1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal CentOS Linux 5 System</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
4: server running CentOS Linux 5 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 CentOS Linux 5 installation CDs</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#lin">Install CentOS 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>
34: </ol>
35:
36: <hr>
37: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain CentOS Linux 5 CDs</a></h2>
38: <p>
39: CentOS isos can be obtained from links included on the <a href="http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5/isos/">CentOS download page</a><br>
40: For the minimal install on 32-bit architecture you will need only the first CD.
41: For the minimal install on 64-bit architecture you will need CDs 1, 2, and 4.
42:
43: </p>
44:
45: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
46: <p>
47: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
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:
59: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal CentOS Linux 5 Install</a></h2>
60: <p>
61: Installing CentOS Linux is quite easy, particularly if you've installed any of the Red Hat, Fedora or CentOS Linux distributions before.
62: Documentation is available from
63: <a href="http://wiki.centos.org/">http://wiki.centos.org/</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 Type</dt>
71: <dd>If this is a fresh install choose "Install CentOS 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>
72:
73: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
74: <dd>For a fresh install may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer,
75: however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them. If you want to customize partitioning use "Create Custom Layout".
76: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
77: majority of the disk space should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
78: of space for CentOS, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.
79: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
80: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
81: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
82: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
83:
84: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
85: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
86: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
87: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
88: <dt>Software</dt>
89: <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>
90: </dl>
91:
92: <p>
93: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root.
94: </p>
95:
96: <h3>Firewall and SELinux Configuration</h3>
97: <p>
98: The first time you log-in, the Setup Agent will be displayed.
99: If you exit it early you can enter it again buy running the command
100: </p>
101: <pre>setup</pre>
102: <p>
103: This tool should be used to configure the Firewall and SELinux.
104: </p>
105:
106: <ol>
107: <li>Select Security Level: Enabled, and Customize, to allow
108: incoming: SSH (remote login), WWW (HTTP) and secure WWW
109: (HTTPS).
110: </li>
111: <li> Set SELinux to Disabled.</li>
112: <li> Select OK, and then Quit</li>
113: </ol>
114:
115:
116: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Update your system</a></h2>
117: <p>
118: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using yum.
119: </p>
120: <pre>
121: yum update
122: </pre>
123: <p>
124: Reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
125: </p>
126: <p>
127: Retrieve the centos5_loncapa_yum file from the LON-CAPA install site:
128: </p>
129: <pre>
130: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/centos/5/centos5_loncapa_yum.conf
131: </pre>
132: <p>
133: Install the centos5_loncapa_yum.conf
134: </p>
135: <pre>
136: mv /etc/yum.conf /etc/yum.conf.backup
137: cp centos5_loncapa_yum.conf /etc/yum.conf
138: yum update
139: </pre>
140:
141:
142: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
143: <h3>Import the LON-CAPA encryption key</h3>
144: <pre>rpm --import http://install.loncapa.org/versions/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-loncapa</pre>
145: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
146: <p> Execute: </p>
147: <pre>
148: yum install LONCAPA-prerequisites
149: </pre><p>
150: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
151: </p>
152: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
153: <p>
154: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
155: </p>
156: <pre>
157: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/centos/5/centos5_install.tar
158: </pre>
159: <p>
160: Extract the archive with the following command:
161: </p>
162: <pre>
163: tar xf centos5_install.tar
164: </pre>
165: <p>
166: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
167: execute the setup script with the following commands:
168: </p>
169: <pre>
170: cd installation
171: ./install.pl
172: </pre>
173: <p>
174: This script will prompt you for the MySQL root password and will download the latest LON-CAPA release.<br>
175: You can safely ignore the following warnings from gcc 4 when compiling pwauth:<br>
176: </p>
177: <div style="font-family:monospace;">
178: pwauth.c: In function ‘lastlog’:
179: <ul>
180: <li>pwauth.c:541: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strncpy’</li>
181: <li>pwauth.c:543: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strlen’</li>
182: </ul>
183: pwauth.c: In function ‘main’:
184: <ul>
185: <li>pwauth.c:692: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strlen’</li>
186: </ul>
187: </div>
188:
189:
190: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
191: <p>
192: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
193: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
194: </p>
195: <dl>
196: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
197: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
198: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
199: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
200: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
201: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
202: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
203: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
204: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
205: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
206: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
207: special characters.</i><br>Domain names which include a departmental
208: abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
209: a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
210: For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
211: </dd>
212: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
213: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
214: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
215: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
216: </dd>
217: <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
218: <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>
219: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
220: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
221: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
222: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
223: </dd>
224: <dt>Support email address</dt>
225: <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system
226: will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to
227: display a web form which they will complete to request support from
228: your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents
229: will be sent to the e-mail address you specify.
230: </dd>
231: </dl>
232:
233: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
234: <p>
235: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
236: </p>
237: <pre>
238: cd /root/loncapa-N.N (N.N should correspond to a version number like '1.3')
239: ./UPDATE
240: </pre>
241: <p>
242: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
243: in the previous section.
244: </p>
245:
246: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
247: <p>
248: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
249: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
250: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
251: invoked below requires that you enter the users password. The password will
252: show in plaintext as you type it. Feel free to use the "passwd username"
253: command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
254: appropriate user name and your domain.
255: </p>
256: <pre>
257: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
258: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
259: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
260: </pre>
261:
262: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
263: <p>
264: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
265: will be apparent at this step.
266: </p>
267: <pre>
268: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
269: /etc/init.d/httpd start
270: </pre>
271: <p>
272: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
273: please make sure you followed the instructions in
274: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
275: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
276: </p>
277:
278: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
279: <p>
280: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
281: coordinator. Congratulations!
282: </p>
283:
284: <hr>
285: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
286: <p>
287: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
288: 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
289: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
290: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
291: </p>
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