Annotation of doc/build/ubuntu8LTS_install.frag, revision 1.8
1.1 raeburn 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a basic Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
4: server running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server with only the base set 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 Ubuntu 8.04 LTS .iso</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#lin">Install Ubuntu 8.04 LTS</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:
1.8 ! bisitz 36: <hr>
1.1 raeburn 37: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain Ubuntu 8.04 LTS .iso file</a></h2>
38: <p>
1.8 ! bisitz 39: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (server install) isos can be obtained from links on the <a href="http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu-releases/hardy/HEADER.html">Ubuntu Releases</a> page at mirrors.kernel.org.<br>
1.1 raeburn 40: An .iso file (either 32 bit or 64 bit) can be burned to a CD.
41: </p>
42:
43: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
44: <p>
45: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
46: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
47: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
48:
49: <ul>
50: <li>ip address </li>
51: <li>netmask </li>
52: <li>hostname </li>
53: <li>gateway </li>
54: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
55: </ul>
56:
57: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Ubuntu 8.04 LTS installation</a></h2>
58: <p>
59: Installing Ubuntu Linux is easy.
60: Documentation is available from
61: <a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/</a>
62: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
63: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
64: </p>
65: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
66: <dt>Installation Language</dt>
67: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
68: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
69: <dd>If this is a fresh install choose "Install Ubuntu Server".</dd>
70: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
1.3 raeburn 71: <dd>For a fresh install you may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer.
72: If you decide to customize partitioning, the following may be useful to know.
1.1 raeburn 73: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
74: majority of the disk space should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
75: of space for Ubuntu, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.
76: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
77: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
78: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
79: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
80:
81: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
82: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
83: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
84: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
85: <dt>Software Selection</dt>
86: <dd>The base system will be installed. Once that is complete you will have the option to select additional software collections. Leave all unselected.</dd>
87: </dl>
88: <p>
89: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in with the username you created during installation.
1.8 ! bisitz 90: </p>
! 91: <h3>Firewall Configuration</h3>
! 92: <p>
! 93: Use ufw to allow incoming traffic for the following services:
! 94: ssh, www, https
! 95: </p>
1.1 raeburn 96: <pre>
97: sudo ufw default deny
98: sudo ufw enable
1.7 raeburn 99: sudo ufw allow ssh
100: sudo ufw allow www
101: sudo ufw allow https
1.1 raeburn 102: </pre>
1.8 ! bisitz 103: <h3>E-mail Configuration</h3>
! 104: <p>
! 105: By default Ubuntu disallows mailing to remote domains. Change using
! 106: </p>
1.1 raeburn 107: <pre>
108: sudo dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config
1.8 ! bisitz 109: </pre>
1.1 raeburn 110:
111: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Update your system</a></h2>
112: <p>
113: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using apt-get
114: </p>
115: <pre>
116: sudo apt-get update
117: sudo apt-get upgrade
118: </pre>
119: <p>
120: If kernel packages were updated, reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
121: </p>
122: <p>
123: Retrieve the ubuntu8_LTS_sources.list file from the LON-CAPA install site:
124: </p>
125: <pre>
126: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/ubuntu/8.04/ubuntu8_LTS_sources.list
127: </pre>
128: <p>
129: Install ubuntu8_LTS_sources.list
130: </p>
131: <p>
132: <pre>
133: mv /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.backup
134: cp ubuntu8_LTS_sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list
135: </pre>
136: </p>
137: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
138: <h3>Import the LON-CAPA encryption key</h3>
139: <pre>
140: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/ubuntu/APT-GPG-KEY-loncapa.asc
141: sudo apt-key add APT-GPG-KEY-loncapa.asc
142: sudo apt-get update
143: </pre>
144: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
145: <p> Execute: </p>
146: <pre>
1.3 raeburn 147: sudo apt-get install loncapa-prerequisites
1.1 raeburn 148: </pre><p>
1.6 raeburn 149: This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
1.1 raeburn 150: </p>
151: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
152: <p>
153: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup script and dependencies with the following command:
154: </p>
155: <pre>
156: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
157: </pre>
158: <p>
159: Extract the archive with the following command:
160: </p>
161: <pre>
162: tar xf install.tar
163: </pre>
164: <p>
165: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
166: execute the setup script with the following commands:
167: </p>
168: <pre>
169: cd installation
170: sudo ./install.pl
171:
172: </pre>
173: <p>
174: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be
175: 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.
176: </p>
177: <p>
178: 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.
179: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
180: </p>
181: <p>The possible actions are:
182: <ul>
183: <li>Create the www user/group</li>
184: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li>
185: <li>Set-up the MySQL database</li>
186: <li>Set-up MySQL permissions</li>
187: <li>Configure Apache web server</li>
188: <li>Configure start-up of services</li>
189: <li>Check firewall settings</li>
1.8 ! bisitz 190: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA,<br>
1.1 raeburn 191: e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li>
192: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li>
193: </ul>
194: </p>
195:
196: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
197: <p>
198: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
199: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
200: </p>
201: <dl>
202: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
203: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
204: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
205: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
206: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
207: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
208: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
209: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
210: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
211: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
212: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
1.8 ! bisitz 213: special characters.</i><br>Domain names which include a departmental
1.1 raeburn 214: abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
215: a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
216: For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
217: </dd>
218: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
219: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
220: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
221: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
222: </dd>
223: <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
224: <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>
225: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
226: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
227: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
228: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
229: </dd>
230: <dt>Support email address</dt>
231: <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system
232: will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to
233: display a web form which they will complete to request support from
234: your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents
235: will be sent to the e-mail address you specify.
236: </dd>
237: </dl>
238:
239: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
240: <p>
241: To configure and install LON-CAPA, become root and execute the following commands:
242: </p>
243: <pre>
244: sudo -i
1.3 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
250: in the previous section.
251: </p>
252:
253: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
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
1.5 raeburn 258: invoked below requires that you enter the user's password.
259: Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate username and your domain.
1.1 raeburn 260: </p>
261: <pre>
1.3 raeburn 262: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build
1.1 raeburn 263: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
264: </pre>
265:
266: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
267: <p>
268: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
1.3 raeburn 269: will be apparent at this step. Lastly, exit from root status to resume use of your regular account.
1.1 raeburn 270: </p>
271: <pre>
272: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
1.2 raeburn 273: /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
1.1 raeburn 274: exit
275: </pre>
276: <p>
1.2 raeburn 277: If you receive warnings when starting Apache about missing perl modules,
1.1 raeburn 278: please make sure you followed the instructions in
1.2 raeburn 279: <b>Installing prerequisites</b>. If you still have errors, please
1.1 raeburn 280: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
281: </p>
282:
283: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
284: <p>
285: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
286: coordinator. Congratulations!
287: </p>
288:
1.8 ! 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 .deb packages 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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