Annotation of doc/build/ubuntu8LTS_install.frag, revision 1.7

1.1       raeburn     1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a basic Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server</h1>
                      2: <p>
                      3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
                      4: server running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server with only the base set 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.
                     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 Ubuntu 8.04 LTS .iso</a></li>
                     27:   <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
                     28:   <li><a href="#lin">Install Ubuntu 8.04 LTS</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 Ubuntu 8.04 LTS .iso file</a></h2>
                     38: <p>
1.4       raeburn    39: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (server install) isos can be obtained from links on the <a href="http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu-releases/hardy/HEADER.html">Ubuntu Releases</a> page at mirrors.kernel.org.<br />
1.1       raeburn    40: An .iso file (either 32 bit or 64 bit) can be burned to a CD. 
                     41: </p>
                     42: 
                     43: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
                     44: <p>
                     45: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
                     46: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
                     47: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
                     48: 
                     49: <ul>
                     50:   <li>ip address </li>
                     51:   <li>netmask </li>
                     52:   <li>hostname </li>
                     53:   <li>gateway </li>
                     54:   <li>domain name server(s) </li>
                     55: </ul>
                     56: 
                     57: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Ubuntu 8.04 LTS installation</a></h2>
                     58: <p>
                     59: Installing Ubuntu Linux is easy.
                     60: Documentation is available from
                     61: <a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/</a>
                     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>Installation Type</dt>
                     69:    <dd>If this is a fresh install choose "Install Ubuntu Server".</dd>
                     70:    <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
1.3       raeburn    71:    <dd>For a fresh install you may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer.
                     72:        If you decide to customize partitioning, the following may be useful to know.
1.1       raeburn    73:        LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
                     74:        majority of the disk space should be allocated here.  If you have 20 GB 
                     75:        of space for Ubuntu, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.  
                     76:        Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
                     77:        have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var.  Be sure to 
                     78:        include adequate swap space.  A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
                     79:        typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
                     80: 
                     81:    <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
                     82:    <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic 
                     83:        IP address.  When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
                     84:        the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
                     85:    <dt>Software Selection</dt>
                     86:    <dd>The base system will be installed. Once that is complete you will have the option to select additional software collections. Leave all unselected.</dd>
                     87: </dl>
                     88: <p>
                     89: 
                     90: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in with the username you created during installation.
                     91:   <dt>Firewall Configuration</dt>
                     92:    <dd>Use ufw to allow incoming traffic for the following services: 
                     93:        ssh, www, https
                     94:    </dd>
                     95: <pre>
                     96: sudo ufw default deny
                     97: sudo ufw enable
1.7     ! raeburn    98: sudo ufw allow ssh
        !            99: sudo ufw allow www
        !           100: sudo ufw allow https
1.1       raeburn   101: </pre>
                    102:    <dt>E-mail Configuration</dt>
                    103:    <dd>By default Ubuntu disallows mailing to remote domains. Change using<dd>
                    104: <pre>
                    105: sudo dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config
                    106: </pre
                    107: </p>
                    108: 
                    109: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Update your system</a></h2>
                    110: <p>
                    111: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using apt-get
                    112: </p>
                    113: <pre>
                    114: sudo apt-get update
                    115: sudo apt-get upgrade
                    116: </pre>
                    117: <p>
                    118: If kernel packages were updated, reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
                    119: </p>
                    120: <p>
                    121: Retrieve the ubuntu8_LTS_sources.list file from the LON-CAPA install site:
                    122: </p>
                    123: <pre>
                    124: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/ubuntu/8.04/ubuntu8_LTS_sources.list
                    125: </pre>
                    126: <p>
                    127: Install ubuntu8_LTS_sources.list
                    128: </p>
                    129: <p>
                    130: <pre>
                    131: mv /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.backup
                    132: cp ubuntu8_LTS_sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list
                    133: </pre>
                    134: </p>
                    135: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
                    136: <h3>Import the LON-CAPA encryption key</h3>
                    137: <pre>
                    138: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/ubuntu/APT-GPG-KEY-loncapa.asc
                    139: sudo apt-key add APT-GPG-KEY-loncapa.asc
                    140: sudo apt-get update
                    141: </pre>
                    142: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
                    143: <p> Execute: </p>
                    144: <pre>
1.3       raeburn   145: sudo apt-get install loncapa-prerequisites
1.1       raeburn   146: </pre><p>
1.6       raeburn   147: This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
1.1       raeburn   148: </p>
                    149: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
                    150: <p>
                    151: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup script and dependencies with the following command:
                    152: </p>
                    153: <pre>
                    154: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
                    155: </pre>
                    156: <p>
                    157: Extract the archive with the following command:
                    158: </p>
                    159: <pre>
                    160: tar xf install.tar
                    161: </pre>
                    162: <p>
                    163: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>.  Change to it and
                    164: execute the setup script with the following commands:
                    165: </p>
                    166: <pre>
                    167: cd installation
                    168: sudo ./install.pl
                    169: 
                    170: </pre>
                    171: <p>
                    172: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be
                    173: 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.
                    174: </p>
                    175: <p>
                    176: 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.
                    177: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
                    178: </p>
                    179: <p>The possible actions are:
                    180: <ul>
                    181: <li>Create the www user/group</li>
                    182: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li>
                    183: <li>Set-up the MySQL database</li>
                    184: <li>Set-up MySQL permissions</li>
                    185: <li>Configure Apache web server</li>
                    186: <li>Configure start-up of services</li>
                    187: <li>Check firewall settings</li>
                    188: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA,<br />
                    189:     e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li>
                    190: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li>
                    191: </ul>
                    192: </p>
                    193: 
                    194: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
                    195: <p>
                    196: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
                    197: for it to function at all.  Below is a list with descriptions.
                    198: </p>
                    199: <dl>
                    200:   <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
                    201:   <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server.  In
                    202:       general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
                    203:       their course content on and run their courses.  Students should connect
                    204:       to access servers.  If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at 
                    205:       your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
                    206:       should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
                    207:   <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
                    208:   <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
                    209:       Here at MSU we use 'msu'.  You should choose something short but
                    210:       meaningful.  <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or 
                    211:       special characters.</i><br />Domain names which include a departmental 
                    212:       abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
                    213:       a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
                    214:       For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
                    215:   </dd>
                    216:   <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
                    217:   <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name.  We use names
                    218:       such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word, 
                    219:       no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
                    220:   </dd>
                    221:   <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
                    222:    <dd>If you are setting up a domain with a single library server, then the domain's primary library server ID will be the LON-CAPA host id of that server (e.g., msul1). Once your domain grows and you need to add more servers, one of the library servers in the domain should be assigned as the domain's primary library server.  This will be where domain-wide settings will be stored.<dd>
                    223:   <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
                    224:   <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal.  Messages
                    225:       are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in 
                    226:       serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
                    227:   </dd>
                    228:   <dt>Support email address</dt>
                    229:   <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system  
                    230:       will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to 
                    231:       display a web form which they will complete to request support from
                    232:       your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents 
                    233:       will be sent to the e-mail address you specify. 
                    234:   </dd>
                    235: </dl>
                    236: 
                    237: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
                    238: <p>
                    239: To configure and install LON-CAPA, become root and execute the following commands:
                    240: </p>
                    241: <pre>
                    242: sudo -i
1.3       raeburn   243: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z     (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.10.0')
1.1       raeburn   244: ./UPDATE
                    245: </pre>
                    246: <p>
                    247: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined 
                    248: in the previous section.
                    249: </p>
                    250: 
                    251: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
                    252: <p>
                    253: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
                    254: 'domain coordinator'.  This user creates accounts for other users and
                    255: grants them additional privileges.  The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
1.5       raeburn   256: invoked below requires that you enter the user's password.
                    257: Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate username and your domain.
1.1       raeburn   258: </p>
                    259: <pre>
1.3       raeburn   260: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build
1.1       raeburn   261: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
                    262: </pre>
                    263: 
                    264: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
                    265: <p>
                    266: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start.  Most misconfigurations
1.3       raeburn   267: will be apparent at this step. Lastly, exit from root status to resume use of your regular account.
1.1       raeburn   268: </p>
                    269: <pre>
                    270: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
1.2       raeburn   271: /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
1.1       raeburn   272: exit
                    273: </pre>
                    274: <p>
1.2       raeburn   275: If you receive warnings when starting Apache about missing perl modules,
1.1       raeburn   276: please make sure you followed the instructions in 
1.2       raeburn   277: <b>Installing prerequisites</b>.  If you still have errors, please
1.1       raeburn   278: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
                    279: </p>
                    280: 
                    281: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
                    282: <p>
                    283: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
                    284: coordinator.  Congratulations!
                    285: </p>
                    286: 
                    287: <hr />
                    288: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
                    289: <p>
                    290: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think 
                    291: there's something wrong, please send a <a href="http://help.loncapa.org/help">help request</a> to the MSU LON-CAPA group.  If there were errors in installation of the dependency .deb packages or errors during the
                    292: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
                    293: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
                    294: </p>

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