These instructions combine the installation of RedHat 7.3 and LON-CAPA into one straightforward process. More information is available at http://install.lon-capa.org/.
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.
The installation process takes the following steps:
These are freely available on the internet.
You will need to have the following information for your site. You must have a static IP address (do not use DHCP).
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):
Other notes:
LON-CAPA requires a number of identifying parameters be set in order for it to function at all. Below is a list with descriptions.
Log in as root with the password you provided during the Red Hat installation process.
Stop the http daemon while we're installing LON-CAPA.
/etc/init.d/httpd stop
Retrieve the LON-CAPA installation package
wget http://install.loncapa.org/versions/rh73install/loncapa-rh73install.tar tar xf loncapa-rh73install.tar cd install ./install.pl
Execute the following commands
cd /root/loncapa-N.N (N.N should correspond to a version number like '0.6') ./UPDATE
You will need to enter the LON-CAPA configuration information you requested above.
It is very important that you update your LON-CAPA system to use the latest RedHat packages. LON-CAPA uses CHECKRPMS to notify users their system needs updating.
/usr/local/loncapa/bin/CHECKRPMSCHECKRPMS will give you the option of downloading the updates you need. Say yes. Then issue the following commands:
cd /tmp/loncapa_rpm_updates' rpm -Uvh *
You will need to reboot your system to begin running the new Linux Kernel put out by RedHat. You can wait until the end of the LON-CAPA installation process to reboot.
Congratulate yourself - your system is up to date. Please do your best to keep it that way! When LON-CAPA is installed it sets itself up to run CHECKRPMS script every night and email you the results. Please do not ignore these emails. You will need to update the RPMs yourself when it notifies you. Keeping your system up-to-date goes a long way towards ensuring the integrity of your student records.
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". On a laptop, you must choose 'standalone'. Please contact the support staff at www.loncapa.org for information about adding more hosts to your "hosts.tab" file.
Note: for non-standalone configurations, you do need to add yourself to the /home/httpd/lonTabs/hosts.tab to initially test your configuration. Eventually, you will be added to the general cluster tables by LON-CAPA staff, so this is temporary. A hosts.tab entry has the format
lonHostID:domain:hosttype:dns-name:ipaddress
for example
103l5:library:s17.lite.msu.edu:35.8.63.27
Please edit this file with a UNIX editor, not a PC or Mac one, so that the linebreaks are correct.
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.
cd /root/loncapa-N.N/loncom/build perl make_domain_coordinator.pl USERNAME DOMAIN (WILL PROMPT FOR PASSWORD HERE) mkdir ~USERNAME/public_html chown USERNAME:www ~USERNAME/public_html chmod 0775 ~USERNAME/public_html chmod a+x ~USERNAME
The LON-CAPA network services take about a minute to start.
/etc/init.d/loncontrol start /etc/init.d/httpd restart
On Redhat 7.3 it is not guaranteed that Apache and MySQL automatically restart on boot. You should run /usr/sbin/ntsysv and set the following daemons to be started at boot:
httpd mysqld
It is not necessary to reboot after doing this as they should already be running by this point in the installation.
/etc/init.d/httpd restart /etc/init.d/mysqld restart
Point a web browser at your new machine and log in as the domain coordinator. Congratulations!