Annotation of doc/build/FC3_install.frag, revision 1.1
1.1 ! matthew 1: <html>
! 2: <head><title>LON-CAPA FC3 Installation</title></head>
! 3: <body>
! 4:
! 5: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal Fedora Core 3 Linux System</h1>
! 6: <p>
! 7: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
! 8: server running Fedora Core 3 (FC3) with a minimum of packages installed.
! 9: The computer will be configured solely as a LON-CAPA server and will be
! 10: expected to have no other services running. Your server is expected to have
! 11: a reasonably fast connection to the internet.
! 12: </p><p>
! 13: More information is available at <a href="http://install.lon-capa.org/">
! 14: http://install.lon-capa.org/</a>.
! 15: </p>
! 16:
! 17: <h2>Before you begin</h2>
! 18: <p>
! 19: Installing Linux is getting easier and easier. However, it is still a
! 20: non-trivial undertaking and experience with Red Hat Linux will make this
! 21: process easier. You will be required to log in to the machine and execute
! 22: some routine Unix commands. Some familiarity with Linux is assumed.
! 23: Familiarity with the Apache web server, mod_perl, perl, and MySQL are not
! 24: required to install and run LON-CAPA.
! 25: </p>
! 26:
! 27: <h2>Installation Overview</h2>
! 28: <p>
! 29: The installation process takes the following steps:
! 30: </p>
! 31: <ol>
! 32: <li> Obtain Fedora Core 3 installation CDs</li>
! 33: <li> Determine Network Settings</li>
! 34: <li> Install Fedora Core 3 </li>
! 35: <li> Update your system </li>
! 36: <li> Install LON-CAPA </li>
! 37: <li> Create a Domain Coordinator </li>
! 38: <li> Start/Restart services </li>
! 39: <li> Log in to LON-CAPA </li>
! 40: </ol>
! 41:
! 42: <h2>Obtain Fedora Core 3</h2>
! 43: <p>
! 44: FC3 ISO files can be obtained from the projects main site,
! 45: <a href="http://fedora.redhat.com/">http://fedora.redhat.com/</a>.
! 46: You will need only the first ISO image for the minimal install.
! 47: </p>
! 48:
! 49: <h2>Determine Network Settings</h2>
! 50: <p>
! 51: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
! 52: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
! 53: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
! 54: </p>
! 55: <ul>
! 56: <li>ip address </li>
! 57: <li>netmask </li>
! 58: <li>hostname </li>
! 59: <li>gateway </li>
! 60: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
! 61: </ul>
! 62:
! 63: <h2>Minimal FC3 Install</h2>
! 64: <p>
! 65: Installing Fedora is quite easy if you've installed any of the Red Hat products
! 66: before. Some documentation is available from
! 67: <a href="http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/">
! 68: http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/</a>.
! 69: There are a few sections that require comment.
! 70: </p>
! 71: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
! 72: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
! 73: <dd>Choose "Server" installation
! 74: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
! 75: <dd>You may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer,
! 76: however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them.
! 77: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
! 78: majority of the disk space should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
! 79: of space for FC3, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.
! 80: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
! 81: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
! 82: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
! 83: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
! 84: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
! 85: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
! 86: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
! 87: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
! 88: <dt>Firewall Configuration</dt>
! 89: <dd>Select SSH (remote login), HTTP/HTTPS (web server).</dd>
! 90: <dt>SELinux Configuration</dt>
! 91: <dd>Unless you are familiar with SElinux and writing security policies, for
! 92: now we suggest you choose an SElinux setting of 'disabled' or 'warn'.
! 93: <dt>Package Group Selection</dt>
! 94: <dd>Choose 'minimal install' which is on the bottom of the list.</dd>
! 95: </dl>
! 96: <p>
! 97: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root.
! 98: </p>
! 99:
! 100: <!---
! 101:
! 102: The firewall should be customized to allow incoming ssh and www.
! 103: Additional ports used by LON-CAPA are 5663 and 8080.
! 104: Enter these in the entry box as <nobr>"5663:tcp, 8080:tcp"</nobr>.</dd>
! 105:
! 106: -->
! 107:
! 108: <h2>Update your system</h2>
! 109: <p>
! 110: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using yum.
! 111: Yum is configured to check encyption keys for the packages it installs, so
! 112: you need to import the keys before invoking yum.
! 113: </p>
! 114: <pre>
! 115: rpm --import /usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora
! 116: yum update
! 117: </pre>
! 118: <p>
! 119: You will need to reboot your system after yum finishes. Reboot your system
! 120: before continuing with the installation.
! 121: </p>
! 122: <p>
! 123: Retrieve the FC3_loncapa_yum file from the LON-CAPA install site:
! 124: </p>
! 125: <pre>
! 126: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/FC3_loncapa_yum.conf
! 127: </pre>
! 128: <p>
! 129: Install the FC3_loncapa_yum.conf
! 130: </p>
! 131: <pre>
! 132: mv /etc/yum.conf /etc/yum.conf.backup
! 133: cp FC3_loncapa_yum.conf /etc/yum.conf
! 134: yum update
! 135: </pre>
! 136: </p>
! 137:
! 138:
! 139: <h2>Installing LON-CAPA</h2>
! 140: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
! 141: <p> Execute: </p>
! 142: <pre>
! 143: yum install LONCAPA-prerequisites
! 144: </pre><p>
! 145: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
! 146: </p>
! 147: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
! 148: <p>
! 149: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
! 150: </p>
! 151: <pre>
! 152: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/fedora_install.tar
! 153: </pre>
! 154: <p>
! 155: Extract the archive with the following command:
! 156: </p>
! 157: <pre>
! 158: tar xf fedora_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:
! 172: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
! 173: <p>
! 174: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters be set in order
! 175: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
! 176: </p>
! 177: <dl>
! 178: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
! 179: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
! 180: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
! 181: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
! 182: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
! 183: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
! 184: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
! 185: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
! 186: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
! 187: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
! 188: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
! 189: special characters.</i>
! 190: </dd>
! 191: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
! 192: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
! 193: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
! 194: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
! 195: </dd>
! 196: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
! 197: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
! 198: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
! 199: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
! 200: </dd>
! 201: </dl>
! 202:
! 203: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
! 204: <p>
! 205: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
! 206: </p>
! 207: <pre>
! 208: cd /root/loncapa-N.N (N.N should correspond to a version number like '1.2')
! 209: ./UPDATE
! 210: </pre>
! 211: <p>
! 212: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
! 213: in the previous section.
! 214: </p>
! 215:
! 216: <h2>Creating a Domain Coordinator</h2>
! 217: <p>
! 218: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
! 219: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
! 220: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
! 221: invoked below requires that you enter the users password. The password will
! 222: show in plaintext as you type it. Feel free to use the "passwd username"
! 223: command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
! 224: appropriate user name and your domain.
! 225: </p>
! 226: <pre>
! 227: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
! 228: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
! 229: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
! 230: mkdir ~USERNAME/public_html
! 231: chown USERNAME:www ~USERNAME/public_html
! 232: chmod 0775 ~USERNAME/public_html
! 233: chmod a+x ~USERNAME
! 234: </pre>
! 235:
! 236: <h2>Start/Restart Services</h2>
! 237: <p>
! 238: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
! 239: will be appearant at this step.
! 240: </p>
! 241: <pre>
! 242: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
! 243: /etc/init.d/httpd start
! 244: </pre>
! 245: <p>
! 246: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
! 247: please make sure you followed the instructions in
! 248: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
! 249: contact the LON-CAPA development team.
! 250: </p>
! 251: <h2>Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</h2>
! 252: <p>
! 253: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
! 254: coordinator. Congratulations!
! 255: </p>
! 256:
! 257: <h2>If Things aren't working right</h2>
! 258: <p>
! 259: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
! 260: there's something wrong, please get in touch with the LON-CAPA developers.
! 261: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or during the
! 262: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
! 263: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
! 264: </p>
! 265:
! 266: </body>
! 267:
! 268:
! 269:
! 270:
! 271:
! 272:
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