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1.1     ! raeburn     1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a minimal SuSE Linux 11.3 System</h1>
        !             2: <p>
        !             3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
        !             4: server running SuSE Linux 11.3 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 a reasonably fast connection to the internet.
        !             7: </p><p>
        !             8: More information is available at
        !             9: <a href="http://install.lon-capa.org/">http://install.lon-capa.org/</a>.
        !            10: </p>
        !            11: 
        !            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>
        !            16: 
        !            17: <h2>Installation Overview</h2>
        !            18: <p>
        !            19: The installation process takes the following steps:
        !            20: </p>
        !            21: <ol>
        !            22:   <li><a href="#obt">Obtain SuSE 11.3 installation media (DVD)</a></li>
        !            23:   <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
        !            24:   <li><a href="#lin">Install Suse 11.3</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>
        !            30: </ol>
        !            31: <hr />
        !            32: 
        !            33: <h2>1. <a name="obt">Obtain SuSE Linux 11.3</a></h2>
        !            34: <p>
        !            35: A SuSE 11.3 iso for burning to DVD can be obtained from the opensuse download site: <a href="http://software.opensuse.org/">http://software.opensuse.org/</a>, or from an opensuse mirror site - <a href="http://download.opensuse.org/">http://download.opensuse.org/</a>.  You will also find links there to sites with iso files for burning a Start-CD-Image (e.g., openSUSE-11.3-NET-i586.iso for 32 bit) used in a network install, if burning a CD is more convenient for you.
        !            36: </p>
        !            37: 
        !            38: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
        !            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>
        !            51: 
        !            52: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Minimal SuSE 11.3 Install</a></h2>
        !            53: <p>
        !            54: Installing SuSE 11.3 is quite easy if you've installed Linux products
        !            55: before.  Some documentation is available from
        !            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">
        !            63:    <dt>Installation Language</dt>
        !            64:    <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
        !            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>
        !            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
        !            73:        simplifies future upgrades of the operating system.
        !            74:        If you are adding an additional access server to an
        !            75:        existing LON-CAPA domain, this does not apply as no
        !            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.
        !            79:        If you have 20 GB of space for SuSE 11.3, /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
        !            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).</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>
        !           105: 
        !           106: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Change software sources for your system</a></h2>
        !           107: Next you will use yast to import packages required for LON-CAPA.<br />
        !           108: Execute:
        !           109: </p>
        !           110: <pre>
        !           111: yast
        !           112: </pre>
        !           113: <p>
        !           114: Select "Installation Source" and change to point at OSS and non-OSS repositories: (http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.3/repo/oss and http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.3/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 11.3 DVD, or you may prefer to continue to point at the installation DVD.
        !           115: </p>
        !           116: <h3>Add additional installation sources</h3>
        !           117: <p>Add the LON-CAPA SuSE 11.3 repository as an additional installation source.</p>
        !           118: <p>Use zypper to add the LON-CAPA SuSE 11.3 repository and two additional repositiories provide by openSuSE - one for the R statistics package (the R-patched repo), and one for the Maxima computer algebra system (the science repo).  Use the following commands to add them.
        !           119: <pre>
        !           120: zypper ar -f 'http://install.loncapa.org/suse/11.3' LON-CAPA
        !           121: zypper ar -f 'http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:languages:R:patched/openSUSE_11.3' R-patched
        !           122: zypper ar -f 'http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/science/openSUSE_11.3' science
        !           123: </pre>
        !           124: You will need to confirm that you wish to trust the key used to sign the packages in the LON-CAPA SuSE 11.3 repository.
        !           125: </p>
        !           126: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
        !           127: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
        !           128: <p> Execute: </p>
        !           129: <pre>
        !           130: yast -i LONCAPA-prerequisites
        !           131: </pre><p>
        !           132: This may take a moment due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
        !           133: </p>
        !           134: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
        !           135: <p>
        !           136: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup with the following command:
        !           137: </p>
        !           138: <pre>
        !           139: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/suse/11.3/suse11.3_install.tar
        !           140: </pre>
        !           141: <p>
        !           142: Extract the archive with the following command:
        !           143: </p>
        !           144: <pre>
        !           145: tar xf suse11.3_install.tar
        !           146: </pre>
        !           147: <p>
        !           148: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>.  Change to it and
        !           149: execute the setup script with the following commands:
        !           150: </p>
        !           151: <pre>
        !           152: cd installation
        !           153: ./install.pl
        !           154: </pre>
        !           155: <p>
        !           156: This script will prompt you for the MySQL root password and will download the latest LON-CAPA release.
        !           157: </p>
        !           158: <h3>Determine LON-CAPA Settings</h3>
        !           159: <p>
        !           160: LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters to be set in order
        !           161: for it to function at all.  Below is a list with descriptions.
        !           162: </p>
        !           163: <dl>
        !           164:   <dt>Host Type (library or access)</dt>
        !           165:   <dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server.  In
        !           166:       general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
        !           167:       their course content on and run their courses.  Students should connect
        !           168:       to access servers.  If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
        !           169:       your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification you
        !           170:       should make your machine a 'library' server.</dd>
        !           171:   <dt>LON-CAPA domain</dt>
        !           172:   <dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
        !           173:       Here at MSU we use 'msu'.  You should choose something short but
        !           174:       meaningful.  <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
        !           175:       special characters.</i>
        !           176:   </dd>
        !           177:   <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
        !           178:   <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name.  We use names
        !           179:       such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
        !           180:       no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
        !           181:   </dd>
        !           182:   <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
        !           183:   <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal.  Messages
        !           184:       are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
        !           185:       serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
        !           186:   </dd>
        !           187: </dl>
        !           188: 
        !           189: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
        !           190: <p>
        !           191: To configure and install LON-CAPA, execute the following commands:
        !           192: </p>
        !           193: <pre>
        !           194: cd /root/loncapa-N.N     (N.N should correspond to a version number like '2.9.0')
        !           195: ./UPDATE
        !           196: </pre>
        !           197: <p>
        !           198: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
        !           199: in the previous section.
        !           200: </p>
        !           201: 
        !           202: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
        !           203: <p>
        !           204: You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
        !           205: 'domain coordinator'.  This user creates accounts for other users and
        !           206: grants them additional privileges.  The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
        !           207: invoked below requires that you enter the users password.  The password will
        !           208: show in plaintext as you type it.  Feel free to use the "passwd username"
        !           209: command to change it later.  Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
        !           210: appropriate user name and your domain.
        !           211: </p>
        !           212: <pre>
        !           213: cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build
        !           214: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
        !           215: (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE)
        !           216: </pre>
        !           217: 
        !           218: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
        !           219: <p>
        !           220: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start.  Most misconfigurations
        !           221: will be apparent at this step.
        !           222: </p>
        !           223: <pre>
        !           224: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
        !           225: /etc/init.d/apache2 start
        !           226: </pre>
        !           227: <p>
        !           228: If you receive warnings about missing perl modules when starting apache2,
        !           229: please make sure you followed the instructions in
        !           230: <b>Installing LON-CAPA Dependencies</b>.  If you still have errors, please
        !           231: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
        !           232: </p>
        !           233: 
        !           234: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
        !           235: <p>
        !           236: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
        !           237: coordinator.  Congratulations!
        !           238: </p>
        !           239: 
        !           240: <hr />
        !           241: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
        !           242: <p>
        !           243: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
        !           244: there's something wrong, please get in touch with the MSU LON-CAPA group.
        !           245: You can submit a help request using our web form:<br />
        !           246: <a href="http://help.loncapa.org/help/">http://help.loncapa.org/help/</a><br />
        !           247: If there were errors in installation of the dependency RPMs or during the
        !           248: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
        !           249: Please let us know if any parts of this document are unclear.
        !           250: </p>