Annotation of doc/build/fedora_install.frag, revision 1.3
1.1 matthew 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a Fedora Linux System</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
4: server running Fedora Linux. The computer will be configured solely as
5: a LON-CAPA server and will be expected to have no other services running
6: on it.
7: </p><p>
8: More information is available at <a href="http://install.lon-capa.org/">
9: http://install.lon-capa.org/</a>.
10: </p>
11:
12: <h2>Before you begin</h2>
13: <p>
14: Installing Linux is getting easier and easier. However, it is still a
15: non-trivial undertaking and experience with Red Hat Linux will make this
16: process easier. You will be required to log in to the machine and execute
17: some routine Unix commands. Some familiarity with Linux is assumed.
18: Familiarity with the Apache web server, mod_perl, perl, and MySQL are not
19: required to install and run LON-CAPA.
20: </p>
21:
22: <h2>Installation Overview</h2>
23: <p>
24: The installation process takes the following steps:
25: </p>
26: <ol>
27: <li> Obtain Fedora Linux </li>
28: <li> Determine Network Settings</li>
29: <li> Install Fedora </li>
30: <li> Install LON-CAPA Dependencies </li>
31: <li> Determine your LON-CAPA Settings </li>
32: <li> Install LON-CAPA </li>
33: <li> Configure LON-CAPA </li>
34: <li> Pick a hosts.tab file </li>
35: <li> Create a Domain Coordinator </li>
36: <li> Start/Restart services </li>
37: <li> Log in to LON-CAPA </li>
38: </ol>
39:
40: <h2>Obtain Fedora Linux</h2>
41: <p>
42: Fedora linux ISO files can be obtained from the projects main site,
43: <a href="http://fedora.redhat.com/">http://fedora.redhat.com/</a>.
44: </p>
45:
46: <h2>Determine Network Settings</h2>
47: <p>
48: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
49: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
50: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
51: </p>
52: <ul>
53: <li>ip address </li>
54: <li>netmask </li>
55: <li>hostname </li>
56: <li>gateway </li>
57: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
58: </ul>
59:
60: <h2>Gather needed information</h2>
61:
62:
63:
64: <h2>Install Fedora</h2>
65: <p>
66: Installing Fedora is quite easy if you've installed any of the Red Hat products
67: before. Some documentation is available from
68: <a href="http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/">
69: http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/</a>.
70: There are a few sections that require comment.
71: </p>
72: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
73: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
74: <dd>You should do a "Server" install. We do not recommend
75: trying to install LON-CAPA with a different installation type.</dd>
76: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
77: <dd>You may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer,
78: however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them.
79: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
80: lion's share of the drive should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
1.2 matthew 81: of space for Red Hat, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.
82: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
83: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
1.1 matthew 84: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
85: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
86: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
87: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
88: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
89: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
90: <dt>Firewall Configuration</dt>
91: <dd>The firewall should be customized to allow incoming ssh and www.
92: Additional ports used by LON-CAPA are 5663 and 8080.
93: Enter these in the entry box as <nobr>"5663:tcp, 8080:tcp"</nobr>.</dd>
94: <dt>Package Group Selection</dt>
95: <dd>
96: <b>Do not</b> install a web server. It is intentially omitted from
97: this list. Installing packages not listed below is not recommended.
98: If you install packages not listed below you should expect difficulties
99: when installing the LON-CAPA dependencies.
100: <ul>
101: <li>Editors</li>
102: <li>Text Based Internet</li>
103: <li>Authoring and Publishing</li>
104: <li>Development Tools
105: <li>Administration Tools
106: <li>Printing Support
107: </ul>
108: </dd>
109: </dl>
110: <p>
111: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root.
112: </p>
113:
114: <h2>Retrieving the LON-CAPA Installation Archive</h2>
115: <p>
116: Execute the following command:
117: </p>
118: <pre>
119: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/fedora_install.tar
120: </pre>
121: <p>
122: This will retrieve from the LON-CAPA website all the packages needed to get
123: LON-CAPA running on your system, except for the LON-CAPA source itself.
124: </p>
125: <p>
126: Extract the archive with the following command:
127: </p>
128: <pre>
129: tar xf fedora_install.tar
130: </pre>
131: <p>
132: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>.
133: </p>
134:
135: <h2>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</h2>
136: <p>
137: This section walks you through installing the packages which LON-CAPA requires.
1.3 ! matthew 138: There are a lot of dependencies. They have been grouped in a
1.1 matthew 139: somewhat logical fashion to make them easier to deal with. When installing
140: the rpms you should watch for errors.
141: </p><p>
142: The quick instructions are:
143: </p>
144: <pre>
145: cd installation
146: cd mysql
147: rpm -Uvh *rpm
148: cd ../apache
149: rpm -Uvh *rpm
150: cd ../mod_perl
151: rpm -Uvh *rpm
152: cd ../perl_dependencies
153: rpm -Uvh *rpm
154: cd ../GD
155: rpm -Uvh *rpm
156: cd ../gnuplot
157: rpm --install --oldpackage readline-2.2.1-6.i386.rpm
158: rpm --install --oldpackage --excludedocs libpng-1.0.12-2.i386.rpm
159: rpm -Uvh gnuplot-3.7.1-5.i386.rpm libgd-1.3-4.i386.rpm ncurses4-5.0-5.i386.rpm
160: cd ../misc
161: rpm -Uvh *rpm
162: cd ..
163: </pre>
164: <p>
165: <b>Notes:</b>
166: <ul>
167: <li>MySQL is used to store caches of data, not original copies.
168: Administering LON-CAPA machines does not yet mean becoming a
169: database administrator.</li>
170: <li>Apache 1.3 and mod_perl 1.x are required by LON-CAPA. These are
171: provided in the installation package.
172: <li>A specific version of Gnuplot is required by LON-CAPA. Do not
173: install a version different from the one included in the LON-CAPA
174: installation package.</li>
175: </ul>
176: </p>
177:
178: <h2>Configuring LON-CAPA Dependencies</h2>
179: <p>
180: We have prepared a script which takes care of most of the configuration that
181: must be done to get the newly installed packages working with LON-CAPA.
182: This script will retrieve the latest LON-CAPA release from
183: <a href="http://install.loncapa.org">http://install.loncapa.org</a>.
184: You will be prompted for a root password for your MySQL server. You
185: will need to remember this password in case you should ever need to make
186: changes the the server.
187: </p><p>
188: Execute the script as follows:
189: </p>
190: <pre>
191: cd setup;
192: ./install.pl
193: </pre>
194:
195: <h2>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h2>
196: <p>
197: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters be set in order
198: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
199: </p>
200: <dl>
201: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
202: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
203: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
204: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
205: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
206: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
207: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
208: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
209: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
210: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
211: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
212: special characters.</i>
213: </dd>
214: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
215: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
216: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
217: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
218: </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: </dl>
225:
226: <h2>Configuring LON-CAPA</h2>
227: <p>
228: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
229: </p>
230: <pre>
231: cd /root/loncapa-N.N (N.N should correspond to a version number like '1.1')
232: ./UPDATE
233: </pre>
234: <p>
235: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
236: in the previous section.
237: </p>
238:
239: <h2>Creating a Domain Coordinator</h2>
240: <p>
241: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
242: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
243: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
244: invoked below requires that you enter the users password. The password will
245: show in plaintext as you type it. Feel free to use the "passwd username"
246: command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
247: appropriate user name and your domain.
248: </p>
249: <pre>
250: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
251: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
252: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
253: </pre>
254:
255: <h2>Start/Restart Services</h2>
256: <p>
257: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
258: will be appearant at this step.
259: </p>
260: <pre>
261: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
262: /etc/init.d/httpd start
263: </pre>
264:
265: <h2>Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</h2>
266: <p>
267: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
268: coordinator. Congratulations!
269: </p>
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