300: display a web form which they will complete to request support from 301: your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents 302: will be sent to the e-mail address you specify. 303: </dd> 304: </dl> 305: 306: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3> 307: <p> 308: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands: 309: </p> 310: <pre> 311: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.11.0') 312: ./UPDATE 313: </pre> 314: <p> 315: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined 316: in the previous section. 317: </p> 318: 319: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2> 320: <p> 321: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of 322: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and 323: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script 324: invoked below requires that you enter the user's password. 325: Feel free to use the "passwd username" command to change it later. 326: Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate user name and your domain. 327: If installing a library server and an access server on separate machines or VMs 328: you need only run make_domain_coordinator.pl on the library server. 329: </p> 330: <pre> 331: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build 332: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN 333: </pre> 334: 335: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2> 336: <p> 337: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations 338: will be apparent at this step. 339: </p> 340: <pre> 341: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start 342: service httpd start 343: </pre> 344: <p> 345: If you receive warnings about missing perl modules, when starting the httpd service 346: please make sure you followed the instructions in 347: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please 348: contact the LON-CAPA Helpdesk -- helpdesk at loncapa.org 349: </p> 350: 351: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2> 352: <p> 353: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain 354: coordinator. Congratulations! 355: </p> 356: 357: <hr> 358: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2> 359: <p> 360: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think 361: there's something wrong, please contact the LON-CAPA helpdesk. 362: Installation/update support is available from: helpdesk at loncapa.org 363: (replace " at " with @). 364: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or errors during the 365: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible. 366: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know. 367: </p>