This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA server running SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 (SLES 9) with a minimum of packages installed. The computer will be configured solely as a LON-CAPA server and will be expected to have no other services running. Your server is expected to have a reasonably fast connection to the internet.
More information is available at http://install.lon-capa.org/.
Installing Linux is getting easier and easier. However, it is still a non-trivial undertaking and experience with SuSE Linux will make this process 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.
The installation process takes the following steps:
SuSE ISO files can be obtained from the Novell site: http://www.suse.com/products/server/.
You will need to know the following network settings for your installation. Note:You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA. DHCP is not supported.
Installing SuSE Linux Enterprise Server is quite easy if you've installed Linux products
before. Some documentation is available from
http://www.novell.com/documentation/sles9/.
Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
Once you system has rebooted, you will use yast to complete the configuration. Change the following settings:
Finish installing your server, read the "readme", reboot and log in as root.
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.
You will use yast to import packages required for LON-CAPA.
Execute:
yast
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:http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/02/yast_instsrc.html.
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:
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.
Execute:
yast -i LONCAPA-prerequisites
This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with one of the following commands:
32 bit architecturewget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/suse/sles9/i386/suse_install.tar
wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/suse/sles9/x86_64/suse_install.tar
Extract the archive with the following command:
tar xf suse_install.tar
This creates a directory named installation. Change to it and execute the setup script with the following commands:
cd installation ./install.pl
This script will prompt you for the MySQL root password and will download the latest LON-CAPA release.
LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.10.0') ./UPDATE
You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined in the previous section.
After installing LON-CAPA, and taking any actions included in the WARNINGS file created during installation, it is recommended that you set loncontrol to start automatically on boot, by executing the following command:
/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 loncontrol on
Start yast and use "Online Update" to check for updates to installed packages. When prompted for the username and password for your account with Novell, you should check the box to retain your log-in information, otherwise the nightly update check, installed as part of the LON-CAPA install, will fail and send you a message "ERROR(Media:login failed)" each time it runs.
You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script invoked below requires that you enter the user's password. Feel free to use the "passwd username" command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate user name and your domain.
cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations will be apparent at this step.
/etc/init.d/loncontrol start /etc/init.d/apache start
If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules, please make sure you followed the instructions in Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies. If you still have errors, please contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain coordinator. Congratulations!
If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
there's something wrong, please get in touch with the MSU LON-CAPA group.
You can submit a help request using our web form:
http://help.loncapa.org/help/
If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or during the
automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.