[LON-CAPA-cvs] cvs: doc / new_install_rh73.html
matthew
lon-capa-cvs@mail.lon-capa.org
Wed, 22 May 2002 22:02:59 -0000
matthew Wed May 22 18:02:59 2002 EDT
Added files:
/doc new_install_rh73.html
Log:
New installation proceedures for Red Hat 7.3.
Index: doc/new_install_rh73.html
+++ doc/new_install_rh73.html
<html><head><title>Setting up a Red Hat7.3 LON-CAPA Server</title></head><body>
<!-- $Id: new_install_rh73.html,v 1.1 2002/05/22 22:02:59 matthew Exp $ -->
<h1>Setting up a Red Hat7.3 LON-CAPA Server</h1>
<h2>Before you begin</h2>
<p>
Installing Linux is getting easier and easier. However, it is still a
non-trivial undertaking and experience with Red Hat Linux will make this
process easier. You will be required to log in to the machine and execute
some routine Unix commands. Some familiarity with Linux is assumed.
</p>
<h2>Installation Overview</h2>
<p>
The installation process takes the following steps:
<ol>
<li> Obtain Red Hat 7.3
<li> Gather information for installing Red Hat
<li> Install Red Hat 7.3
<li> Determine your LON-CAPA Settings
<li> Install LON-CAPA
<li> Configure LON-CAPA
<li> Pick a hosts.tab file
<li> Create a Domain Coordinator
<li> Start/Restart services
<li> Log in to LON-CAPA
</ol>
</p>
<h2>Obtain the Red Hat 7.3 installation CDs</h2>
<p>
If you like, you may contact the LON-CAPA development staff and we can
mail the CDs to you. Another option is to download the cd images and
burn them yourself.
</p>
<h2>Gather information for the Red Hat Installation</h2>
<p>
You will need to gather some network information for your server. You will
also need to determine some of the LON-CAPA configuration information before
you begin.
</p>
<h3>Network settings for your site</h3>
<p>
<ul>
<li>ip address
<li>netmask
<li>network
<li>broadcast
<li>hostname
<li>gateway
<li>domain name server(s)
</ul>
</p>
<h2>Install Red Hat 7.3</h2>
<p>
When you install RedHat you will need to ensure the following (the list below
is in the order the issues appear in the installation of Red Hat 7.3):
<dl>
<dt>Installation Type
<dd>You should definitely do a "Server" install. We do not recommend
Trying to install LON-CAPA with a different installation type.
<dt>Partitioning your Drive
<dd>You may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of Red Hat,
however you should review the results and be prepared to modify them.
LON-CAPA resource files are stored in the /home directory, so the
lion's share of the drive should be allocated here. If you have 8 GB
of space for Red Hat, /home should receive 4 to 6 gigs. Be sure to
include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.
<dt>Network Configuration
<dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
the DHCP option and enter in your network information.
<dt>Firewall Configuration
<dd>The installation script will remove and disable your firewall.
<dt>Package Group Selection
<dd>At a minimum, install the following packages:
<ul>
<li>NFS File Server
<li>Windows File Server
<li>Web Server
</ul>
Other packages can be installed as you like.
<dt>X Windows Configuration
<dd>If you chose to install the X-windows packages you will need to
configure them. If you are unsure of the support for your video
card you may wish to skip the configuration.
</dl>
Other notes:
<ul>
<li>Use md5 and shadow passwords if you are given the choice (this is
the default).
</ul>
</p>
<h2>Determine LON-CAPA settings</h2>
<p>
LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters be set in order
for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
<dl>
<dt>Host Type (library or access)
<dd>The server must be designated a 'library' or an 'access' server. In
general you should have a library server for your instructors to create
their course content on and run their courses. Students should connect
to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
your site, or if you are playing with it for your own edification, you
should make your machine a 'library' server.
<dt>LON-CAPA domain
<dd>Each site or school which installs LON-CAPA needs its own domain.
Here at MSU we use 'msu'. You should choose something short but
meaningful.
<dt>LON-CAPA host id
<dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
such as "msul1" for the first library server.
<dt>Host administrator email
<dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
are sent every time the system starts up.
<dt>Root password for SQL database
<dd>In order to keep people from corrupting the MYSQL database, a root
password is needed. You'll need to remember this.
</dl>
</p>
<h2>Install LON-CAPA</h2>
<p>
Log in as root with the password you provided during the Red Hat
installation process.
<pre>
wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/rh73install/loncapa-rh73install.tar
tar xf loncapa-rh73install.tar
cd install
./install.pl
</pre>
</p>
<h2>Configure LON-CAPA</h2>
<p>
Execute the following commands
<pre>
cd /root/loncapa/
./UPDATE
</pre>
You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you requested
above. Additionally, you will need to enter the following information
(options 5 and 6 in the menu):
<dl>
<dt>Cache Expiration Time
<dd>86400
<dt>Server Load
<dd>2.0
</dl>
</p>
<h2>Picking a hosts.tab file</h2>
The "hosts.tab" file controls which LON-CAPA servers your server attempts
to access and which servers it will respond to. If this is your first
install of LON-CAPA on your network, we suggest choosing a 'standalone'
"hosts.tab". Please contact the support staff at www.loncapa.org for
information about adding more hosts to your "hosts.tab" file.
<h2>Creating a Domain Coordinator</h2>
<p>
You will need at least one user at your site who has the role of
'domain coordinator'. This user creates accounts for other users and
grants them additional privileges. The make_domain_coordinator.pl script
invoked below requires that you enter the users password. The password will
show in plaintext as you type it. Feel free to use the passwd username
command to change it later. Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an
appropriate user name and your domain.
<pre>
cd /root/loncapa/loncom/build
perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
mkdir ~USERNAME/public_html
chown USERNAME:www ~USERNAME/public_html
chmod 0775 ~USERNAME/public_html
</pre>
</p>
<h2>Start/Restart Services</h2>
<p>
The services take about 10 minutes to start.
<pre>
/etc/init.d/loncontrol start
/etc/init.d/httpd restart
</pre>
</p>
<h2>Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</h2>
<p>
Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
coordinator. Congratulations!
</p>