Annotation of doc/build/ES4_install.frag, revision 1.1
1.1 ! raeburn 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal Red Hat Enterpise Linux ES4 System</h1>
! 2: <p>
! 3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
! 4: server running Red Hat Enterpise Linux 4 (ES4) 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. However, it is still a
! 16: non-trivial undertaking and experience with Red Hat Linux will make this
! 17: process easier. You will be required to log in to the machine and execute
! 18: some routine Unix commands. Familiarity with the Apache web server, mod_perl,
! 19: perl, and MySQL are not required to install and run LON-CAPA.
! 20: </p>
! 21:
! 22: <h2>Installation Overview</h2>
! 23: <p>
! 24: The installation process takes the following steps:
! 25: </p>
! 26: <ol>
! 27: <li> Obtain Red Hat Enterprise Server installation CDs</li>
! 28: <li> Determine Network Settings</li>
! 29: <li> Install Red Hat ES 4</li>
! 30: <li> Update your system</li>
! 31: <li> Install LON-CAPA</li>
! 32: <li> Create a Domain Coordinator</li>
! 33: <li> Start/Restart services</li>
! 34: <li> Log in to LON-CAPA</li>
! 35: </ol>
! 36:
! 37: <h2>Obtain Red Hat Enterprise Server CDs</h2>
! 38: <p>
! 39: ES4 CDs can be purchased from Red Hat:
! 40: <a href="http://redhat.com/">http://redhat.com/</a>.
! 41: For the minimal install on 32-bit architecture you will need only the first two CDs.
! 42: </p>
! 43:
! 44: <h2>Determine Network Settings</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: </p>
! 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>Minimal Red Hat ES4 Install</h2>
! 59: <p>
! 60: Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux is quite easy if you've installed any of
! 61: the Red Hat products before. Documentation is available from
! 62: <a href="http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/">
! 63: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/</a>
! 64: Specific comment is provided for some of the installation steps below.
! 65: </p>
! 66: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
! 67: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
! 68: <dd>Choose "Server" installation
! 69: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
! 70: <dd>You may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer,
! 71: however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them.
! 72: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
! 73: majority of the disk space should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
! 74: of space for ES4, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.
! 75: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
! 76: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
! 77: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
! 78: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
! 79: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
! 80: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
! 81: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
! 82: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
! 83: <dt>Firewall Configuration</dt>
! 84: <dd>Select SSH (remote login), HTTP/HTTPS (web server).</dd>
! 85: <dt>SELinux Configuration</dt>
! 86: <dd>Choose an SElinux setting of 'disabled' or 'warn', unless you are
! 87: familiar with SElinux and writing security policies
! 88: <b>and want to help us write a security policy for LON-CAPA</b>.
! 89: <dt>Package Group Selection</dt>
! 90: <dd>Choose 'Minimal' which is the last item on the list.</dd>
! 91: </dl>
! 92: <p>
! 93: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root.
! 94: </p>
! 95:
! 96: <!---
! 97:
! 98: The firewall should be customized to allow incoming ssh and www.
! 99: Additional ports used by LON-CAPA are 5663 and 8080.
! 100: Enter these in the entry box as <nobr>"5663:tcp, 8080:tcp"</nobr>.</dd>
! 101:
! 102: -->
! 103:
! 104: <h2>Update your system</h2>
! 105: <p>
! 106: You will first need to register your server with the Red Hat Network.</p>
! 107: <p>Information about registration for the Red Hat Network can be found at:
! 108: <a href="http://www.redhat.com/software/rhn/">http://www.redhat.com/software/rhn/</a>. You can register directly from the server where you will be installing LON-CAPA using:
! 109: <pre>
! 110: up2date --register
! 111: </pre>
! 112: Once you have registered your system so it has access to Red Hat package updates, you should update your system to the latest versions of the system software using up2date.
! 113: <pre>
! 114: up2date
! 115: </pre>
! 116: <p>
! 117: Reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
! 118: </p>
! 119: <p>
! 120: Retrieve the ES4_loncapa_rhnsources file from the LON-CAPA install site:
! 121: </p>
! 122: <pre>
! 123: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/ES4_loncapa_rhnsources
! 124: </pre>
! 125: <p>
! 126: Install the ES4_loncapa_rhnsources
! 127: </p>
! 128: <p>
! 129: <pre>
! 130: mv /etc/sysconfig/rhn/sources /etc/sysconfig/rhn/sources.backup
! 131: cp ES4_loncapa_rhnsources /etc/sysconfig/rhn/sources
! 132: up2date
! 133: </pre>
! 134: </p>
! 135:
! 136:
! 137: <h2>Installing LON-CAPA</h2>
! 138: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
! 139: <p> Execute: </p>
! 140: <pre>
! 141: up2date 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/versions/redhat/ES4/redhat_install.tar
! 151: </pre>
! 152: <p>
! 153: Extract the archive with the following command:
! 154: </p>
! 155: <pre>
! 156: tar xf redhat_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>
! 162: <pre>
! 163: cd installation
! 164: ./install.pl
! 165: </pre>
! 166: <p>
! 167: This script will prompt you for the MySQL root password and will download the latest LON-CAPA release.
! 168: </p>
! 169:
! 170: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
! 171: <p>
! 172: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
! 173: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
! 174: </p>
! 175: <dl>
! 176: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
! 177: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
! 178: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
! 179: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
! 180: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
! 181: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
! 182: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
! 183: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
! 184: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
! 185: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
! 186: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
! 187: special characters.</i>
! 188: </dd>
! 189: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
! 190: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
! 191: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
! 192: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
! 193: </dd>
! 194: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
! 195: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
! 196: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
! 197: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
! 198: </dd>
! 199: </dl>
! 200:
! 201: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
! 202: <p>
! 203: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
! 204: </p>
! 205: <pre>
! 206: cd /root/loncapa-N.N (N.N should correspond to a version number like '2.0')
! 207: ./UPDATE
! 208: </pre>
! 209: <p>
! 210: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
! 211: in the previous section.
! 212: </p>
! 213:
! 214: <h2>Creating a Domain Coordinator</h2>
! 215: <p>
! 216: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
! 217: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
! 218: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
! 219: invoked below requires that you enter the users password. The password will
! 220: show in plaintext as you type it. Feel free to use the "passwd username"
! 221: command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
! 222: appropriate user name and your domain.
! 223: </p>
! 224: <pre>
! 225: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
! 226: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
! 227: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
! 228: mkdir ~USERNAME/public_html
! 229: chown USERNAME:www ~USERNAME/public_html
! 230: chmod 0775 ~USERNAME/public_html
! 231: chmod a+x ~USERNAME
! 232: </pre>
! 233:
! 234: <h2>Start/Restart Services</h2>
! 235: <p>
! 236: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
! 237: will be appearant at this step.
! 238: </p>
! 239: <pre>
! 240: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
! 241: /etc/init.d/httpd start
! 242: </pre>
! 243: <p>
! 244: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
! 245: please make sure you followed the instructions in
! 246: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
! 247: contact the LON-CAPA development team.
! 248: </p>
! 249: <h2>Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</h2>
! 250: <p>
! 251: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
! 252: coordinator. Congratulations!
! 253: </p>
! 254:
! 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
! 258: there's something wrong, please get in touch with the LON-CAPA support team.
! 259: You can submit a help request using our web form:< br />
! 260: <a href="http://support.loncapa.org/help/">http://support.loncapa.org/help/</a><br />
! 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>
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