This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA server running SuSE Linux 13.1 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. 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:
A SuSE 13.1 iso for burning to DVD can be obtained from the opensuse download site: http://software.opensuse.org/, or from an opensuse mirror site - http://download.opensuse.org/. You will also find links there to sites with iso files for burning a Start-CD-Image (e.g., openSUSE-13.1-NET-i586.iso for 32 bit) used in a network install, if burning a CD is more convenient for you.
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 13.1 is quite easy if you've installed Linux products before. Some documentation is available from the Installation Quick Start guide. 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:
After finishing the online update, the system should reboot, and proceed to have you create a user account, show you the Release Notes, and let you configure any extra hardware, and then finish up the boot process. At the prompt login as root.
yast
Select "Installation Source" and change to point at OSS and non-OSS repositories: (http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/13.1/repo/oss and http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/13.1/repo/non-oss) or alternatively at iternet installation repositories close to your location (see http://en.opensuse.org/Mirrors_Released_Version), or a local institutional source you have built from the SuSE 13.1 DVD, or you may prefer to continue to point at the installation DVD.
Add the LON-CAPA SuSE 13.1 repository as an additional installation source.
Use zypper to add the LON-CAPA SuSE 13.1 repository and an additional repository provide by openSuSE for the Maxima computer algebra system (the science repo). Use the following commands to add them.
zypper ar -f 'http://install.loncapa.org/suse/13.1' LON-CAPA zypper ar -f 'http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/science/openSUSE_13.1' scienceYou will need to confirm that you wish to trust the key used to sign the packages in the LON-CAPA SuSE 13.1 repository.
Execute:
yast -i LONCAPA-prerequisites
This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
After Apache has been installed use yast to configure the Firewall to open port 80 for http (and port 443 for https, if you plan to use Apache with SSL).
Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
Extract the archive with the following command:
tar xf install.tar
This creates a directory named installation. Change to it and execute the setup script with the following commands:
cd installation ./install.pl
The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be 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.
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. Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
The possible actions are:
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.
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/apache2 start
If you receive warnings about missing perl modules when starting apache2, 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.
Please let us know if any parts of this document are unclear.