Annotation of doc/build/suse10.3_install.frag, revision 1.4
1.1 raeburn 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal SuSE Linux 10.3 System</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
1.4 ! bisitz 4: server running SuSE Linux 10.3 with a minimum of packages installed.
! 5: The computer will be configured solely as a LON-CAPA server and will be
1.1 raeburn 6: expected to have no other services running. Your server is expected to have a reasonably fast connection to the internet.
7: </p><p>
1.4 ! bisitz 8: More information is available at
1.1 raeburn 9: <a href="http://install.lon-capa.org/">http://install.lon-capa.org/</a>.
10: </p>
1.4 ! bisitz 11:
1.1 raeburn 12: <h2>Before you begin</h2>
13: <p>
14: 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.
15: </p>
1.4 ! bisitz 16:
1.1 raeburn 17: <h2>Installation Overview</h2>
18: <p>
19: The installation process takes the following steps:
20: </p>
21: <ol>
1.4 ! bisitz 22: <li><a href="#obt">Obtain SuSE 10.3 installation media (DVD, or CD)</a></li>
! 23: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
! 24: <li><a href="#lin">Install Suse 10.3</a></li>
! 25: <li><a href="#upd">Update your system</a></li>
! 26: <li><a href="#ilc">Install LON-CAPA</a></li>
! 27: <li><a href="#cdc">Create a Domain Coordinator</a></li>
! 28: <li><a href="#sts">Start/Restart services</a></li>
! 29: <li><a href="#log">Log in to LON-CAPA</a></li>
1.1 raeburn 30: </ol>
1.4 ! bisitz 31: <hr />
! 32:
! 33: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain SuSE Linux 10.3</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 34: <p>
35: A SuSE 10.3 iso for burning to DVD can be obtained from the opensuse download site: <a href="http://software.opensuse.org/">http://http://software.opensuse.org/</a>, or from an opensuse mirror site - <a href="http://en.opensuse.org/Mirrors_Released_Version">http://en.opensuse.org/Mirrors_Released_Version</a>. You will also find links there to sites with iso files for burning a Start-CD-Image (a mini.iso) used in a network install, if burning a CD is more convenient for you.
1.4 ! bisitz 36: </p>
! 37:
! 38: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 39: <p>
40: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
41: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
42: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
43: </p>
44: <ul>
45: <li>ip address </li>
46: <li>netmask </li>
47: <li>hostname </li>
48: <li>gateway </li>
49: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
50: </ul>
1.4 ! bisitz 51:
! 52: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal SuSE 10.3 Install</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 53: <p>
54: Installing SuSE 10.3 is quite easy if you've installed Linux products
1.4 ! bisitz 55: before. Some documentation is available from
1.1 raeburn 56: <a href="http://en.opensuse.org/INSTALL_Local">
57: http://en.opensuse.org/INSTALL_Local</a> for installations from DVD and
58: <a href="http://en.opensuse.org/INSTALL_Internet">http://en.opensuse.org/INSTALL_Internet</a> for installations via the network, booting from the mini.iso CD.<br /><br />
59: Most of the subsequent installation screens are self explanatory.
60: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
61: </p>
62: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
1.2 www 63: <dt>Installation Language</dt>
64: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
1.1 raeburn 65: <dt>Desktop Selection</dt>
66: <dd>Click <i>Other</i> and choose <i>Text Mode</i></dd>
67: <dt>Software Selection</dt>
68: <dd>Choose Expert Mode and for Software enable Base System, Yast Installation Packages and Software Management</dd>
69: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
1.4 ! bisitz 70: <dd>For a LON-CAPA library server (i.e., the main server used
! 71: for permanent storage of course and user data),
! 72: a separate partition is recommended for /home, as this
1.1 raeburn 73: simplifies future upgrades of the operating system.
1.4 ! bisitz 74: If you are adding an additional access server to an
! 75: existing LON-CAPA domain, this does not apply as no
1.1 raeburn 76: permenent data are stored on an access server.
77: As LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory,
78: the majority of the disk space should be allocated here.
1.4 ! bisitz 79: If you have 20 GB of space for SuSE 10.3, /home should
! 80: receive at least 10 to 12 gigs. Since MySQL uses the /var
! 81: filesystem to store its databases you should have as least
! 82: 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
1.1 raeburn 83: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
84: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.
85: </dd>
86: </dl>
87: <p>Once you system has rebooted, you will use yast to complete the configuration. Change the following settings:
88: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
89: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
90: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
91: IP address. When configuring your network card, you should include host name information (e.g., host name = tmp1, domain = lite.msu.edu), as well as name server. Other settings (ip address, gateway, netmask will have been set when you included them in the boot configuration).
92: </dd>
93: <dt>Firewall</dt>
94: <dd>Enable the firewall, and allow the following services: web services (http and https) and login services (SSH). Use the "Advanced..." option to open the following ports for TCP services: 8080 5663.</dd>
95: <dt>Online Update Configuration</dt>
96: <dd>It is recommended that you register your server with Novell for future updates during the installation process, and then run the online update.</dd>
97: </dt>
98: </dl>
99: <p>
100: After finishing the online update, the system should reboot, and
101: proceed to have you create a user account, show you the Release Notes,
102: and let you configure any extra hardware, and then finish up the boot
103: process. At the prompt login as root.
104: </p>
1.4 ! bisitz 105:
! 106: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Change software sources for your system</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 107: <p>If you do not already have a SuSE 10.3 installation source at your location, you may want to consider creating one from the iso file for the DVD. Proceed as follows (e.g., for 32 bit):</p>
108: <pre>
109: mkdir -p suse103/DVD
110: mount -o ro,loop SUSE-Linux-10.3-GM-i386-DVD.iso /mnt
111: cp -rv /mnt/* suse103/DVD
112: umount /mnt
113: </pre>
114: Next you will use yast to import packages required for LON-CAPA.<br />
115: Execute:
116: </p>
117: <pre>
118: yast
119: </pre>
120: <p>
121: Select "Installation Source" and change to point at OSS and non-OSS repositories: (http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/10.3/repo/oss and http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/10.3/repo/non-oss) or alternatively at iternet installation repositories close to your location (see <a href="http://en.opensuse.org/Mirrors_Released_Version">http://en.opensuse.org/Mirrors_Released_Version</a>), or a local institutional source you have built from the SuSE 10.3 DVD, or you may prefer to continue to point at the installation DVD.
122: </p>
123: <h3>Add an additional installation source</h3>
124: <p>Add the LON-CAPA SuSE 10.3 repository as an additional installation source. Once this is done, software installation in yast should then have access to a minimum of three repositories - a YUM source for SuSE updates (established when you run online update from yast), an installation source (for OSS packages included in the standard distribution) and the LON-CAPA repository (for extra packages needed to run LON-CAPA). For the LON-CAPA source you will use:
125: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
126: <dd>Media Type</dd>
127: <dt>HTTP</dt>
128: <dd>Protocol</dd>
129: <dt>HTTP</dt>
130: <dd>Server Name</dd>
131: <dt>install.loncapa.org</dt>
132: <dd>Directory on server</dd>
133: <dt>suse/10.3/</dt>
134: <dd>Authentication</dd>
135: <dt>Anonymous</dt>
136: </dl>
1.4 ! bisitz 137: After saving this configuration information for the LON-CAPA repository, you will need to import a public LON-CAPA key, before the catalog is read, and the repository is available to you. Quit yast.
1.1 raeburn 138: </p>
1.4 ! bisitz 139:
! 140: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 141: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
142: <p> Execute: </p>
143: <pre>
144: yast -i LONCAPA-prerequisites
145: </pre><p>
146: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
147: </p>
148: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
149: <p>
150: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
151: </p>
152: <pre>
153: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/suse/10.3/suse10.3_install.tar
154: </pre>
155: <p>
156: Extract the archive with the following command:
157: </p>
158: <pre>
159: tar xf suse10.3_install.tar
160: </pre>
161: <p>
162: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
163: execute the setup script with the following commands:
164: </p>
165: <pre>
166: cd installation
167: ./install.pl
168: </pre>
169: <p>
170: This script will prompt you for the MySQL root password and will download the latest LON-CAPA release.
171: </p>
172: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
173: <p>
174: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to 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
1.4 ! bisitz 182: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
1.1 raeburn 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
1.4 ! bisitz 188: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
1.1 raeburn 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
1.4 ! bisitz 193: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
1.1 raeburn 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
1.4 ! bisitz 198: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
1.1 raeburn 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 '2.2.2')
209: ./UPDATE
210: </pre>
211: <p>
1.4 ! bisitz 212: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
! 213: in the previous section.
1.1 raeburn 214: </p>
1.4 ! bisitz 215:
! 216: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 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"
1.4 ! bisitz 223: command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
1.1 raeburn 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: </pre>
1.4 ! bisitz 231:
! 232: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 233: <p>
234: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
235: will be apparent at this step.
236: </p>
237: <pre>
238: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
239: /etc/init.d/apache2 start
240: </pre>
241: <p>
242: If you receive warnings about missing perl modules when starting apache2,
1.4 ! bisitz 243: please make sure you followed the instructions in
1.1 raeburn 244: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
1.3 raeburn 245: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
1.1 raeburn 246: </p>
1.4 ! bisitz 247:
! 248: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 249: <p>
250: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
251: coordinator. Congratulations!
252: </p>
1.4 ! bisitz 253:
! 254: <hr />
1.1 raeburn 255: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
256: <p>
257: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
1.3 raeburn 258: there's something wrong, please get in touch with the MSU LON-CAPA group.
1.1 raeburn 259: You can submit a help request using our web form:<br />
1.3 raeburn 260: <a href="http://help.loncapa.org/help/">http://help.loncapa.org/help/</a><br />
1.1 raeburn 261: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or during the
1.4 ! bisitz 262: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
1.1 raeburn 263: Please let us know if any parts of this document are unclear.
264: </p>
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