ACS Documentation :
ACS Installation Guide :
Installing Red Hat Linux 6.2
Table of Contents
- Linux Requirements
- Getting the Red Hat Distribution
- Boot your computer
- Select Installation Type
- Partition your drives
- Configure boot device
- Select packages for installation
- Configure Users
- Configure networking
- Configure X
- Copy Files
- Acceptance Test
- Appendix A: Network Configuration
Linux Requirements
Red Hat Linux is our preferred Linux distribution. With
Red Hat, we can get both Oracle
and ACS to work out of the box with no trouble. However, you can install the
ArsDigita Community System (ACS) to run on any recent version of Linux. Here are some
of the key requirements that we have identified:
| Requirement | Reason |
|---|
| recent kernel | A recent 2.2.x kernel is required.
|
| bash | Bash is the standard Linux shell. We assume you are using
bash for these instructions. If you're not using bash, then you will need to
substitute your shell's conventions for setting environment variables when appropriate.
|
| glib 2.1 (or greater) | You need recent versions of these libraries for Oracle to
work properly. |
| perl | A few parts of the ACS require perl
to work correctly. If you're doing serious web work, you'll want support for this
language anyway. If not following these instructions, you should ensure that there
is a symbolic link to your perl executable at /usr/local/bin/perl |
| egcs (recent version) | Without egcs, you don't have gcc and will
be unable to compile the necessary software. |
This document is not intended to be a full set of information on the installation of
Red Hat Linux. For full information, consult the Red Hat
documentation.
Caution: Before you begin, keep in mind that your hard drive(s) will be
formatted and all data will be erased. Be sure to have backups of all of the drives
in your system (not just the ones you are formatting) before beginning.
TOP
Getting the Red Hat Distribution for the Installation
You have the following options:
- Install from CDROM.
You can order an installation CDROM from Red Hat or download an ISO image and
burn one yourself. Once you have the CDROM, you need to boot the computer.
If you have a recent BIOS and CDROM, you should be able to boot directly to the
CDROM. Check your system's BIOS to see if this is an option and make sure the CDROM
is set to boot before the primary hard drive. Then insert the CDROM, boot the computer
and Red Hat should start. Otherwise, you will need a boot disk. If you bought
a commercial Red Hat package, the boot disk is included. Otherwise, you can easily create
one using one of the standard Red Hat images. Red Hat offers more
information.
- Install over the Network.
You can run the Red Hat install over the network if you have a fast enough connection.
You'll need to copy roughly 300-600 MB of data, so be prepared. You need to prepare
a bootdisk with the network image. Instructions for downloading the image is
here. Read this
section of the Red Hat FAQ for further information on creating the bootdisk. Make sure you use the
bootnet.img to create your boot disk.
During the install, you will need to configure your computer's network.
Find out the following before you begin:
- The brand and model number of your network card.
- Whether or not your network supports DHCP. If it does not, determine your
- Your IP Address.
- Your subnet mask.
- Your gateway address.
- Your DNS Server IP address.
- If you're doing the network install, also determine a server name
and a Red Hat ftp directory path to do the install from. Make sure you can login
to that server using ftp and verify that the path is correct.
TOP
Boot your computer
Before proceeding, ensure that you have either:
- A bootdisk with the boot.img and a Red Hat CDROM.
- A bootdisk with the bootnet.img.
To begin the installation process, insert your boot media and boot your computer.
Red Hat should load and will present you with a
LILO prompt.
Read the instructions, but it should be safe to press enter. The Red Hat kernel will then
load and the installation program will start. You will see a series of dialogs. Make
your selection using the arrow keys on your keyboard and press
<ENTER>
to proceed.
- What language should be used during the installation process?
Select your preferred language, the default is English.
- What type of keyboard do you have?
Unless you know otherwise, you're probably typing at a us keyboard,
the default selection.
- What type of media contains the packages to be installed?
If you are installing from the CDROM, then ensure that the CDROM is in your
drive and select CDROM. If you are doing a net install, select
FTP and skip ahead to Appendix A on network configuration
Come back to the next section when you are done.
TOPSelect Installation Type
If you all has gone well, you should now see a Welcome screen. Press enter
and move on the next dialog. You will be prompted to select an installation type.
You need to specify a Custom installation type in order to ensure you
get all of the necessary packages.
TOP
Partition your drives
You need to partition your system;s hard drives before you can install the operating system.
Changing your partition table often entails wiping out all data on the disk, so be sure
to have a backup before proceeding.
We specify a minimal partitioning scheme to simplify the installation. If you have a
single drive, you should create these partitions on /dev/hda (if you have IDE) or /dev/sda (if
you have SCSI). If you have multiple drives, you will need to configure your system more
carefully.
Production Linux servers require careful configuration of partitions in order to optimize
performance. See this HOWTO
for more information. Our simple configuration for a single large (> 3 Gb) drive follows.
| Partition Name | Size | Partition Type | Description |
|---|
| /boot | 15 Mb | Linux native | Stores the kernel and basic boot configuration. |
| / | 3000 Mb+ | Linux native | Stores the major part of the file system. |
| <swap> | 2x RAM or 400 Mb (whichever is greater) |
Linux swap | Virtual memory |
After specifying a partitioning scheme,
press OK to continue. You will be asked to confirm writing the partition table to disk, again
select OK. You will be asked to confirm the formatting of your disks. On this screen, do
not enable a check for bad blocks. Although a bad block check can identify some defects in your
hard drive, it will significantly increase the amount of time it takes to perform the format. Press
OK to continue and wait while your drives are completely formatted.
TOP
Configure boot device
In order to boot your workstation, you either need to install LILO or have a bootdisk. The LILO
option is recommended. LILO (
LInux
LOader) writes some data to your hard drive's
master boot record (MBR)
which allows the computer to find the operating system. It is possible to configure LILO
to boot multiple OSes. Check the
LILO documentation for more information. We recommend creating an emergency boot disk and
installing LILO on the master boot record (MBR) of the first hard drive
(usually /dev/hda).
Select it and press enter.
TOP
Select packages for installation
The following packages, at a minimum, should be installed. Feel free to install
above and beyond this. Also, you may choose to individually select packages. It
is not necessary to do this, but you may do this to add files to the distribution.
You should not remove any of these packages.
You can also install RPMs post installation, so don't feel too concerned about this phase.
| Package | Description | Why You Need This |
|---|
| Printer Support | Allows you to print | If you ever want to print anything.
|
| X Windows | Graphical system for UNIX | Needed for Oracle installation.
|
| GNOME | X Window Manager and GUI | Needed to run X properly
|
| Mail/WWW/Tools | Tools for checking mail, accessing the web. | Basic user programs.
|
| Networked Workstation | Basic tools for configuring networking.
| Necessary for server programs.
|
| Anonymous FTP | A FTP server | Useful for serving files to the world.
|
| Emacs | The Ultimate Text Editor. | Necessary for anything.
|
| Development | Basic compilers and scripting languages.
| Needed to compile AOLServer and various other programs.
|
| Kernel Development | Source for the Linux kernel. | Necessary for recompiling.
|
| Utilities | Basic utilities for Linux. | Necessary for accessing the system.
|
TOP
Configure users
Set a password for root. You do not need to add any more users at this time.
When asked to configure authentication information, enable Shadow Passwords and
MD5 Passwords. This will increase the security of your system.
TOP
Configure Networking
You may be asked to configure networking. If your network uses DHCP, simply select
that. Otherwise, see
Appendix 1.
TOP
X Configuration
Red Hat should automatically detect your graphics card. You can configure your system
to use a graphical login, but this is not necessary for a production system. If your monitor is
not listed, select a "Generic" or "Generic Multisync monitor."
We recommend not enabling GUI startup automatically. X requires an enormous amount of RAM
and this will reduce the amount of memory available to Oracle. You will need to install X
in order to install Oracle and to use some of its tools, but you will not need it to
run the ArsDigita Community System.
TOP
Copy Files
At this point, sit back while Red Hat copies itself over. This usually takes from between
10 to 30 minutes. Following this you will be asked to reboot your computer. Take out the
boot disk and eject the CDROM and then do so. You should see a
LILO: prompt.
Press enter and Red Hat Linux should start to boot!
TOP
Acceptance Test
After bootup, you should see a screen like this:
Red Hat Linux release 6.2 (Zoot)
Kernel 2.2.14-5.0 on an i586
localhost login:
If you don't see a screen that offers a login, then something has gone wrong.
Consult the
Red Hat support documentation
for further information.
Make sure you can do the following.
- Switch Virtual Consoles
Press CTRL-ALT-F2 to switch to virtual console number 2. Each virtual
console allows you to login and enter commands to the Linux system. There should be
6 virtual consoles, accessible with F1-F6. After you start X, you can
switch to it using CRTL-ALT-F7.
- Login as root.
Type root, press enter, and then enter the password,
followed by enter.
- Add a user that you would like to use to logon.
# useradd <username>
# passwd <username>
# exit ; this will log you out.
Login as the new user you created.
- Start X.
Type startx and a graphical environment should start. If you get some
errors and X dies, login as root and type
# /usr/X11R6/bin/Xconfigurator
Follow the instructions to configure your X server.
Remember, you can switch between virtual consoles using CTRL-ALT-F[1-6].
- Open a terminal in X.
If you installed GNOME, try right-clicking on the desktop to get a pop-up menu. Then
left click "New Terminal."
You should see an additional terminal.
Click on its title bar and you should be able to type in it.
- Verify that you can launch X programs.
At the prompt, type the following.
$ emacs ; This will load the emacs editor, our favorite program for just about anything.
; Quit emacs by doing CTRL-X CTRL-C
If emacs does not start, try the following commands. In general, if any X program does not start, please try this procedure.
; Open a new terminal window:
$ xhost +localhost
; Switch back to the original terminal window:
$ export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0
$ emacs
If all of this worked, congratulations, you now have a Red Hat Linux
server at your disposal. On to
Oracle 8.1.6.
TOPAppendix A: Network Configuration
At some point during the install process, depending on whether you are installing from the CDROM or from the network, you will need to configure your network.
This screen is identified
as TCP/IP Configuration.
If your network is configured to use DHCP, simply enable DHCP and proceed. Contact your
network administrator or ISP provider to determine if DHCP is available. Otherwise,
you will need to configure your network manually. Enter the following information:
| Field | Explanation
|
|---|
| IP Address | The primary address for your computer. If your network uses static IPs,
you must contact your network administrator to determine your IP address.
|
| Netmask | Usually, this is 255.255.255.0. However, only your network
administrator can confirm this.
|
| Default gateway (IP) | The gateway address is the address of the network hardware
that enables your computer to leave its local network and access the Internet.
|
| Primary Nameserver | The domain name server (DNS) is used to map between human
readable names (such as www.redhat.com) to IP addresses (such as 127.0.0.1).
|
Be absolutely certain these values are correct before proceeding with the installation. When
you are ready, select OK and press enter to continue. The install program will inform
you if there is an error in the configuration and allow you to fix it.
If you are doing a net install, you will be presented with a new screen, FTP Setup.
Enter the ftp site name and the path to the Red Hat directory on that server and press OK
to continue. You should see a message:
Loading second stage ramdisk
If you don't see this message, either you have an incorrect ftp site name and/or Red Hat path, or
the server is unreachable. Make sure that you have the correct path or consult the official
Red Hat mirror list.
bquinn@arsdigita.com
