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    1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal SuSE Linux 11.1 System</h1>
    2: <p>
    3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
    4: server running SuSE Linux 11.1 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 a reasonably fast connection to the internet.
    7: </p><p>
    8: More information is available at
    9: <a href="http://install.lon-capa.org/">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. You will be required to log in to the machine and execute some routine Unix commands.  Familiarity with the Apache web server, mod_perl, perl, and MySQL are not required to install and run LON-CAPA.
   15: </p>
   16: 
   17: <h2>Installation Overview</h2>
   18: <p>
   19: The installation process takes the following steps:
   20: </p>
   21: <ol>
   22:   <li><a href="#obt">Obtain SuSE 11.1 installation media (DVD)</a></li>
   23:   <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
   24:   <li><a href="#lin">Install Suse 11.1</a></li>
   25:   <li><a href="#upd">Update your system</a></li>
   26:   <li><a href="#ilc">Install LON-CAPA</a></li>
   27:   <li><a href="#cdc">Create a Domain Coordinator</a></li>
   28:   <li><a href="#sts">Start/Restart services</a></li>
   29:   <li><a href="#log">Log in to LON-CAPA</a></li>
   30: </ol>
   31: <hr />
   32: 
   33: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain SuSE Linux 11.1</a></h2>
   34: <p>
   35: A SuSE 11.1 iso for burning to DVD can be obtained from the opensuse download site: <a href="http://software.opensuse.org/">http://software.opensuse.org/</a>, or from an opensuse mirror site - <a href="http://download.opensuse.org"/>http://download.opensuse.org</a>.  You will also find links there to sites with iso files for burning a Start-CD-Image (e.g., openSUSE-11.1-NET-i586.iso for 32 bit) used in a network install, if burning a CD is more convenient for you.
   36: </p>
   37: 
   38: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
   39: <p>
   40: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
   41: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
   42: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
   43: </p>
   44: <ul>
   45:   <li>ip address </li>
   46:   <li>netmask </li>
   47:   <li>hostname </li>
   48:   <li>gateway </li>
   49:   <li>domain name server(s) </li>
   50: </ul>
   51: 
   52: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal SuSE 11.1 Install</a></h2>
   53: <p>
   54: Installing SuSE 11.1 is quite easy if you've installed Linux products
   55: before.  Some documentation is available from
   56: <a href="http://en.opensuse.org/INSTALL_Local">
   57: http://en.opensuse.org/INSTALL_Local</a> for installations from DVD and
   58: <a href="http://en.opensuse.org/INSTALL_Internet">http://en.opensuse.org/INSTALL_Internet</a> for installations via the network, booting from the NET iso CD.<br /><br />
   59: Most of the subsequent installation screens are self explanatory.
   60: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
   61: </p>
   62: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
   63:    <dt>Installation Language</dt>
   64:    <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
   65:    <dt>Desktop Selection</dt>
   66:    <dd>Click <i>Other</i> and choose <i>Text Mode</i></dd>
   67:    <dt>Software Selection</dt>
   68:    <dd>Choose Expert Mode and for Software enable Base System, Yast Installation Packages and Software Management</dd>
   69:    <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
   70:    <dd>For a LON-CAPA library server (i.e., the main server used
   71:        for permanent storage of course and user data),
   72:        a separate partition is recommended for /home, as this
   73:        simplifies future upgrades of the operating system.
   74:        If you are adding an additional access server to an
   75:        existing LON-CAPA domain, this does not apply as no
   76:        permenent data are stored on an access server.
   77:        As LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory,
   78:        the majority of the disk space should be allocated here.
   79:        If you have 20 GB of space for SuSE 11.1, /home should
   80:        receive at least 10 to 12 gigs. Since MySQL uses the /var
   81:        filesystem to store its databases you should have as least
   82:        4 gigs of space available on /var.  Be sure to
   83:        include adequate swap space.  A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
   84:        typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.
   85:        </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 host name information (e.g., host name = tmp1, domain = lite.msu.edu), as well as name server. Other settings (ip address, gateway, netmask will have been set when you included them in the boot configuration).
   92:    </dd>
   93:    <dt>Firewall</dt>
   94:    <dd>Enable the firewall, and allow the following services: web services (http and https) and login services (SSH).</dd>
   95:    <dt>Online Update Configuration</dt>
   96:    <dd>It is recommended that you register your server with Novell for future updates during the installation process, and then run the online update.</dd>
   97:    </dt>
   98: </dl>
   99: <p>
  100: After finishing the online update, the system should reboot, and
  101: proceed to have you create a user account, show you the Release Notes,
  102: and let you configure any extra hardware, and then finish up the boot
  103: process. At the prompt login as root.
  104: </p>
  105: 
  106: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Change software sources for your system</a></h2>
  107: Next you will use yast to import packages required for LON-CAPA.<br />
  108: Execute:
  109: </p>
  110: <pre>
  111: yast
  112: </pre>
  113: <p>
  114: Select "Installation Source" and change to point at OSS and non-OSS repositories: (http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.1/repo/oss and http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.1/repo/non-oss) or alternatively at iternet installation repositories close to your location (see <a href="http://en.opensuse.org/Mirrors_Released_Version">http://en.opensuse.org/Mirrors_Released_Version</a>), or a local institutional source you have built from the SuSE 11.1 DVD, or you may prefer to continue to point at the installation DVD.
  115: </p>
  116: <h3>Add an additional installation source</h3>
  117: <p>Add the LON-CAPA SuSE 11.1 repository as an additional installation source. Once this is done, software installation in yast should then have access to a minimum of three repositories - a YUM source for SuSE updates (established when you run online update from yast), an installation source (for OSS packages included in the standard distribution) and the LON-CAPA repository (for extra packages needed to run LON-CAPA). For the LON-CAPA source you will use:
  118: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
  119: <dd>Media Type</dd>
  120: <dt>HTTP</dt>
  121: <dd>Protocol</dd>
  122: <dt>HTTP</dt>
  123: <dd>Server Name</dd>
  124: <dt>install.loncapa.org</dt>
  125: <dd>Directory on server</dd>
  126: <dt>suse/11.1/</dt>
  127: <dd>Authentication</dd>
  128: <dt>Anonymous</dt>
  129: </dl>
  130: After saving this configuration information for the LON-CAPA repository, you will need to import a public LON-CAPA key, before the catalog is read, and the repository is available to you. Quit yast.
  131: </p>
  132: <p>Use zypper to add two additional repositiories provide by openSuSE - one for the R statistics package (the R-patched repo), and one for the Maxima computer algebra system (the science repo).  Use the following commands to add them.
  133: <pre>
  134: zypper ar -f 'http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:languages:R:patched/openSUSE_11.1' R-patched
  135: zypper ar -f 'http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/science/openSUSE_11.1' science
  136: </pre>
  137: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
  138: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
  139: <p> Execute: </p>
  140: <pre>
  141: yast -i LONCAPA-prerequisites
  142: </pre><p>
  143: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
  144: </p>
  145: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
  146: <p>
  147: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
  148: </p>
  149: <pre>
  150: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/suse/11.1/suse11.1_install.tar
  151: </pre>
  152: <p>
  153: Extract the archive with the following command:
  154: </p>
  155: <pre>
  156: tar xf suse11.1_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 should correspond to a version number like '2.9.0')
  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: 
  213: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
  214: <p>
  215: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
  216: 'domain coordinator'.  This user creates accounts for other users and
  217: grants them additional privileges.  The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
  218: invoked below requires that you enter the users password.  The password will
  219: show in plaintext as you type it.  Feel free to use the "passwd username"
  220: command to change it later.  Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
  221: appropriate user name and your domain.
  222: </p>
  223: <pre>
  224: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
  225: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
  226: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
  227: </pre>
  228: 
  229: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
  230: <p>
  231: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start.  Most misconfigurations
  232: will be apparent at this step.
  233: </p>
  234: <pre>
  235: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
  236: /etc/init.d/apache2 start
  237: </pre>
  238: <p>
  239: If you receive warnings about missing perl modules when starting apache2,
  240: please make sure you followed the instructions in
  241: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>.  If you still have errors, please
  242: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
  243: </p>
  244: 
  245: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
  246: <p>
  247: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
  248: coordinator.  Congratulations!
  249: </p>
  250: 
  251: <hr />
  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 MSU LON-CAPA group.
  256: You can submit a help request using our web form:<br />
  257: <a href="http://help.loncapa.org/help/">http://help.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: Please let us know if any parts of this document are unclear.
  261: </p>