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Instructions for installation of LOn-CAPA on SLES9 system.

    1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 9</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 9 (SLES 9) 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.  However, it is still a
   16: non-trivial undertaking and experience with SuSE Linux will make this 
   17: process easier.  You will be required to log in to the machine and execute
   18: some routine Unix commands.  Familiarity with the Apache web server, mod_perl, 
   19: perl, and MySQL are not 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 SLES 9 installation media</li>
   28:   <li> Determine Network Settings</li>
   29:   <li> Install SLES 9</li>
   30:   <li> Update your system </li>
   31:   <li> Install LON-CAPA </li>
   32:   <li> Create a Domain Coordinator </li>
   33:   <li> Start/Restart services </li>
   34:   <li> Log in to LON-CAPA </li>
   35: </ol>
   36: 
   37: <h2>Obtain SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9</h2>
   38: <p>
   39: SuSE ISO files can be obtained from the Novell site: <a href="http://www.novell.com/products/linuxenterpriseserver/">http://www.novell.com/products/linuxenterpriseserver/</a>.  
   40: </p> 
   41: 
   42: <h2>Determine Network Settings</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>Minimal SLES 9 Install</h2>
   57: <p>
   58: Installing SuSE Linux Enterprise Server is quite easy if you've installed Linux products
   59: before.  Some documentation is available from 
   60: <a href="http://www.novell.com/documentation/sles9/">
   61: http://www.novell.com/documentation/sles9/</a>.<br /><br />
   62: Most of the subsequent 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>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
   67:    <dd>For a LON-CAPA library server (i.e., the main server used 
   68:        for permanent storage of course and user data), 
   69:        a separate partition is recommended for /home, as this    
   70:        simplifies future upgrades of the operating system.
   71:        If you are adding an additional access server to an 
   72:        existing LON-CAPA domain, this does not apply as no 
   73:        permenent data are stored on an access server.
   74:        As LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory,
   75:        the majority of the disk space should be allocated here.    
   76:        If you have 20 GB of space for SLES9, /home should
   77:        receive at least 10 to 12 gigs. Since MySQL uses the /var 
   78:        filesystem to store its databases you should have as least 
   79:        4 gigs of space available on /var.  Be sure to 
   80:        include adequate swap space.  A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
   81:        typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.
   82:        </dd>
   83:    <dt>Package Group Selection</dt>
   84:    <dd>Click on the "Software" link or use the "Change" select box in 
   85:    the installation Setting screen, and choose Minimal Install.</dd>
   86: </dl>
   87: <p>Once you system has rebooted, you will use yast to complete the configuration. Change the following settings:
   88: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
   89:    <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
   90:    <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
   91:        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.
   92:    </dd>
   93:    <dt>Online update</dt>
   94:    <dd>Indicate "Yes" when prompted to "run online update now?"</dd>
   95:    </dt>
   96: </dl>
   97: <p>
   98: Finish installing your server, read the "readme", reboot and log in as root.
   99: </p>
  100: <h2>Configure Firewall Settings</h2>
  101: <p>After reboot you should start yast, and select Security and Users -> Firewall. At step 2 include the following services: HTTP, HTTP with SSL, and Secure Shell.  Use the "Expert..." option to add additional TCP services on ports 5663 and 8080.    
  102: </p>
  103: <h2>Change software sources for your system</h2>
  104: <p>
  105: You will use yast to import packages required for LON-CAPA.<br />
  106: Execute:
  107: </p>
  108: <pre>
  109: yast
  110: </pre>
  111: <p>
  112: Select "Change Source of Installation". The media you used to install SLES9 will be listed as an installation source.  You may also wish to create a local repository by copying the contents of the RPM directories on CDs 2 - 6 to a local directory to avoid the need to flip CDs during LON-CAPA installation.  Information about building a local repository is available at:<a href="http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/02/yast_instsrc.html">http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/02/yast_instsrc.html</a>.
  113: </p>
  114: <h3>Add an additional installation source</h3>
  115: <p>Add the LON-CAPA SLES 9 repository as an additional installation source, so software installation in yast will have access to two repositories - a SuSE/Novell source (for packages included for the standard distribution) and the LON-CAPA repository (for extra packages needed to run LON-CAPA). For the LON-CAPA source you will use:
  116: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
  117: <dd>Protocol</dd>
  118: <dt>HTTP</dt>
  119: <dd>Server Name</dd>
  120: <dt>install.loncapa.org</dt>
  121: <dd>Directory on server</dd>
  122: <dt>suse/sles9/</dt>
  123: <dd>Authentication</dd>
  124: <dt>Anonymous</dt>
  125: </dl>
  126: After saving this configuration information for the LON-CAPA repository, choose "Edit", then "Refresh" the quit yast.  
  127: </p>
  128: <h2>Update pwdutils package</h2>
  129: <p>
  130: Start yast, and choose the "Install and Remove software" option, and use "Search" to find pwdutils. Indicate that you wish to update to version 3.0.2.</p>    
  131: <h2>Installing LON-CAPA</h2>
  132: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
  133: <p> Execute: </p>
  134: <pre>
  135: yast -i LONCAPA-prerequisites
  136: </pre><p>
  137: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
  138: </p>
  139: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
  140: <p>
  141: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with one of the following commands:
  142: </p>
  143: <i>32 bit architecture</i>
  144: <pre>
  145: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/suse/sles9/i386/suse_install.tar
  146: </pre>
  147: <br />
  148: <i>64 bit architecture</i>
  149: <pre>
  150: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/suse/sles9/x86_64/suse_install.tar
  151: </pre>
  152: <p>
  153: Extract the archive with the following command:
  154: </p>
  155: <pre>
  156: tar xf suse_install.tar
  157: </pre>
  158: <p>
  159: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>.  Change to it and
  160: execute the setup script with the following commands:
  161: </p>
  162: <pre>
  163: cd installation
  164: ./install.pl
  165: </pre>
  166: <p>
  167: This script will prompt you for the MySQL root password and will download the latest LON-CAPA release.
  168: </p>
  169: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
  170: <p>
  171: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
  172: for it to function at all.  Below is a list with descriptions.
  173: </p>
  174: <dl>
  175:   <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
  176:   <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server.  In
  177:       general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
  178:       their course content on and run their courses.  Students should connect
  179:       to access servers.  If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at 
  180:       your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
  181:       should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
  182:   <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
  183:   <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
  184:       Here at MSU we use 'msu'.  You should choose something short but
  185:       meaningful.  <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or 
  186:       special characters.</i>
  187:   </dd>
  188:   <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
  189:   <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name.  We use names
  190:       such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word, 
  191:       no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
  192:   </dd>
  193:   <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
  194:   <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal.  Messages
  195:       are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in 
  196:       serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
  197:   </dd>
  198: </dl>
  199: 
  200: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
  201: <p>
  202: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
  203: </p>
  204: <pre>
  205: cd /root/loncapa-N.N.N     (N.N.N should correspond to a version number like '2.0.2')
  206: ./UPDATE
  207: </pre>
  208: <p>
  209: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined 
  210: in the previous section.  
  211: </p>
  212: <h2>Creating a Domain Coordinator</h2>
  213: <p>
  214: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
  215: 'domain coordinator'.  This user creates accounts for other users and
  216: grants them additional privileges.  The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
  217: invoked below requires that you enter the users password.  The password will
  218: show in plaintext as you type it.  Feel free to use the "passwd username"
  219: command to change it later.  Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an 
  220: appropriate user name and your domain.
  221: </p>
  222: <pre>
  223: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
  224: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
  225: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
  226: mkdir ~USERNAME
  227: mkdir ~USERNAME/public_html
  228: chown USERNAME:www ~USERNAME/public_html
  229: chmod 0775 ~USERNAME/public_html
  230: chmod a+x ~USERNAME
  231: </pre>
  232: <h2>Start/Restart Services</h2>
  233: <p>
  234: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start.  Most misconfigurations
  235: will be appearant at this step.
  236: </p>
  237: <pre>
  238: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
  239: /etc/init.d/apache start
  240: </pre>
  241: <p>
  242: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
  243: please make sure you followed the instructions in 
  244: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>.  If you still have errors, please
  245: contact the LON-CAPA support team.
  246: </p>
  247: <h2>Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</h2>
  248: <p>
  249: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
  250: coordinator.  Congratulations!
  251: </p>
  252: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
  253: <p>
  254: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
  255: there's something wrong, please get in touch with the LON-CAPA support team.
  256: You can submit a help request using our web form:<br />
  257: <a href="http://support.loncapa.org/help/">http://support.loncapa.org/help/</a><br />
  258: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or during the
  259: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
  260: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
  261: </p>