Annotation of doc/build/F9_install.frag, revision 1.5
1.1 raeburn 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal Fedora 9 Linux System</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
1.3 bisitz 4: server running Fedora 9 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
7: a reasonably fast connection to the internet.
8: </p><p>
1.3 bisitz 9: More information is available at
1.1 raeburn 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
1.3 bisitz 17: some routine Unix commands. Familiarity with the Apache web server, mod_perl,
1.1 raeburn 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>
1.3 bisitz 26: <li><a href="#obt">Obtain Fedora 9 installation DVD or a Live Image CD or Rescue CD</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#lin">Install Fedora 9</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>
1.3 bisitz 35: <hr />
36: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain Fedora 9</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 37: <p>
38: Fedora 9 ISO files can be obtained from the project's main site,
39: <a href="http://fedoraproject.org/">http://fedoraproject.org/</a>.
40: You can either download an iso image(s) of the full distribution for burning to DVD,
1.3 bisitz 41: or to CDs, or you can download a single net install for burning to CD. If you use the
42: net install CD, after booting from the CD, and selecting "Installation,"
1.1 raeburn 43: you will need to select HTTP as the installation source, and specify the
1.3 bisitz 44: host and path to Fedora 9 files for your particular architecture, e.g.,<br />
1.1 raeburn 45: Host: http://mirrors.kernel.org/<br />
1.3 bisitz 46: Path: fedora/releases/9/Fedora/i386/os/
47: </p>
1.1 raeburn 48:
1.3 bisitz 49: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 50: <p>
1.3 bisitz 51: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
1.1 raeburn 52: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
53: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
54:
55: <ul>
56: <li>ip address </li>
57: <li>netmask </li>
58: <li>hostname </li>
59: <li>gateway </li>
60: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
61: </ul>
62:
1.3 bisitz 63: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal Fedora 9 Install</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 64: <p>
65: Installing Fedora is quite easy if you've installed any of the Red Hat products
1.3 bisitz 66: before. Some documentation is available from
1.1 raeburn 67: <a href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Distribution/Download#Understand">
68: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Distribution/Download#Understand</a>.
1.3 bisitz 69: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
1.1 raeburn 70: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
71: </p>
72: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
73: <dt>Installation Language</dt>
74: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
75: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
76: <dd>If this is a fresh install choose "Install Fedora". If updating from a previous LON-CAPA installation on an earlier Fedora version (e.g., FC5 or FC6) 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 Fedora distribution in use on an existing LON-CAPA server.</dd>
77: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
78: <dd>For a fresh install may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer,
79: however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them. If you want to customize partitioning use "Create Custom Layout".
80: LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
1.3 bisitz 81: majority of the disk space should be allocated here. If you have 20 GB
1.4 raeburn 82: of space for Fedora 9, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 gigs.
1.1 raeburn 83: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
1.3 bisitz 84: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
1.1 raeburn 85: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
86: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
87: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
1.3 bisitz 88: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
1.1 raeburn 89: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
90: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
91: <dt>Software</dt>
92: <dd>Uncheck the "Office and Productivity" software option. Click the "Customize Now" radio button and for a minimal install uncheck all packages except "Base" in the Base System category.</dd>
93: </dl>
94: <p>
95: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root. The first time you log-in, the Setup Agent will be displayed. If you have not already done so you can use this to configure your network interface.
96: <p>Exit the Setup Agent</p>
1.3 bisitz 97: <h3>Configure SELinux</h3>
1.1 raeburn 98: <p>
99: The default Fedora 9 installation includes SELinux enabled. Until such time as an SELinux security policy has been created for LON-CAPA, SELinux should be disabled.
100: Retrieve the loncapa_selinux_config file from the LON-CAPA install site:
101: </p>
102: <pre>
103: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/9/loncapa_selinux_config
104: </pre>
105: <p>
106: Install the selinux config file
107: </p>
108: <p>
109: <pre>
110: mv /etc/selinux/config /etc/selinux/config.backup
111: mv loncapa_selinux_config /etc/selinux/config
112: </pre>
113: </p>
1.3 bisitz 114: <h3>Firewall Configuration</h3>
115: To configure the firewall settings, use the system-config-firewall utility. Execute: <p>
116: <pre>lokkit</pre></p><p>
1.1 raeburn 117: <dt>Firewall Configuration</dt>
1.5 ! raeburn 118: <dd>Select Security Level: Enabled, and allow incoming: SSH (remote login), WWW (HTTP) and secure WWW (HTTPS).</dd>
1.1 raeburn 119: <br />Exit the system-config-firewall</p>
1.3 bisitz 120:
121: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Update your system</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 122: <p>
123: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using yum.
1.3 bisitz 124: Yum is configured to check encyption keys for the packages it installs, so
1.1 raeburn 125: you need to import the keys before invoking yum.
126: </p>
127: <pre>
128: rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora
129: rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora-8-and-9
130:
131: yum update
132: </pre>
133: <p>
134: <b>Reboot</b> your system before continuing with the installation.
135: </p>
136: <p>
137: Retrieve the F9_loncapa_yum file from the LON-CAPA install site:
138: </p>
139: <pre>
140: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/9/F9_loncapa_yum.conf
141: </pre>
142: <p>
143: Install the F9_loncapa_yum.conf
144: </p>
145: <p>
146: <pre>
147: mv /etc/yum.conf /etc/yum.conf.backup
148: cp F9_loncapa_yum.conf /etc/yum.conf
149: </pre>
150: </p>
1.3 bisitz 151:
152: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 153: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
154: <p>Import the LON-CAPA encryption key</p>
155: <pre>
156: rpm --import http://install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/RPM-GPG-KEY-loncapa
157: </pre>
158: <p> Execute: </p>
159: <pre>
160: yum install LONCAPA-prerequisites
161: </pre><p>
162: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
163: </p>
164: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
165: <p>
166: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
167: </p>
168: <pre>
169: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/9/F9_install.tar
170: </pre>
171: <p>
172: Extract the archive with the following command:
173: </p>
174: <pre>
175: tar xf F9_install.tar
176: </pre>
177: <p>
178: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
179: execute the setup script with the following commands:
180: </p>
181: <pre>
182: cd installation
183: ./install.pl
184: </pre>
185: <p>
186: This script will prompt you for the MySQL root password and will download the latest LON-CAPA release.<br />
187: You can safely ignore the following warnings from gcc 4 when compiling pwauth:<br />
188: <tt>
189: pwauth.c: In function ‘lastlog’:
190: <ul>
191: <li>pwauth.c:541: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strncpy’</li>
192: <li>pwauth.c:543: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strlen’</li>
193: </ul>
194: pwauth.c: In function ‘main’:
195: <ul>
196: <li>pwauth.c:692: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strlen’</li>
197: </ul>
198: </tt>
199:
200: </p>
201:
202: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
203: <p>
204: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
205: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
206: </p>
207: <dl>
208: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
209: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
210: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
211: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
1.3 bisitz 212: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
1.1 raeburn 213: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
214: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
215: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
216: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
217: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
1.3 bisitz 218: meaningful. <i>Restriction: no spaces, underscores or
1.1 raeburn 219: special characters (besides - and .).</i><br />
1.3 bisitz 220: Domain names which include a departmental
1.1 raeburn 221: abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
222: a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
223: For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
224: </dd>
225: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
226: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
1.3 bisitz 227: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
1.1 raeburn 228: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
229: </dd>
230: <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
231: <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>
232: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
233: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
1.3 bisitz 234: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
1.1 raeburn 235: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
236: </dd>
237: <dt>Support email address</dt>
1.3 bisitz 238: <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system
239: will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to
1.1 raeburn 240: display a web form which they will complete to request support from
1.3 bisitz 241: your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents
242: will be sent to the e-mail address you specify.
1.1 raeburn 243: </dd>
244: </dl>
245:
246: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
247: <p>
248: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
249: </p>
250: <pre>
251: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.7.1')
252: ./UPDATE
253: </pre>
254: <p>
1.3 bisitz 255: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
256: in the previous section.
1.1 raeburn 257: </p>
258:
1.3 bisitz 259: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 260: <p>
261: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
262: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
263: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
264: invoked below requires that you enter the users password. The password will
265: show in plaintext as you type it. Feel free to use the "passwd username"
1.3 bisitz 266: command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
1.1 raeburn 267: appropriate user name and your domain.
268: </p>
269: <pre>
270: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
271: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
272: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
273: </pre>
274:
1.3 bisitz 275: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 276: <p>
277: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
278: will be apparent at this step.
279: </p>
280: <pre>
281: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
282: /etc/init.d/httpd start
283: </pre>
284: <p>
285: If you receive warnings when starting the httpd about missing perl modules,
1.3 bisitz 286: please make sure you followed the instructions in
1.1 raeburn 287: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
1.2 raeburn 288: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
1.1 raeburn 289: </p>
1.3 bisitz 290:
291: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 292: <p>
293: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
294: coordinator. Congratulations!
295: </p>
296:
1.3 bisitz 297: <hr />
1.1 raeburn 298: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
299: <p>
1.3 bisitz 300: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
1.2 raeburn 301: 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
1.1 raeburn 302: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
303: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
304: </p>
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