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Installation instructions for SuSE 9.3

    1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal SuSE 9.3 Linux Professional System</h1>
    2: <p>
    3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
    4: server running SuSE Linux Professional 9.3 (SLP 9.3) 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 SLP 9.3 installation media (DVD, or CDs)</li>
   28:   <li> Determine Network Settings</li>
   29:   <li> Install SLP 9.3</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 Professional 9.3</h2>
   38: <p>
   39: SuSE ISO files can be obtained from the Novell SuSE site: <a href="ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/">ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/</a> or one of its <a href="http://www.novell.com/products/linuxprofessional/downloads/ftp/int_mirrors.html">mirrors</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 SLP 9.3 Install</h2>
   57: <p>
   58: Installing SuSE Linux Professional is quite easy if you've installed Linux products
   59: before.  Some documentation is available from 
   60: <a href="http://www.novell.com/documentation/suse93/">
   61: http://www.novell.com/documentation/suse93/</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 SLP9.3, /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>Firewall</dt>
   90:    <dd>Enable the firewall, and allow the the following services: web services (http and https) and login services (secure shell). Use the "Expert" option to open the following ports for TCP services: 8080 5663.</dd>
   91:  </p>
   92:  <p>       
   93:    <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
   94:    <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
   95:        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).
   96:    </dd>
   97:    <dt>Online update</dt>
   98:    <dd>Indicate "Yes" when prompted to "run online update now?"</dd>
   99:    </dt>
  100: </dl>
  101: <p>
  102: Finish installing your server, read the "readme", reboot and log in as root.
  103: </p>
  104: 
  105: <h2>Change software sources for your system</h2>
  106: <p>
  107: 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 "Change Source of Installation" and change to point at a SuSE mirror close to your location. You can find a list of mirrors at the<a href="http://www.novell.com/products/linuxprofessional/downloads/ftp/int_mirrors.html">SuSE mirror page</a>.
  115: </p>
  116: <h3>Add an additional installation source</h3>
  117: <p>Add the LON-CAPA SuSE 9.3 repository as an additional installation source, so software installation in yast will have access to two repositories - a SuSE mirror (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:
  118: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
  119: <dd>Protocol</dd>
  120: <dt>HTTP</dt>
  121: <dd>Server Name</dd>
  122: <dt>install.loncapa.org</dt>
  123: <dd>Directory on server</dd>
  124: <dt>suse/9.3/</dt>
  125: <dd>Authentication</dd>
  126: <dt>Anonymous</dt>
  127: </dl>
  128: After saving this configuration information for the LON-CAPA repository, choose "Edit", then "Refresh" the quit yast.    
  129: </p>
  130: <h2>Update pwdutils package</h2>
  131: <p>
  132: 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>    
  133: <h2>Installing LON-CAPA</h2>
  134: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
  135: <p> Execute: </p>
  136: <pre>
  137: yast -i LONCAPA-prerequisites
  138: </pre><p>
  139: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies. When prompted to choose an apache package, select apache, NOT apache2, then click Solve.  
  140: </p>
  141: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
  142: <p>
  143: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with one of the following commands:
  144: </p>
  145: <i>32 bit architecture</i>
  146: <pre>
  147: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/suse/9.3/i386/suse_install.tar
  148: </pre>
  149: <br />
  150: <i>64 bit architecture</i>
  151: <pre>
  152: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/suse/9.3/x86_64/suse_install.tar
  153: </pre>
  154: <p>
  155: Extract the archive with the following command:
  156: </p>
  157: <pre>
  158: tar xf suse_install.tar
  159: </pre>
  160: <p>
  161: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>.  Change to it and
  162: execute the setup script with the following commands:
  163: </p>
  164: <pre>
  165: cd installation
  166: ./install.pl
  167: </pre>
  168: <p>
  169: This script will prompt you for the MySQL root password and will download the latest LON-CAPA release.
  170: </p>
  171: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
  172: <p>
  173: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
  174: for it to function at all.  Below is a list with descriptions.
  175: </p>
  176: <dl>
  177:   <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
  178:   <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server.  In
  179:       general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
  180:       their course content on and run their courses.  Students should connect
  181:       to access servers.  If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at 
  182:       your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
  183:       should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
  184:   <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
  185:   <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
  186:       Here at MSU we use 'msu'.  You should choose something short but
  187:       meaningful.  <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or 
  188:       special characters.</i>
  189:   </dd>
  190:   <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
  191:   <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name.  We use names
  192:       such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word, 
  193:       no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
  194:   </dd>
  195:   <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
  196:   <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal.  Messages
  197:       are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in 
  198:       serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
  199:   </dd>
  200: </dl>
  201: 
  202: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
  203: <p>
  204: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
  205: </p>
  206: <pre>
  207: cd /root/loncapa-N.N     (N.N should correspond to a version number like '1.3')
  208: ./UPDATE
  209: </pre>
  210: <p>
  211: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined 
  212: in the previous section.  
  213: </p>
  214: <h2>Creating a Domain Coordinator</h2>
  215: <p>
  216: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
  217: 'domain coordinator'.  This user creates accounts for other users and
  218: grants them additional privileges.  The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
  219: invoked below requires that you enter the users password.  The password will
  220: show in plaintext as you type it.  Feel free to use the "passwd username"
  221: command to change it later.  Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an 
  222: appropriate user name and your domain.
  223: </p>
  224: <pre>
  225: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
  226: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
  227: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
  228: mkdir ~USERNAME
  229: mkdir ~USERNAME/public_html
  230: chown USERNAME:www ~USERNAME/public_html
  231: chmod 0775 ~USERNAME/public_html
  232: chmod a+x ~USERNAME
  233: </pre>
  234: <h2>Start/Restart Services</h2>
  235: <p>
  236: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start.  Most misconfigurations
  237: will be appearant at this step.
  238: </p>
  239: <pre>
  240: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
  241: /etc/init.d/apache start
  242: </pre>
  243: <p>
  244: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
  245: please make sure you followed the instructions in 
  246: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>.  If you still have errors, please
  247: contact the LON-CAPA support team.
  248: </p>
  249: <h2>Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</h2>
  250: <p>
  251: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
  252: coordinator.  Congratulations!
  253: </p>
  254: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
  255: <p>
  256: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
  257: there's something wrong, please get in touch with the LON-CAPA support team.
  258: You can submit a help request using our web form:<br />
  259: <a href="http://support.loncapa.org/help/">http://support.loncapa.org/help/</a><br />
  260: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or during the
  261: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
  262: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
  263: </p>