Annotation of doc/build/centos5_install.frag, revision 1.8
1.1 raeburn 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal CentOS Linux 5 System</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
4: server running CentOS Linux 5 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.
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>
1.2 bisitz 26: <li><a href="#obt">Obtain CentOS Linux 5 installation CDs</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#lin">Install CentOS Linux 5</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>
1.1 raeburn 34: </ol>
35:
1.5 bisitz 36: <hr>
1.2 bisitz 37: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain CentOS Linux 5 CDs</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 38: <p>
1.5 bisitz 39: CentOS isos can be obtained from links included on the <a href="http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5/isos/">CentOS download page</a><br>
1.1 raeburn 40: For the minimal install on 32-bit architecture you will need only the first CD.
41: For the minimal install on 64-bit architecture you will need CDs 1, 2, and 4.
42:
1.2 bisitz 43: </p>
1.1 raeburn 44:
1.2 bisitz 45: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 46: <p>
1.2 bisitz 47: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
1.1 raeburn 48: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
49: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
50:
51: <ul>
52: <li>ip address </li>
53: <li>netmask </li>
54: <li>hostname </li>
55: <li>gateway </li>
56: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
57: </ul>
58:
1.2 bisitz 59: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal CentOS Linux 5 Install</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 60: <p>
61: Installing CentOS Linux is quite easy, particularly if you've installed any of the Red Hat, Fedora or CentOS Linux distributions before.
62: Documentation is available from
63: <a href="http://wiki.centos.org/">http://wiki.centos.org/</a>
1.2 bisitz 64: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
1.1 raeburn 65: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
66: </p>
67: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
68: <dt>Installation Language</dt>
69: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
70: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
71: <dd>If this is a fresh install choose "Install CentOS Linux Server". If updating from a previous LON-CAPA installation on an earlier Redhat or Fedora version you may prefer to choose the upgrade option, although if you established a separate partition for /home it will be faster to perform an install instead of an upgrade, and use "Create Custom Layout" to set up partitions - making sure to select the "unchanged data" option for the /home partition, in order to preserve your existing LON-CAPA data. A full back-up to tape or some external system is also strongly advised when updating the operating system in use on an existing LON-CAPA server.</dd>
72:
73: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
74: <dd>For a fresh install may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer,
75: however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them. If you want to customize partitioning use "Create Custom Layout".
76: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
77: majority of the disk space should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
78: of space for CentOS, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.
79: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
80: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
81: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
82: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
83:
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>Software</dt>
89: <dd>Click the "Customize Now" radio button and for a minimal install uncheck all packages except "Base" in the Base System category. If you leave other packages checked in any of the other categories, you'll need additional ISO CDs.</dd>
90: </dl>
1.5 bisitz 91:
1.1 raeburn 92: <p>
1.5 bisitz 93: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root.
94: </p>
1.1 raeburn 95:
1.5 bisitz 96: <h3>Firewall and SELinux Configuration</h3>
97: <p>
98: The first time you log-in, the Setup Agent will be displayed.
99: If you exit it early you can enter it again buy running the command
100: </p>
101: <pre>setup</pre>
102: <p>
103: This tool should be used to configure the Firewall and SELinux.
104: </p>
1.1 raeburn 105:
1.5 bisitz 106: <ol>
107: <li>Select Security Level: Enabled, and Customize, to allow
1.1 raeburn 108: incoming: SSH (remote login), WWW (HTTP) and secure WWW
1.4 raeburn 109: (HTTPS).
1.5 bisitz 110: </li>
111: <li> Set SELinux to Disabled.</li>
112: <li> Select OK, and then Quit</li>
113: </ol>
114:
1.7 raeburn 115: <pre>reboot</pre>
1.1 raeburn 116:
1.2 bisitz 117: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Update your system</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 118: <p>
119: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using yum.
120: </p>
121: <pre>
122: yum update
123: </pre>
124: <p>
125: Reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
126: </p>
127: <p>
1.6 bisitz 128: Retrieve the centos5_loncapa_yum file from the LON-CAPA install site:
1.1 raeburn 129: </p>
130: <pre>
131: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/centos/5/centos5_loncapa_yum.conf
132: </pre>
133: <p>
134: Install the centos5_loncapa_yum.conf
135: </p>
136: <pre>
137: mv /etc/yum.conf /etc/yum.conf.backup
138: cp centos5_loncapa_yum.conf /etc/yum.conf
139: yum update
140: </pre>
1.5 bisitz 141:
142:
1.2 bisitz 143: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
1.3 raeburn 144: <h3>Import the LON-CAPA encryption key</h3>
145: <pre>rpm --import http://install.loncapa.org/versions/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-loncapa</pre>
1.1 raeburn 146: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
147: <p> Execute: </p>
148: <pre>
149: yum install LONCAPA-prerequisites
150: </pre><p>
1.8 ! raeburn 151: This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
1.1 raeburn 152: </p>
153: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
154: <p>
155: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
156: </p>
157: <pre>
1.8 ! raeburn 158: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
1.1 raeburn 159: </pre>
160: <p>
161: Extract the archive with the following command:
162: </p>
163: <pre>
1.8 ! raeburn 164: tar xf install.tar
1.1 raeburn 165: </pre>
166: <p>
167: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
168: execute the setup script with the following commands:
169: </p>
170: <pre>
171: cd installation
172: ./install.pl
173: </pre>
174: <p>
1.8 ! raeburn 175: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be
! 176: 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.
1.5 bisitz 177: </p>
1.8 ! raeburn 178: <p>
! 179: 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.
! 180: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
! 181: </p>
! 182: <p>The possible actions are:
1.1 raeburn 183: <ul>
1.8 ! raeburn 184: <li>Create the www user/group</li>
! 185: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li>
! 186: <li>Set-up the MySQL database</li>
! 187: <li>Set-up MySQL permissions</li>
! 188: <li>Configure Apache web server</li>
! 189: <li>Configure start-up of services</li>
! 190: <li>Check firewall settings</li>
! 191: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA,<br />
! 192: e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li>
! 193: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li>
1.1 raeburn 194: </ul>
1.8 ! raeburn 195: </p>
1.1 raeburn 196:
197: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
198: <p>
199: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
200: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
201: </p>
202: <dl>
203: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
204: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
205: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
206: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
207: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
208: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
209: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
210: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
211: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
212: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
213: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
1.5 bisitz 214: special characters.</i><br>Domain names which include a departmental
1.1 raeburn 215: abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
216: a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
217: For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
218: </dd>
219: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
220: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
221: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
222: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
223: </dd>
224: <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
225: <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>
226: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
227: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
228: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
229: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
230: </dd>
231: <dt>Support email address</dt>
232: <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system
233: will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to
234: display a web form which they will complete to request support from
235: your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents
236: will be sent to the e-mail address you specify.
237: </dd>
238: </dl>
239:
240: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
241: <p>
242: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
243: </p>
244: <pre>
1.8 ! raeburn 245: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.10.0')
1.1 raeburn 246: ./UPDATE
247: </pre>
248: <p>
249: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
1.2 bisitz 250: in the previous section.
1.1 raeburn 251: </p>
252:
1.2 bisitz 253: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 254: <p>
255: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
256: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
257: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
1.8 ! raeburn 258: invoked below requires that you enter the user's password.
! 259: Feel free to use the "passwd username" command to change it later.
! 260: Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate user name and your domain.
1.1 raeburn 261: </p>
262: <pre>
1.8 ! raeburn 263: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build
1.1 raeburn 264: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
265: </pre>
266:
1.2 bisitz 267: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 268: <p>
269: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
270: will be apparent at this step.
271: </p>
272: <pre>
273: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
274: /etc/init.d/httpd start
275: </pre>
276: <p>
277: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
278: please make sure you followed the instructions in
279: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
280: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
281: </p>
1.2 bisitz 282:
283: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 284: <p>
285: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
286: coordinator. Congratulations!
287: </p>
288:
1.5 bisitz 289: <hr>
1.1 raeburn 290: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
291: <p>
292: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
293: 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 RPMs or errors during the
294: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
295: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
296: </p>
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