1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
4: server running SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 (SLES 15) 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 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 SLES 15 installation media</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#lin">Install SLES 15</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 SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 15</a></h2>
38: <p>
39: SLES15 ISO files can be obtained from the SuSE site: <a href="https://www.suse.com/download-linux/">https://www.suse.com/download-linux/</a>. Download the SLE-15-SP1-Installer-DVD-x86_64-GM-DVD1.iso.
40: </p>
41:
42: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
43: <p>
44: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
45: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
46: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
47: </p>
48: <ul>
49: <li>ip address </li>
50: <li>netmask </li>
51: <li>hostname </li>
52: <li>gateway </li>
53: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
54: </ul>
55:
56: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal SLES 15 Install</a></h2>
57: <p>
58: Installing SuSE Linux Enterprise Server is straightforward.
59: Some documentation is available from
60: <a href="https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP1/pdf/art-sle-installquick_color_en.pdf">
61: https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP1/pdf/art-sle-installquick_color_en.pdf</a>.<br /><br />
62: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
63: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
64: </p>
65: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
66: <dt>Installation Language</dt>
67: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
68: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
69: <dd>For a LON-CAPA library server (i.e., the main server used
70: for permanent storage of course and user data),
71: a separate partition is recommended for /home, as this
72: simplifies future upgrades of the operating system.
73: If you are adding an additional access server to an
74: existing LON-CAPA domain, this does not apply as no
75: permanent data are stored on an access server.
76: As LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory,
77: the majority of the disk space should be allocated here.
78: If you have 20 GB of space for SLES15, /home should
79: receive at least 10 to 12 GB. Since MySQL uses the /var
80: filesystem to store its databases you should have as least
81: 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
82: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 MB, but you should
83: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.
84: </dd>
85: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
86: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
87: IP address. When configuring your network card, you should include you static IP address, netmask, host name information (e.g., host name = tmp1, domain = lite.msu.edu), as well as name servers and gateway.
88: </dd>
89: <dt>Available Extensions and Modules</dt>
90: <dd>Check the boxes for the following:<ul>
91: <li>Basesystem Module</li>
92: <li>Desktop Applications</li>
93: <li>Development Tools</li>
94: <li>Server Applications</li>
95: </ul>
96: </dd>
97: <dt>System Role</dt>
98: <dd>Select: Minimal</dd>
99: <dt>Software Selection</dt>
100: <dd>Check the boxes for the following:<ul>
101: <li>Help and Support Documentation</li>
102: <li>Minimal Base System</li>
103: <li>YaST System Administration</li>
104: </ul>
105: </dd>
106: <dt>Security</dt>
107: <dd>If you will need command line access other than via the console, click the link to toggle the setting for the SSH port so it will be open,</dd>
108: </dl>
109: <p>
110: Finish installing your server, reboot and log in as root.
111: </p>
112: <h3>Firewall Configuration</h3>
113: <p>
114: Execute:
115: </p>
116: <pre>
117: yast
118: </pre>
119: Use "Security and Users" -> Firewall -> Zones -> public to enable access to standard web server ports for http and https.
120: </p>
121: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Add software sources</a></h2>
122: <p>
123: Use zypper to add package repositories for LON-CAPA and the statistics package: R.<br>
124: Execute:
125: </p>
126: <pre>
127: zypper addrepo http://install.loncapa.org/suse/sles15/ 'LON-CAPA Updates'
128: zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:languages:R:released/SLE_15_SP1/devel:languages:R:released.repo
129: zypper refresh
130: </pre>
131: <p>
132: Verify the required repositories are enabled:
133: </p>
134: <pre>
135: zypper lr -E
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>Alias</th><th>Name</th></tr>
142: <tr><td>Basesystem_Module_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-Basesystem15-SP1-Pool</td><td>SLE-Module-Basesystem15-SP1-Pool</td></tr>
143: <tr><td>Basesystem_Module_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-Basesystem15-SP1-Updates</td><td>SLE-Module-Basesystem15-SP1-Updates</td></tr>
144: <tr><td>Desktop_Applications_Module_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-Desktop-Applications15-SP1-Pool</td><td>SLE-Module-Desktop-Applications15-SP1-Pool</td></tr>
145: <tr><td>Desktop_Applications_Module_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-Desktop-Applications15-SP1-Updates</td><td>SLE-Module-Desktop-Applications15-SP1-Updates</td></tr>
146: <tr><td>Development_Tools_Module_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-DevTools15-SP1-Pool</td><td>SLE-Module-DevTools15-SP1-Pool</td></tr>
147: <tr><td>Development_Tools_Module_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-DevTools15-SP1-Updates</td><td>SLE-Module-DevTools15-SP1-Updates</td></tr>
148: <tr><td>LON-CAPA Updates</td><td>LON-CAPA Updates</td></tr>
149: <tr><td>SUSE_Linux_Enterprise_Server_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Product-SLES15-SP1-Pool</td><td>SLE-Product-SLES15-SP1-Pool</td></tr>
150: <tr><td>SUSE_Linux_Enterprise_Server_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Product-SLES15-SP1-Updates</td><td>SLE-Product-SLES15-SP1-Updates</td></tr>
151: <tr><td>SUSE_Package_Hub_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-Packagehub-Subpackages15-SP1-Pool</td><td>SLE-Module-Packagehub-Subpackages15-SP1-Pool</td></tr>
152: <tr><td>SUSE_Package_Hub_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-Packagehub-Subpackages15-SP1-Updates</td><td>SLE-Module-Packagehub-Subpackages15-SP1-Updates</td></tr>
153: <tr><td>SUSE_Package_Hub_15_SP1_x86_64:SUSE-PackageHub-15-SP1-Backports-Pool</td><td>SUSE-PackageHub-15-SP1-Backports-Pool</td></tr>
154: <tr><td>SUSE_Package_Hub_15_SP1_x86_64:SUSE-PackageHub-15-SP1-Pool</td><td>SUSE-PackageHub-15-SP1-Pool</td></tr>
155: <tr><td>Server_Applications_Module_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-Server-Applications15-SP1-Pool</td><td>SLE-Module-Server-Applications15-SP1-Pool</td></tr>
156: <tr><td>Server_Applications_Module_15_SP1_x86_64:SLE-Module-Server-Applications15-SP1-Updates</td><td>SLE-Module-Server-Applications15-SP1-Updates</td></tr>
157: <tr><td>devel_languages_R_released</td><td>R core components, supplements (like rkward), and CRAN packages (SLE_15_SP1)</td></tr>
158: </table>
159: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
160: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
161: <p> Execute: </p>
162: <pre>
163: zypper in LONCAPA-prerequisites
164: </pre>
165: <p>
166: This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
167: </p>
168: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
169: <p>
170: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with one of the following commands:
171: </p>
172: <pre>
173: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
174: </pre>
175: <p>
176: Extract the archive with the following command:
177: </p>
178: <pre>
179: tar xf install.tar
180: </pre>
181: <p>
182: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
183: execute the setup script with the following commands:
184: </p>
185: <pre>
186: cd installation
187: ./install.pl
188: </pre>
189: <p>
190: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be
191: 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.
192: </p>
193: <p>
194: 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.
195: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
196: </p>
197: <p>The possible actions are:
198: <ul>
199: <li>Create the www user/group</li>
200: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li>
201: <li>Set-up the MySQL database</li>
202: <li>Set-up MySQL permissions</li>
203: <li>Configure Apache web server</li>
204: <li>Configure start-up of services</li>
205: <li>Check firewall settings</li>
206: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA,<br>
207: e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li>
208: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li>
209: </ul>
210: </p>
211:
212: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
213: <p>
214: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
215: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
216: </p>
217: <dl>
218: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
219: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
220: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
221: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
222: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
223: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
224: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
225: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
226: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
227: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
228: meaningful. <i>Restriction: one word. Permitted characters
229: (lower case preferred) are letters and numbers and . and - </i>
230: </dd>
231: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
232: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
233: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word.
234: Permitted characters (lower case preferred) are letters and numbers and . and -
235: </i>
236: </dd>
237: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
238: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
239: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
240: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
241: </dd>
242: </dl>
243:
244: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
245: <p>
246: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
247: </p>
248: <pre>
249: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.11.3')
250: ./UPDATE
251: </pre>
252: <p>
253: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
254: in the previous section.
255: </p>
256:
257: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
258: <p>
259: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
260: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
261: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
262: invoked below requires that you enter the user's password.
263: Feel free to use the "passwd username" command to change it later.
264: Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate user name and your domain.
265: </p>
266: <pre>
267: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build
268: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
269: </pre>
270:
271: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
272: <p>
273: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
274: will be apparent at this step.
275: </p>
276: <pre>
277: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
278: systemctl start apache2
279: </pre>
280: <p>
281: If you receive warnings when starting apache2 about missing perl modules,
282: please make sure you followed the instructions in
283: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
284: contact the LON-CAPA group.
285: </p>
286:
287: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
288: <p>
289: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
290: coordinator. Congratulations!
291: </p>
292:
293: <hr>
294: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
295: <p>
296: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
297: there's something wrong, please get in touch with the LON-CAPA group.
298: You can submit a help request using our web form:<br>
299: <a href="http://help.loncapa.org/help/">http://help.loncapa.org/help/</a><br>
300: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or during the
301: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
302: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
303: </p>
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