Annotation of doc/build/alma8_install.frag, revision 1.2

1.1       raeburn     1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal AlmaLinux 8 System</h1>
                      2: <p>
                      3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA 
                      4: server or virtual machine running AlmaLinux 8 with a minimum of packages installed.
                      5: The server or virtual machine will be configured solely as a LON-CAPA server and will be
                      6: expected to have no other services running.  Your server or virtual machine is expected to have
                      7: a 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 straightforward.
                     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 AlmaLinux 8 installation iso file</a></li>
                     27:   <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
                     28:   <li><a href="#lin">Install AlmaLinux 8</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 id="obt">Obtain AlmaLinux 8</a></h2>
                     38: <p>
                     39: AlmaLinux 8 isos can be obtained from links included on the 
                     40: <a href="https://mirrors.almalinux.org/isos.html">AlmaLinux download page</a>.
                     41: Either download the Minimal iso or the DVD iso.
                     42: </p>
                     43: 
                     44: <h2>2. <a id="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 id="lin">Minimal AlmaLinux 8 Install</a></h2>
                     59: <p>
                     60: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
                     61: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
                     62: </p>
                     63: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
                     64:    <dt>Installation Language</dt>
                     65:    <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
                     66:    <dt>Installation Destination</dt>
                     67:    <dd>For a fresh install may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer.
                     68:        If you want to customize partitioning check the "I will configure partitioning" radio button.
                     69:        LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
                     70:        majority of the disk space should be allocated here.  If you have 20 GB
                     71:        of space for AlmaLinux, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 GB.
                     72:        Since Mariadb uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
                     73:        have at least 4 GB of space available on /var.  Be sure to
                     74:        include adequate swap space.  A minimum is 512 MB, but you should
                     75:        typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
                     76:    <dt>Network and Hostname</dt>
                     77:    <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
                     78:        IP address.  When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
                     79:        the DHCP option and enter your network information. Enter your hostname</dd>
                     80:    <dt>Software Selection</dt>
                     81:    <dd>Check the "Minimal Install" radio button in the "Base Environment" panel,
                     82:        and check the "Standard" checkbox in the "Additional software for Selected Environment" panel.</dd>
                     83: </dl>
                     84: <p>
                     85: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root.
                     86: </p>
                     87: <h3>Firewall Configuration</h3>
                     88: <p>
                     89: LON-CAPA can use Firewalld, available by default for AlmaLinux 8.  Enable access to standard 
                     90: web server ports (i.e., http and https):
                     91: </p>
                     92: <pre>
                     93: systemctl enable firewalld
                     94: systemctl start firewalld
                     95: firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-service=http
                     96: firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-service=https
                     97: firewall-cmd --reload
                     98: </pre>
                     99: 
                    100: <h2>4. <a id="upd">Update your system</a></h2>
                    101: <p>
                    102: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using dnf.
                    103: </p>
                    104: <pre>
                    105: dnf update
                    106: </pre>
                    107: <p>
                    108: If the kernel was updated, reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
                    109: </p>
                    110: 
                    111: <h3>Set up access to package repositories</h3>
                    112: <p>
                    113: Enable access to the EPEL repository
                    114: </p>
                    115: <pre>
                    116: dnf install epel-release
                    117: </pre>
                    118: <p>
                    119: Enable the AlmaLinux 8 -PowerTools repository
                    120: </p>
                    121: <pre>
                    122: dnf config-manager --set-enabled powertools
                    123: </pre>
                    124: <p>
                    125: Install wget and then the loncapa.repo file from the LON-CAPA install site:
                    126: </p>
                    127: <pre>
                    128: dnf install wget
                    129: wget -O /etc/yum.repos.d/loncapa.repo http://install.loncapa.org/versions/alma/8/loncapa.repo
                    130: </pre>
                    131: <p>
                    132: Verify the required repositories are enabled:
                    133: </p>
                    134: <pre>
                    135: dnf repolist enabled
                    136: </pre>
                    137: <p>
                    138: The list of enabled repos should be as follows:
                    139: </p>
                    140: <table style="border: 0px; border-collapse: collapse;">
                    141: <tr><th>repo id</th><th>repo name</th></tr>
                    142: <tr><td>appstream</td><td>AlmaLinux 8 - AppStream</td></tr>
                    143: <tr><td>baseos</td><td>AlmaLinux 8 - BaseOS</td></tr>
                    144: <tr><td>powertools</td><td>AlmaLinux 8 - PowerTools</td></tr>
                    145: <tr><td>epel</td><td>Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64</td></tr>
                    146: <tr><td>extras</td><td>AlmaLinux 8 - Extras</td></tr>
                    147: <tr><td>loncapa-updates-basearch</td><td>AlmaLinux 8 LON-CAPA x86_64 Updates</td></tr>
                    148: <tr><td>loncapa-updates-noarch</td><td>AlmaLinux 8 LON-CAPA noarch Updates</td></tr>
                    149: </table>
                    150: 
                    151: <h3>Install and enable a Mail Transfer Agent (MTA), e.g., postfix</h3>
                    152: <pre>
                    153: dnf install postfix
                    154: systemctl enable postfix
                    155: systemctl start postfix
                    156: </pre>
                    157: 
                    158: <h3>Configure SELinux</h3>
                    159: <p>
                    160: The default AlmaLinux 8 installation includes SELinux enabled. Until such time as an SELinux security policy has been created for LON-CAPA, SELinux should be disabled.
                    161: Retrieve the loncapa_selinux_config file from the LON-CAPA install site:
                    162: </p>
                    163: <pre>
                    164: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/alma/8/loncapa_selinux_config
                    165: </pre>
                    166: <p>
                    167: Install the selinux config file
                    168: </p>
                    169: <pre>
                    170: mv /etc/selinux/config /etc/selinux/config.backup
                    171: mv loncapa_selinux_config /etc/selinux/config
                    172: reboot
                    173: </pre>
                    174: 
                    175: <h2>5. <a id="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
                    176: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
                    177: <p> Execute: </p>
                    178: <pre>
                    179: dnf install LONCAPA-prerequisites
                    180: </pre><p>
                    181: This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
                    182: </p>
                    183: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
                    184: <p>
                    185: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
                    186: </p>
                    187: <pre>
                    188: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
                    189: </pre>
                    190: <p>
                    191: Extract the archive with the following command:
                    192: </p>
                    193: <pre>
                    194: tar xf install.tar
                    195: </pre>
                    196: <p>
                    197: This creates a directory named <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console','Menlo','Monaco','Courier', monospace;">installation</span>. 
                    198: Change to it and execute the setup script with the following commands:
                    199: </p>
                    200: <pre>
                    201: cd installation
                    202: ./install.pl
                    203: </pre>
                    204: <p>
                    205: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be
                    206: 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.
                    207: </p>
                    208: <p>
                    209: 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.
                    210: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
                    211: </p>
                    212: <p>The possible actions are:</p>
                    213: <ul>
                    214: <li>Create the www user/group</li>
                    215: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li>
                    216: <li>Set-up the MySQL (Mariadb) database</li>
                    217: <li>Set-up MySQL (Mariadb) permissions</li>
                    218: <li>Configure Apache web server</li>
                    219: <li>Configure start-up of services</li>
                    220: <li>Check firewall settings</li>
                    221: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA,  e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li> 
                    222: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li>
                    223: </ul>
                    224: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
                    225: <p>
                    226: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
                    227: for it to function at all.  Below is a list with descriptions.
                    228: </p>
                    229: <dl>
                    230:   <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
                    231:   <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server.  In
                    232:       general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
                    233:       their course content on and run their courses.  Students should connect
                    234:       to access servers.  If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
                    235:       your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
                    236:       should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
                    237:   <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
                    238:   <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
                    239:       Here at MSU we use 'msu'.  You should choose something short but
                    240:       meaningful.  <i>Restriction: One word, no underscores, and no special
                    241:       characters except . or  -</i> .<br />Domain names which include a departmental
                    242:       abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
                    243:       a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
                    244:       For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
                    245:   </dd>
                    246:   <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
                    247:   <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name.  We use names
                    248:       such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
                    249:       no underscores, and no special characters except -</i> .
                    250:   </dd>
                    251:   <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
                    252:    <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>
                    253:   <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
                    254:   <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal.  Messages
                    255:       are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
                    256:       serious trouble. If you are installing a LON-CAPA instance on a laptop,
                    257:       because you are planning to contribute to LON-CAPA development,
                    258:       make this <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console','Menlo','Monaco','Courier', monospace;">
                    259:       root@localhost</span>.
                    260:   </dd>
                    261:   <dt>Support email address</dt>
                    262:   <dd>Enter an e-mail address here, so users of the system
                    263:       will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to
                    264:       display a web form which they will complete to request support from
                    265:       your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents
                    266:       will be sent to the e-mail address you specify.
                    267:   </dd>
                    268: </dl>
                    269: 
                    270: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
                    271: <p>
                    272: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
                    273: </p>
                    274: <pre>
1.2     ! raeburn   275: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z     (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.11.4')
1.1       raeburn   276: ./UPDATE
                    277: </pre>
                    278: <p>
                    279: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
                    280: in the previous section.
                    281: </p>
                    282: 
                    283: <h2>6. <a id="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
                    284: <p>
                    285: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
                    286: 'domain coordinator'.  This user creates accounts for other users and
                    287: grants them additional privileges.  The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
                    288: invoked below requires that you enter the user's password. 
                    289: Feel free to use the "passwd username" command to change it later. 
                    290: Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate user name and your domain.
                    291: If installing a library server and an access server on separate machines or VMs
                    292: you need only run make_domain_coordinator.pl on the library server. 
                    293: </p>
                    294: <pre>
                    295: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build
                    296: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
                    297: </pre>
                    298: 
                    299: <h2>7. <a id="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
                    300: <p>
                    301: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start.  Most misconfigurations
                    302: will be apparent at this step.
                    303: </p>
                    304: <pre>
                    305: /home/httpd/perl/loncontrol start
                    306: systemctl start httpd
                    307: </pre>
                    308: <p>
                    309: If you receive warnings about missing perl modules, when starting the httpd service
                    310: please make sure that the LONCAPA-prerequisites rpm is installed using this command:
                    311: </p>
                    312: <pre>
                    313: rpm -q LONCAPA-prerequisites rpm
                    314: </pre>
                    315: <p>
                    316: If it is not installed, ensure that the required Linux repositories are enabled (see
                    317: the "Set up access to package repositories" section above), then install it:
                    318: </p>
                    319: <pre>
                    320: dnf install LONCAPA-prerequisites
                    321: </pre>
                    322: <p>
                    323: If you still have errors, please contact the LON-CAPA Helpdesk: helpdesk at loncapa.org
                    324: </p>
                    325: <p>Ensure that LON-CAPA network services and the httpd service are set to start on boot:
                    326: <pre>
                    327: systemctl enable loncontrol
                    328: systemctl enable httpd
                    329: </pre>
                    330: 
                    331: <h2>8. <a id="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
                    332: <p>
                    333: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
                    334: coordinator.  Congratulations!
                    335: </p>
                    336: 
                    337: <hr>
                    338: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
                    339: <p>
                    340: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
                    341: there's something wrong, please contact the LON-CAPA helpdesk. 
                    342: Installation/update support is available from:  helpdesk at loncapa.org  
                    343: (replace " at " with @).
                    344: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or errors during the
                    345: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
                    346: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
                    347: </p>

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