Annotation of doc/build/RHEL7_install.frag, revision 1.3
1.1 raeburn 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
4: server running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 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 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 installation iso file or media</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#lin">Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7</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 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7</a></h2>
38: <p>
39: RHEL7 downloads are available from Red Hat:
40: <a href="http://redhat.com/">http://redhat.com/</a>.
41: Either download the Boot ISO or the RHEL 7 binary
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:
1.2 raeburn 58: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Install</a></h2>
1.1 raeburn 59: <p>
60: Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux is straightforward.
61: Documentation is available from
1.2 raeburn 62: <a href="https://access.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/">
1.1 raeburn 63: https://access.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/</a>
64: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
65: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
66: </p>
67: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
68: <dt>Installation Language</dt>
69: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
70: <dt>Installation Destination</dt>
71: <dd>For a fresh install may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer.
72: If you want to customize partitioning check the "I will configure partitioning" radio button.
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 RHEL, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 GB.
76: Since Mariadb uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
77: have at least 4 GB of space available on /var. Be sure to
78: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 MB, but you should
79: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
80: <dt>Network and Hostname</dt>
81: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
82: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
83: the DHCP option and enter your network information. Enter your hostname</dd>
84: <dt>Software Selection</dt>
85: <dd>Select the "Minimal Install" radio button.</dd>
86: </dl>
87: <p>
88: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in as root.
89: </p>
90: <h3>Firewall Configuration</h3>
91: <p>
1.2 raeburn 92: LON-CAPA uses the traditional iptables package instead of the recent Firewalld, included for the
1.1 raeburn 93: first time with RHEL7. Accordingly, you should install iptables-services, disable firewalld,
94: and enable iptables.
95: <pre>
96: yum install iptables-services
97: systemctl mask firewalld
98: systemctl enable iptables
99: systemctl enable ip6tables
1.3 ! raeburn 100: systemctl stop firewalld
! 101: systemctl start iptables
! 102: systemctl start ip6tables
1.1 raeburn 103: yum install wget
104: rpm --import http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/RPM-GPG-KEY-loncapa
105: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/7Server/system-config-firewall-tui-1.2.29-10.el7.noarch.rpm
106: yum localinstall system-config-firewall-tui-1.2.29-10.el7.noarch.rpm
107: </pre>
1.2 raeburn 108: <p>
1.1 raeburn 109: The system-config-firewall-tui tool should be used to configure the Firewall.
110: </p>
1.2 raeburn 111: <pre>
112: system-config-firewall-tui
113: </pre>
1.1 raeburn 114: <ol>
115: <li>Select Security Level: Enabled, and Customize, to allow
116: incoming: SSH (remote login), WWW (HTTP) and secure WWW
117: (HTTPS).
118: </li>
119: <li>Select OK, and then Quit</li>
120: </ol>
121:
122: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Update your system</a></h2>
123: <p>
124: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using yum.
125: </p>
126: <pre>
127: yum update
128: </pre>
129: <p>
130: Reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
131: </p>
132: <p>
133: Retrieve the rhel7_loncapa_yum file from the LON-CAPA install site:
134: </p>
135: <pre>
136: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/7Server/rhel7_loncapa_yum.conf
137: </pre>
138: <p>
139: Install the rhel7_loncapa_yum.conf
140: </p>
141: <pre>
142: mv /etc/yum.conf /etc/yum.conf.backup
143: cp rhel7_loncapa_yum.conf /etc/yum.conf
144: yum update
145: </pre>
146:
147: <h3>Configure SELinux</h3>
148: <p>
149: The default RHEL7 installation includes SELinux enabled. Until such time as an SELinux security policy has been created for LON-CAPA, SELinux should be disabled.
150: Retrieve the loncapa_selinux_config file from the LON-CAPA install site:
151: </p>
152: <pre>
153: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/redhat/7Server/loncapa_selinux_config
154: </pre>
155: <p>
156: Install the selinux config file
157: </p>
158: <pre>
159: mv /etc/selinux/config /etc/selinux/config.backup
160: mv loncapa_selinux_config /etc/selinux/config
161: reboot
162: </pre>
163:
164: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
165: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
166: <p> Execute: </p>
167: <pre>
168: yum install LONCAPA-prerequisites
169: </pre><p>
170: This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
171: </p>
172: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
173: <p>
174: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
175: </p>
176: <pre>
177: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
178: </pre>
179: <p>
180: Extract the archive with the following command:
181: </p>
182: <pre>
183: tar xf install.tar
184: </pre>
185: <p>
186: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
187: execute the setup script with the following commands:
188: </p>
189: <pre>
190: cd installation
191: ./install.pl
192: </pre>
193: <p>
194: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be
195: 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.
196: </p>
197: <p>
198: 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.
199: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
200: </p>
201: <p>The possible actions are:</p>
202: <ul>
203: <li>Create the www user/group</li>
204: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li>
205: <li>Set-up the MySQL (Mariadb) database</li>
206: <li>Set-up MySQL (Mariadb) permissions</li>
207: <li>Configure Apache web server</li>
208: <li>Configure start-up of services</li>
209: <li>Check firewall settings</li>
210: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA, e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li>
211: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li>
212: </ul>
213: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
214: <p>
215: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
216: for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
217: </p>
218: <dl>
219: <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
220: <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
221: general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
222: their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
223: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
224: your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
225: should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
226: <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
227: <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
228: Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
229: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
230: special characters.</i><br>Domain names which include a departmental
231: abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
232: a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
233: For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
234: </dd>
235: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
236: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
237: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
238: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
239: </dd>
240: <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
241: <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>
242: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
243: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
244: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
245: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
246: </dd>
247: <dt>Support email address</dt>
248: <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system
249: will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to
250: display a web form which they will complete to request support from
251: your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents
252: will be sent to the e-mail address you specify.
253: </dd>
254: </dl>
255:
256: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
257: <p>
258: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
259: </p>
260: <pre>
261: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.11.0')
262: ./UPDATE
263: </pre>
264: <p>
265: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
266: in the previous section.
267: </p>
268:
269: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
270: <p>
271: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
272: 'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
273: grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
274: invoked below requires that you enter the user's password.
275: Feel free to use the "passwd username" command to change it later.
276: Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate user name and your domain.
277: If installing a library server and an access server on separate machines or VMs
278: you need only run make_domain_coordinator.pl on the library server.
279: </p>
280: <pre>
281: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build
282: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
283: </pre>
284:
285: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
286: <p>
287: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
288: will be apparent at this step.
289: </p>
290: <pre>
291: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
292: service httpd start
293: </pre>
294: <p>
295: If you receive warnings about missing perl modules, when starting the httpd service
296: please make sure you followed the instructions in
297: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>. If you still have errors, please
298: contact the LON-CAPA Helpdesk -- helpdesk at loncapa.org
299: </p>
300:
301: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
302: <p>
303: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
304: coordinator. Congratulations!
305: </p>
306:
307: <hr>
308: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
309: <p>
310: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
311: there's something wrong, please contact the LON-CAPA helpdesk.
312: Installation/update support is available from: helpdesk at loncapa.org
313: (replace " at " with @).
314: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or errors during the
315: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
316: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
317: </p>
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