1: <html>
2: <head><title>New installation instructions</title></head>
3: <body>
4:
5: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a Fedora Core 2 Linux System</h1>
6: <p>
7: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
8: server running Fedora Core 2 (FC2). The computer will be configured solely as
9: a LON-CAPA server and will be expected to have no other services running
10: on it.
11: </p><p>
12: More information is available at <a href="http://install.lon-capa.org/">
13: http://install.lon-capa.org/</a>.
14: </p>
15:
16: <h2>Before you begin</h2>
17: <p>
18: Installing Linux is getting easier and easier. However, it is still a
19: non-trivial undertaking and experience with Red Hat Linux will make this
20: process easier. You will be required to log in to the machine and execute
21: some routine Unix commands. Some familiarity with Linux is assumed.
22: Familiarity with the Apache web server, mod_perl, perl, and MySQL are not
23: required to install and run LON-CAPA.
24: </p>
25:
26: <h2>Installation Overview</h2>
27: <p>
28: The installation process takes the following steps:
29: </p>
30: <ol>
31: <li> Obtain Fedora Linux </li>
32: <li> Determine Network Settings</li>
33: <li> Install Fedora </li>
34: <li> Updating your system </li>
35: <li> Installing LON-CAPA </li>
36: <li> Create a Domain Coordinator </li>
37: <li> Start/Restart services </li>
38: <li> Log in to LON-CAPA </li>
39: </ol>
40:
41: <h2>Obtain Fedora Linux</h2>
42: <p>
43: Fedora linux ISO files can be obtained from the projects main site,
44: <a href="http://fedora.redhat.com/">http://fedora.redhat.com/</a>.
45: </p>
46:
47: <h2>Determine Network Settings</h2>
48: <p>
49: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
50: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
51: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
52: </p>
53: <ul>
54: <li>ip address </li>
55: <li>netmask </li>
56: <li>hostname </li>
57: <li>gateway </li>
58: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
59: </ul>
60:
61: <h2>Install Fedora</h2>
62: <p>
63: Installing Fedora is quite easy if you've installed any of the Red Hat products
64: before. Some documentation is available from
65: <a href="http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/">
66: http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/</a>.
67: There are a few sections that require comment.
68: </p>
69: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
70: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
71: <dd>You should do a "Server" install. We do not recommend
72: trying to install LON-CAPA with a different installation type.</dd>
73: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
74: <dd>You may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer,
75: however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them.
76: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
77: lion's share of the drive should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
78: of space for Red Hat, /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: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
84: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
85: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
86: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
87: <dt>Firewall Configuration</dt>
88: <dd>The firewall should be customized to allow incoming ssh and www.
89: Additional ports used by LON-CAPA are 5663 and 8080.
90: Enter these in the entry box as <nobr>"5663:tcp, 8080:tcp"</nobr>.</dd>
91: <dt>Package Group Selection</dt>
92: <dd>
93: <b>Do not</b> install a web server. It is intentially omitted from
94: this list. Installing packages not listed below is not recommended.
95: If you install packages not listed below you should expect difficulties
96: when installing the LON-CAPA dependencies.
97: <ul>
98: <li>Editors</li>
99: <li>Text Based Internet</li>
100: <li>Authoring and Publishing</li>
101: <li>Server Configuration Tools</li>
102: <li>Development Tools</li>
103: <li>Administration Tools</li>
104: <li>Printing Support</li>
105: </ul>
106: </dd>
107: </dl>
108: <p>
109: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root.
110: </p>
111:
112: <h2>Updating your system</h2>
113: <p>
114: Retrieve the loncapa_yum.conf file from the LON-CAPA install site:
115: </p>
116: <pre>
117: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/loncapa_yum.conf
118: </pre>
119: <p>
120: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software:
121: </p>
122: <pre>
123: yum -c ./loncapa_yum.conf update
124: </pre>
125: <p>
126: You will probably need to reboot your system, specifically when a new kernel is
127: installed. Reboot your system before proceeding with the LON-CAPA install.
128: </p>
129:
130: <h2>Installing LON-CAPA</h2>
131: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
132: <p>
133: On our test install we needed to remove the httpd and system-config-httpd
134: packages using the command:
135: </p><pre>
136: rpm -e httpd system-config-httpd
137: </pre>
138: <p>
139: Installating the LON-CAPA prerequisites is pretty straightforward. Execute:
140: </p><pre>
141: yum -c ./loncapa_yum.conf install LONCAPA-prerequisites
142: </pre><p>
143: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
144: </p><p>
145: If yum complains of conflicting packages you will need to uninstall them
146: using 'rpm -e <packagename>'.
147: </p>
148: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
149: <p>
150: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
151: </p>
152: <pre>
153: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/fedora_install.tar
154: </pre>
155: <p>
156: Extract the archive with the following command:
157: </p>
158: <pre>
159: tar xf fedora_install.tar
160: </pre>
161: <p>
162: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
163: execute the setup script with the following commands:
164: </p>
165: <pre>
166: cd installation
167: ./install.pl
168: </pre>
169: <p>
170: This script will prompt you for the MySQL root password and will download the latest LON-CAPA release.
171: </p>
172:
173: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
174: <p>
175: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters be set in order
176: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
177: </p>
178: <dl>
179: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
180: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
181: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
182: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
183: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
184: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
185: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
186: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
187: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
188: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
189: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
190: special characters.</i>
191: </dd>
192: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
193: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
194: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
195: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
196: </dd>
197: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
198: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
199: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
200: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
201: </dd>
202: </dl>
203:
204: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
205: <p>
206: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
207: </p>
208: <pre>
209: cd /root/loncapa-N.N (N.N should correspond to a version number like '1.2')
210: ./UPDATE
211: </pre>
212: <p>
213: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
214: in the previous section.
215: </p>
216:
217: <h2>Creating a Domain Coordinator</h2>
218: <p>
219: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
220: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
221: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
222: invoked below requires that you enter the users password. The password will
223: show in plaintext as you type it. Feel free to use the "passwd username"
224: command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
225: appropriate user name and your domain.
226: </p>
227: <pre>
228: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
229: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
230: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
231: mkdir ~USERNAME/public_html
232: chown USERNAME:www ~USERNAME/public_html
233: chmod 0775 ~USERNAME/public_html
234: chmod a+x ~USERNAME
235: </pre>
236:
237: <h2>Start/Restart Services</h2>
238: <p>
239: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
240: will be appearant at this step.
241: </p>
242: <pre>
243: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
244: /etc/init.d/httpd start
245: </pre>
246: <p>
247: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
248: please make sure you followed the instructions in
249: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
250: contact the LON-CAPA development team.
251: </p>
252: <h2>Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</h2>
253: <p>
254: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
255: coordinator. Congratulations!
256: </p>
257:
258: <h2>If Things aren't working right</h2>
259: <p>
260: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
261: there's something wrong, please get in touch with the LON-CAPA developers.
262: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or during the
263: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
264: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
265: </p>
266:
267: </body>
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