Annotation of doc/build/ubuntu16LTS_install.frag, revision 1.3
1.1 raeburn 1: <h1>Installing LON-CAPA on a basic Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Server</h1>
2: <p>
3: This document guides you through the process of setting up a new LON-CAPA
4: server/VM running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Server with only the base set of packages installed.
5: The machine (virtual or real) will be configured solely as a LON-CAPA server and will be
6: expected to have no other services running. Your server/VM 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 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS .iso</a></li>
27: <li><a href="#net">Determine Network Settings</a></li>
28: <li><a href="#lin">Install Ubuntu 16.04 LTS</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 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS .iso file</a></h2>
38: <p>
39: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (server install) isos can be obtained from the <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/download">Ubuntu Server download</a> page<br>
40: An .iso file (either 32 bit or 64 bit) can be burned to a CD.
41: </p>
42:
43: <h2>2. <a name="net">Determine Network Settings</a></h2>
44: <p>
45: You will need to know the following network settings for your installation.
46: <b>Note:</b>You must have a static IP address to use LON-CAPA.
47: DHCP is <em>not</em> supported.
48:
49: <ul>
50: <li>ip address </li>
51: <li>netmask </li>
52: <li>hostname </li>
53: <li>gateway </li>
54: <li>domain name server(s) </li>
55: </ul>
56:
57: <h2>3. <a name="lin">Ubuntu 16.04 LTS installation</a></h2>
58: <p>
59: Installing Ubuntu Linux is easy.
60: Documentation is available from
61: <a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/</a>
62: Most of the installation screens are self explanatory.
63: There are a few steps that require comment and are dealt with below.
64: </p>
65: <dl style="list-style:square outside none">
66: <dt>Installation Language</dt>
67: <dd>Use English as your installation language.</dd>
68: <dt>Installation Type</dt>
69: <dd>If this is a fresh install choose "Install Ubuntu Server".</dd>
70: <dt>Partitioning your Drive</dt>
71: <dd>For a fresh install you may want to use the automatic partitioning feature of the installer.
72: If you decide to customize partitioning, the following may be useful to know.
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 Ubuntu, /home should receive at least 10 to 12 GB.
76: Since MySQL uses the /var filesystem to store its databases you should
77: have at least 4 gigs of space available on /var. Be sure to
78: include adequate swap space. A minimum is 512 Megs, but you should
79: typically have 1 or 2x as much swap space as you do physical RAM.</dd>
80:
81: <dt>Network Configuration</dt>
82: <dd>LON-CAPA will <b>not</b> work with a machine set up to use a dynamic
83: IP address. When configuring your network card, be sure to unselect
84: the DHCP option and enter in your network information.</dd>
85: <dt>Software Selection</dt>
86: <dd>The base system will be installed. Once that is complete you will have the option to select additional software collections. By default, "standard system utilities" will be checked -- leave that checked, and (optionally) also check OpenSSH Server, if you plan to ssh into your Ubuntu 16 Server/VM from another machine.</dd>
87: </dl>
88: <p>
89: Finish installing your server, reboot it, and log in with the username you created during installation.
90: </p>
91: <h3>Firewall Configuration</h3>
92: <p>
93: Use ufw to allow incoming traffic for the following services:
94: ssh, www, https
95: </p>
96: <pre>
97: sudo ufw default deny
98: sudo ufw enable
99: sudo ufw allow ssh
100: sudo ufw allow www
101: sudo ufw allow https
102: </pre>
103: <h3>E-mail: Postfix Installation</h3>
104: <p>
105: Configure to "Internet Site" to allow LON-CAPA to send e-mail to users.
106: </p>
107: <pre>
108: sudo apt-get install postfix
109: </pre>
110: <h3>E-mail: Postfix Configuration</h3>
111: <p>
112: If you need to change the postfix configuration in the future use:
113: </p>
114: <pre>
115: sudo dpkg-reconfigure postfix
116: </pre>
117:
118: <h2>4. <a name="upd">Update your system</a></h2>
119: <p>
120: Update your system to the latest versions of the system software using apt-get
121: </p>
122: <pre>
123: sudo apt-get update
124: sudo apt-get upgrade
125: </pre>
126: <p>
127: If kernel packages were updated, reboot your system before continuing with the installation.
128: </p>
129: <p>
130: Add LON-CAPA ubuntu repository to your /etc/apt/sources.list file.
131: </p>
132: <pre>
133: sudo apt-get install python-software-properties
1.2 raeburn 134: sudo apt-add-repository 'deb http://install.loncapa.org/ubuntu xenial main'
1.1 raeburn 135: </pre>
136: <h2>5. <a name="ilc">Installing LON-CAPA</a></h2>
137: <h3>Import the LON-CAPA encryption key</h3>
138: <pre>
139: wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/ubuntu/APT-GPG-KEY-loncapa.asc
140: sudo apt-key add APT-GPG-KEY-loncapa.asc
141: sudo apt-get update
142: </pre>
143: <h3>Install prerequisites</h3>
144: <p> Execute: </p>
145: <pre>
146: sudo apt-get install loncapa-prerequisites
147: </pre><p>
148: This may take some minutes due to LON-CAPA's large number of dependencies.
149: </p>
150: <h3>Set MPM mode for Apache web server and enable use of cgi scripts</h3>
151: <p>Execute: </p>
152: <pre>
153: sudo a2dismod mpm_event
154: sudo a2enmod mpm_prefork
155: sudo a2enmod cgi
156: </pre>
157: <h3>Retrieve and execute LON-CAPA setup program</h3>
158: <p>
159: Retrieve the LON-CAPA setup script and dependencies with the following command:
160: </p>
161: <pre>
162: wget http://install.loncapa.org/linux/install.tar
163: </pre>
164: <p>
165: Extract the archive with the following command:
166: </p>
167: <pre>
168: tar xf install.tar
169: </pre>
170: <p>
171: This creates a directory named <tt>installation</tt>. Change to it and
172: execute the setup script with the following commands:
173: </p>
174: <pre>
175: cd installation
176: sudo ./install.pl
177:
178: </pre>
179: <p>
180: The script is used to prepare a Linux system to run LON-CAPA, and can also be
181: 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.
182: </p>
183: <p>
184: 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.
185: Once a choice has been entered for all nine possible actions, required changes will be made.
186: </p>
187: <p>The possible actions are:
188: <ul>
189: <li>Create the www user/group</li>
190: <li>Install the package LON-CAPA uses to authenticate users.</li>
191: <li>Set-up the MySQL database</li>
192: <li>Set-up MySQL permissions</li>
193: <li>Configure Apache web server</li>
194: <li>Configure start-up of services</li>
195: <li>Check firewall settings</li>
196: <li>Stop services not used by LON-CAPA,<br>
197: e.g., services for a print server: cups daemon</li>
198: <li>Download LON-CAPA source code in readiness for installation</li>
199: </ul>
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
212: to access servers. If you are doing the first install of LON-CAPA at
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
218: meaningful. <i>Restriction: One word, no hyphens, underscores, or
219: special characters.</i><br>Domain names which include a departmental
220: abbreviation are not recommended as although LON-CAPA may start in
221: a single department, other departments frequently join subsequently.
222: For a domain name: 'msu' is a superior choice to 'msuphys' for example.
223: </dd>
224: <dt>LON-CAPA host id</dt>
225: <dd>Each LON-CAPA server requires a unique internal name. We use names
226: such as "msul1" for the first library server. <i>Restriction: One word,
227: no hyphens, underscores, or special characters.</i>
228: </dd>
229: <dt>Domain's Primary Library Server ID</dt>
230: <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>
231: <dt>Host administrator email</dt>
232: <dd>The amount of email sent to this address is relatively minimal. Messages
233: are sent every time the system starts up, or if the system is in
234: serious trouble. On a laptop, make this <tt>root@localhost</tt>.
235: </dd>
236: <dt>Support email address</dt>
237: <dd>If you enter an e-mail address here, then users of the system
238: will be able to click an "Ask Helpdesk" link in the system to
239: display a web form which they will complete to request support from
240: your institution's helpdesk. On form submission the contents
241: will be sent to the e-mail address you specify.
242: </dd>
243: </dl>
244:
245: <h3>Configuring LON-CAPA</h3>
246: <p>
247: To configure and install LON-CAPA, become root and execute the following commands:
248: </p>
249: <pre>
250: sudo -i
1.3 ! raeburn 251: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z (X.Y.Z should correspond to a version number like '2.11.2')
1.1 raeburn 252: ./UPDATE
253: </pre>
254: <p>
255: You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you determined
256: in the previous section.
257: </p>
258:
259: <h2>6. <a name="cdc">Creating a Domain Coordinator</a></h2>
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 user's password.
265: Replace USERNAME and DOMAIN with an appropriate username and your domain.
266: </p>
267: <pre>
268: cd /root/loncapa-X.Y.Z/loncom/build
269: perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN
270: </pre>
271:
272: <h2>7. <a name="sts">Start/Restart Services</a></h2>
273: <p>
274: The LON-CAPA network services take a moment to start. Most misconfigurations
275: will be apparent at this step. Lastly, exit from root status to resume use of your regular account.
276: </p>
277: <pre>
278: /etc/init.d/loncontrol start
279: /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
280: exit
281: </pre>
282: <p>
283: If you receive warnings about missing perl modules when starting Apache,
284: please make sure you followed the instructions in
285: <b>Installing prerequisites</b>. If you still have errors, please
286: contact the MSU LON-CAPA group.
287: </p>
288:
289: <h2>8. <a name="log">Log in to your LON-CAPA Machine</a></h2>
290: <p>
291: Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain
292: coordinator. Congratulations!
293: </p>
294:
295: <hr>
296: <h2>If things aren't working right</h2>
297: <p>
298: If you've followed the steps above and the server doesn't start or you think
299: 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 .deb packages or errors during the
300: automatic setup, please send us as much information as possible.
301: If some part of this document is unclear please let us know.
302: </p>
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