Annotation of doc/build/scientific6_install.frag, revision 1.3
1.1 raeburn 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal Scientific Linux 6 System</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
4: server running Scientific Linux 6 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>
26: <li><a href="#obt">Obtain Scientific Linux 6 installation CD</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#lin">Install Scientific 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>
34: </ol>
35:
36: <hr />
37: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain Scientific Linux 6 CDs</a></h2>
38: <p>
39: Scientific Linux isos can be obtained from links included on the <a href="http://www.scientificlinux.org/download/">Scientific Linux download page</a><br />
40: For the minimal install on both 32-bit and 64 bit architecture you will need only the first CD.
41:
42: </p>
43:
44: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
45: <p>
46: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
47: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
48: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
49:
50: <ul>
51: <li>ip address </li>
52: <li>netmask </li>
53: <li>hostname </li>
54: <li>gateway </li>
55: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
56: </ul>
57:
58: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal Scientific Linux 6 Install</a></h2>
59: <p>
60: Installing Scientific Linux is quite easy, particularly if you've installed any of the Red Hat, Fedora or CentOS Linux distributions before.
61: Documentation is available from
62: <a href="http://www.scientificlinux.org/documentation/">http://www.scientificlinux.org/documentation/</a>
63: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
64: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
65: </p>
66: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
67: <dt>Installation Language</dt>
68: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
69: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
70: <dd>If this is a fresh install choose "Install Scientific 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>
71:
72: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
73: <dd>For a fresh install may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer,
74: however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them. If you want to customize partitioning use "Create Custom Layout".
75: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
76: majority of the disk space should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
77: of space for Scientific Linux, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.
78: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
79: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
80: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
81: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
82:
83: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
84: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
85: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
86: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
87: <dt>Software</dt>
88: <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>
89: </dl>
90: <p>
91:
92: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root. The
93: first time you log-in, the Setup Agent will be displayed. (If you exit it early you can enter it again by running the command
94: <pre>
95: setup
96: </pre>
97: This tool should be used to configure the Firewall and SELinux.
98:
99: <dt>Firewall Configuration</dt>
100:
101: <dd>Select Security Level: Enabled, and Customize, to allow
102: incoming: SSH (remote login), WWW (HTTP) and secure WWW
103: (HTTPS).
104: </dd>
105: <dd> Set SELinux to Disabled.</dd>
106: <dd> Select OK, and then Quit</dd>
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 yum.
112: </p>
113: <pre>
114: yum update
115: </pre>
116: <p>
117: Reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
118: </p>
119: <p>
120: Retrieve the scientific_loncapa_yum.conf file from the LON-CAPA install site:
121: </p>
122: <pre>
123: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/scientific/6/scientific6_loncapa_yum.conf
124: </pre>
125: <p>
126: Install the scientific_loncapa_yum.conf
127: </p>
128: <p>
129: <pre>
130: mv /etc/yum.conf /etc/yum.conf.backup
131: cp scientific6_loncapa_yum.conf /etc/yum.conf
132: yum update
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>rpm --import http://install.loncapa.org/versions/scientific/RPM-GPG-KEY-loncapa</pre>
138: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
139: <p> Execute: </p>
140: <pre>
141: yum install LONCAPA-prerequisites
142: </pre><p>
143: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
144: </p>
145: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
146: <p>
147: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
148: </p>
149: <pre>
150: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
151: </pre>
152: <p>
153: Extract the archive with the following command:
154: </p>
155: <pre>
156: tar xf install.tar
157: </pre>
158: <p>
159: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
160: execute the setup script with the following commands:
161: </p>
1.3 ! raeburn 162: <pre>
1.1 raeburn 163: cd installation
164: ./install.pl
165: </pre>
166: <p>
167: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be
168: 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.
169: </p>
170: <p>
171: 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.
172: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
173: </p>
174: <p>The possible actions are:
175: <ul>
176: <li>Create the www user/group</li>
177: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li>
178: <li>Set-up the MySQL database</li>
179: <li>Set-up MySQL permissions</li>
180: <li>Configure Apache web server</li>
181: <li>Configure start-up of services</li>
182: <li>Check firewall settings</li>
183: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA,<br />
184: e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li>
185: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li>
1.2 raeburn 186: </ul>
1.1 raeburn 187: </p>
188:
189: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
190: <p>
191: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
192: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
193: </p>
194: <dl>
195: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
196: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
197: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
198: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
199: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
200: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
201: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
202: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
203: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
204: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
205: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
206: special characters.</i><br />Domain names which include a departmental
207: abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
208: a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
209: For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
210: </dd>
211: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
212: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
213: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
214: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
215: </dd>
216: <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
217: <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>
218: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
219: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
220: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
221: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
222: </dd>
223: <dt>Support email address</dt>
224: <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system
225: will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to
226: display a web form which they will complete to request support from
227: your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents
228: will be sent to the e-mail address you specify.
229: </dd>
230: </dl>
231:
232: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
233: <p>
234: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
235: </p>
236: <pre>
237: cd /root/loncapa-N.N (N.N should correspond to a version number like '1.3')
238: ./UPDATE
239: </pre>
240: <p>
241: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
242: in the previous section.
243: </p>
244:
245: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
246: <p>
247: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
248: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
249: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
250: invoked below requires that you enter the users password. The password will
251: show in plaintext as you type it. Feel free to use the "passwd username"
252: command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
253: appropriate user name and your domain.
254: </p>
255: <pre>
256: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
257: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
258: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
259: </pre>
260:
261: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
262: <p>
263: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
264: will be apparent at this step.
265: </p>
266: <pre>
267: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
268: /etc/init.d/httpd start
269: </pre>
270: <p>
271: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
272: please make sure you followed the instructions in
273: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
274: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
275: </p>
276:
277: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
278: <p>
279: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
280: coordinator. Congratulations!
281: </p>
282:
283: <hr />
284: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
285: <p>
286: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
287: 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
288: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
289: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
290: </p>
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