[Server-devel] First stab at XS project plan

Bryan Berry bryan.berry at gmail.com
Sun Feb 3 09:06:35 EST 2008


Hey guys, 

I am glad to see all this activity! Sorry I have been out of the loop on
e-mails I have been focusing on our library application for the last
week. I will meet w/ Greg today to discuss project planning for our
pilot.

Let's keep conversations like this on the server-devel mailing list so
we can keep the other people involved w/ the school server aware of our
work.

Please join the Server Developers mailing list here:
http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel


It's really crucial that there is good communication w/ the different
implementation teams.

On Sat, 2008-02-02 at 22:53 -0700, Tony Pearson wrote:
> 
> Team, 
> I have my XS server up and running! 
> 
> The book I purchased today was quite helpful "Fedora 7 Unleashed" by
> SAMS Publishing.  I highly recommend it for anyone working on this
> setup.  It has chapters on Apache, MySQL, PHP, Samba, Squid, and so
> on. 
> 
> Step 1-- I blew away the Windows and installed the XS-Latest-150.iso
> LiveCD installed onto the hard drive.  IP address picked up from DHCP
> was 192.168.0.101 (my D-link starts at 192.168.0.100 and goes up by
> one).    So, need to change this to something static.  Also, need to
> get OpenSSH working between my Windows system and the XS server,
> because I have a single screen/keyboard shared by KVM. 
> 
> Got SSH working first.  /etc/ssh/sshd_config already had correct
> settings. 
> On Windows, got "OpenSSH for Windows" from SourceForge.  Generated
> public/private keys.  Copied public key to USB stick.  Attached USB
> stick to XS Server, mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb, and copied file
> to /root/.ssh and appended to the authorized_keys file.  From Windows,
> was able to "ssh -l root 192.168.0.101" type in my passphrase, and get
> connected.  Success! 
> 
> Step 2-- Changing IP address of XS server.
>  Edited /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0    uncommented all
> the static lines, and entered appropriate values for 192.168.0.77
> desired address.  Chagned "BootProto=" from "dhcp" to "static".
>  Rebooted XS server with "shutdown -r now" and verified correct IP
> address.  Success! 
> 
> Step 3--Verified Apache.  "service httpd restart" works.  From
> Windows, launched firefox http://192.168.0.77 works!  (I get the test
> page that is located in /var/error/noindex.html) 
> 
> Step 4-- Required PHP modules:   yum install php php-mysql  (pulled in
> 5 extra packages).    Created short php file and ran #>  php test.php
> and verified PHP was working.  To get PHP active in Apache,
> updated /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf 
>         DirectoryIndex  index.php   index.html index.html.var 
> 
> Set /var/www/html/index.php   to a one liner:    <?php   phpinfo();
>  ?> 
> Windows Firefox:   http://192.168.0.77   --->  details of PHP, Apache,
> and everything, so PHP is working with Apache correctly.  Success! 
> 
> Step 5--I spend most of my day getting MySQL working.   After install,
> removing and re-configuring over and over, I think I have finally
> figured out the right sequence: 
> 
>         yum install mysql mysql-server mysql-test mysql-libs
> php-mysql 
>                 (pulls in perl-DBD-mySQL package as well) 
>         groupadd mysql 
>         useradd -g mysql mysql 
>         mysql_install_db  --user mysql 
>         chown -R mysql.mysql  /var/lib/mysql 
>         mysqld_safe  --user mysql 
>         mysqladmin -u root version 
>                 (this last merely confirms mysql is working.  I chose
> not to bother setting MySQL root password) 
>         chkconfig --level 345 mysqld on 
> 
> rebooted with "shutdown -r now" 
> 
> Step 6--I am getting some errors during startup.  Used "I" interactive
> to check them out in more detail.  AICCU says that /etc/aiccu.conf not
> configured.  This is the IPv6 tunneling, so don't think we need it.
>  HTTPD says that it doesn't have a fully qualified name, so using
> 127.0.0.1 as Servername.  Fine with me. 
> Lighttpd says base-docroot doesn't exist /var/www/idmgr -->  not sure
> if we need lighty.  We have Apache running now. 
> 
> hddtemp -- too few arguments must specify on drive at least.  Added
> "TYPE:SATA" to the parms in /etc/rc.d/init.d/hddtemp and that seemed
> to fix that. 
> 
> Step 7-- Getting Moodle running.  I downloaded the 1.8.4 latest
> version tgz file. 
> Edited /etc/php.ini to: 
>          change memory_limit to 40M 
>         magic_quotes_gpc = 1 
>         magic_quotes_runtime = 0 
>         session.bug_compat_warn = 0 
>         post_max_size = 16M 
>         upload_max_filesize = 16M 
> 
> Added "AcceptPathInfo" to httpd.conf 
> Added:  sql-modes=''   to /etc/my.cnf 
> mkdir /var/moodledata 
> chown -R nobody.apache /var/moodledata 
> chmod -R 770 /var/moodledata 
> 
> useradd moodleuser 
> passwd moodleuser   (set to "olpc") 
> 
> yum install php-gd php-mbstring    (I guess these were the "required
> PHP modules") 
> 
> unpacked the moodle-latest-18.tgz file in /var/www/html/moodle 
> chown -R nobody.apache /var/www/html/moodle 
> chmod -R 0770  /var/www/html/moodle 
> 
> Launched Windows firefox browser with:
> http://192.168.0.77/moodle/install.php 
> used:   Admin   password:  olpc 
> All databases created successfully. 
> crontab -e   
> */30 * * * *  php  /var/www/html/moodle/admin/cron.php  >/dev/null
> 2>&1 
> 
> Scheduled automatic backups 
> Created course category "Science" and a course "Chemistry 101" 
> 
> Step 8-- 
> Found a squid.conf that worked.  Had to "touch /var/run/squid.pid" to
> get it going. 
> 
> The only thing I didn't do was a "samba" CIFS server.  It would seem
> that if everyone is using Linux (both on the XO as well as other XS)
> that an NFS daemon would be enough.  However, SAMBA does allow for
> printer sharing for direct-attach printers to the XS server. 
> 
> So, now that we have this up and running, what is the next step? 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> Tony Pearson
> Senior Storage Consultant, IBM
> System Storage™
> Telephone: +1 520-799-4309 |  tie
> 321-4309 |  Cell: +1 520 990-8669
> email: tpearson at us.ibm.com |  GSA:
> http://tucgsa.ibm.com/~tpearson
> Blog:
> http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/InsideSystemStorage AKA: 990tony Paravane, eightbar specialist 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "sulochan acharya"
> <sulochan at gmail.com> 
> 
> 02/02/2008 09:38 AM 
> 
> 
>                To
> Tony
> Pearson/Tucson/IBM at IBMUS 
>                cc
> "Bryan Berry"
> <bryan.berry at gmail.com>, "Greg Smith (gregmsmi)" <gregmsmi at cisco.com> 
>           Subject
> Re: First stab at
> XS project plan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hey Tony,
> HTTPD--apache
> config file on fedora system is on: /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
> It usually look at the default directory (document root)
> on /var/www/probably html
> You can either put your stuff on that directory and replace the
> index.html or
> you can create a virtual host on /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf...towards
> the end it has an option to create a virtual host where you can give
> you vhost an ip. If you do this you also have to edit /etc/hosts file
> and add the ip and the name of your localhost
> 
> PHP
> php is needed for moodle and most other php-based web applications.
> Usually the installation process will tell you which php modules you
> need to add in order for moodle to work. You can--- yum install
> php-module on a fedora system and yum will take care of the rest.
> 
> mysql
> mysql should come pre built with most system. i am using php5, i guess
> its the same on your system.
> 
> I guess we don't need samba for XS.
> 
> Moodle 1.8.3 is the latest stable moodle build, i think :). Yeah it
> needs mysql. I am pretty sure mysql is on the system you can check by
> running a command 
> service mysqld restart
> if not you can yum install mysql
> 
> i haven't really worked on squid, but if you want we can work on it
> together.
> I can post detailed how to on apache mysql and moodle if its any help.
> 
> 
> Wiindows/linux dual boot:
> Yeah i think the xs build does not give you an option to select the
> partition ( i don't really remember to be honest), but here is what
> can be done:
> (with windows installed first)Install a fedora core 7 ....during the
> installation process it will allow you to select the most free space
> to create your partition(automatically), I don't remember the exact
> language but it definitely allows you the option to do it. You don't
> have to manually create the partitions for this.
> 
> Hope this will help.
> Please let me know how it goes.
> 
> best,
> Sulochan.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Feb 2, 2008 10:04 AM, Tony Pearson <tpearson at us.ibm.com> wrote: 
> 
> Sulochan, 
> Thanks.  Apparently ./olpc_install blows away the entire drive, so it
> was good that I had backed up my Windows partition before it got
> clobbered.  My system has 640MB RAM, and 40GB disk drive.  I hope this
> is enough to run the testcases. 
> 
> Ok, I burned a CD of the XS_LATEST (150) level LiveCD, ran the install
> procedure, and rebooted.   
> 
> Step 1-- 
> I checked to make sure that httpd is running, it is.  However, it is
> using 172.0.18.0as an IP address of the server.  My system is attached
> at 192.168.0.100on my home LAN, so need instructions on how to fix
> this.  In the meantime, "elinks http:/172.0.18.0" works, showing the
> Apache test page is working fine. 
> 
> Step 2-- 
> What required PHP modules?  Please let me know if I need to do
> anything for this step. 
> 
> Step 3-- 
> It does not appear that MySQL is installed as part of the LiveCD, and
> not sure which level of MySQL we need.  I suspect for testing purposes
> we can just use the "Community" version?
> 
> Step 4-- 
> Samba??? 
> 
> Step 5-- 
> Moodle.  I couldn't find moodle-1.8.3 but did find the "Stable-18"
> version on their website.  Unfortunately, it looks like I can't
> configure it until I get MySQL working first, as it uses it to set up
> the databases.  For whatever reason, "wget" doesn't work on
> downloading the moodle.tgz file, so I had to download it on another
> system, and move it over via USB key.  I was able to unpack
> in /usr/moodle for now, but instructions indicate that I have to put
> things into the Apache /web infrastructure, but haven't figured out
> yet what that means.
> 
> Step 6-- 
> HTTP Caching--squid? 
> 
> I found this on squid-cache.org, but again probably need to get the
> other things up and running first. 
> 
> 
> Thanks 
> 
> 
> 
> Tony Pearson
> Senior Storage Consultant, IBM
> System Storage™
> Telephone: +1 520-799-4309 |  tie
> 321-4309 |  Cell: +1 520 990-8669
> email: tpearson at us.ibm.com|  GSA:
> http://tucgsa.ibm.com/~tpearson
> Blog:
> http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/InsideSystemStorageAKA: 990tony Paravane, eightbar specialist 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "sulochan acharya"
> <sulochan at gmail.com> 
> 
> 02/01/2008 08:00 PM 
> 
> 
> 
>                To
> Tony
> Pearson/Tucson/IBM at IBMUS 
>                cc
> "Greg Smith
> (gregmsmi)"
> <gregmsmi at cisco.com>, "Bryan Berry" <bryan.berry at gmail.com> 
>           Subject
> Re: First stab at
> XS project plan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Tony,
> The OLPC_XS_LATEST is a fedora core 7 base, but it has no GUI. You can
> dual boot it with windows if you dont want to loose the windows os on
> the machine. I have tried this setup at home and its works :).
> 
> best,
> -Sulochan
> 
> On Feb 2, 2008 5:45 AM, Tony Pearson <tpearson at us.ibm.com> wrote: 
> 
> Team, 
> Ok, I thought I would present what I plan to do and get your thoughts.
> 
> I have an IBM NetVista (8311-61U), it is a couple of years old, but
> should do the trick.   I suspect I have 256MB RAM and 40GB disk
> drive.  Not sure until I install Linux on it. 
> 
> I will burn the "Live CD" version of Fedora 7 and install that over
> the current Windows XP that it has now.  I can donate this machine for
> the cause.  This will be the XS machine, and it is connected to a
> "D-Link" hub for 100 Mbps, as well as 802.1g wireless, connected to
> the internet.  My XO has no problem connecting to this D-link, and I
> use it in that mode already. 
> 
> You want me to install Linux and a stack of additional software and
> test it with my XO laptop as the "client machine".
> 
> I don't have any "mesh antennas" or other mesh equipment.  Let me know
> if that is a problem. 
> 
> I will be doing this on my evenings and weekends, so don't be
> surprised if I send emails to you at odd hours. 
> 
> 
> Thanks 
> 
> 
> 
> Tony Pearson
> Senior Storage Consultant, IBM
> System Storage™
> Telephone: +1 520-799-4309 |  tie
> 321-4309 |  Cell: +1 520 990-8669
> email: tpearson at us.ibm.com|  GSA:
> http://tucgsa.ibm.com/~tpearson
> Blog:
> http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/InsideSystemStorageAKA: 990tony Paravane, eightbar specialist 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Greg Smith (gregmsmi)"
> <gregmsmi at cisco.com> 
> 
> 02/01/2008 09:35 AM 
> 
> 
> 
>                To
> "Bryan Berry"
> <bryan.berry at gmail.com> 
>                cc
> "sulochan
> acharya"
> <sulochan at gmail.com>, Tony Pearson/Tucson/IBM at IBMUS 
>           Subject
> RE: First stab at
> XS project plan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Bryan,
> 
> Do you have a page setup already?
> 
> Send me the URL and I'll add this server doc ASAP.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Greg S 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bryan Berry [mailto:bryan.berry at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 11:22 AM
> To: Greg Smith (gregmsmi)
> Cc: sulochan acharya; Tony Pearson
> Subject: RE: First stab at XS project plan
> 
> we should put these docs in the olpc wiki, which is messy but more
> transparent On Fri, 2008-02-01 at 11:17 -0500, Greg Smith (gregmsmi)
> wrote:
> > Hi Sulochan,
> >  
> > Very useful write up!
> >  
> > I'm adding Tony Pearson who will also try to bring up a school
> server 
> > to help test your target config.
> >  
> > I see references to a few other docs. Do we have a suggestion on
> how 
> > to post and share all docs for everyone to edit and add to them?
> > Maybe we should just post them to your wiki?
> >  
> > One basic question: what is the target web browser? Do you plan to
> use
> 
> > the included "browse" activity? I think we need to know that to
> test 
> > the moodle implementation.
> >  
> > Maybe we can post any docs on the XS in a central place too.
> >  
> > Thanks,
> >  
> > Greg S
> > 
> > 
> >
> ______________________________________________________________________
> > From: sulochan acharya [mailto:sulochan at gmail.com]
> > Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 6:17 AM
> > To: Bryan Berry
> > Cc: Greg Smith (gregmsmi)
> > Subject: Re: First stab at XS project plan
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Hi guys,
> > I am attaching a file on the school server that I've been working 
> > with. I don't know if it will be of any help. I've had half
> attempts 
> > to documenting everything concerning school server, network and 
> > implementation. I will try to find other files and send it to you 
> > guys.  If it is of no use you guys  can always  give me some
>  feedback
> 
> > as to  how to better document stuff. :)
> > 
> > 
> > best,
> > Sulochan
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Feb 1, 2008 12:06 AM, Bryan Berry <bryan.berry at gmail.com> wrote:
> >         shit, this is really helpful
> >         
> >         I will take a longer look at this later today. Have to get
> >         back to work
> >         on the library server
> >         
> >         
> >         On Thu, 2008-01-31 at 13:02 -0500, Greg Smith (gregmsmi)
> >         wrote:
> >         > Hi Guys,
> >         >
> >         > Attached is my first pass. I wrote it in word but created
> >         HTML version
> >         > too. Let me know if you can't open it.
> >         >
> >         > If it looks useful, we can put in 45min - an hour filling
> in
> >         "?"s on
> >         > Sunday. You can also fill in stuff and send it back before
> >         then if you
> >         > have time. BTW I'll be offline starting at ~5PM Friday.
> >         >
> >         > One of the hardest parts may be listing the software and
> >         writing the
> >         > requirements. That's tough without good documentation on
> the
> >         XS,
> >         > moodle etc. Any use cases, links to documentation (e.g.
> >         moodle link),
> >         > and lists of features will help us get started. I'll try
> to
> >         read your
> >         > blog and extract info from that if I can free up an hour
> >         tomorrow. I
> >         > can move it to a wiki page when we're ready.
> >         >
> >         > HTHs. Don't spend valuable hours on this if it looks like
> >         too much
> >         > process and doesn't feel like its moving you towards your
> >         goal. If you
> >         > know what you have to do and just need to do it, then
> don't
> >         let me get
> >         > in your way.
> >         >
> >         > Back to my day job :-)
> >         >
> >         > Speak to you Sunday.
> >         >
> >         > Thanks,
> >         >
> >         > Greg Smith
> >         > 10K Product Manager
> >         > gregmsmi at cisco.com
> >         > Cisco Systems Inc.
> >         > 1414 Mass. Ave
> >         > Boxborough, MA 01719
> >         > Office 978 936 1036
> >         > Mobile 781 956 0350
> >         > page: gregmsmi at epage.cisco.com
> >         >
> >         >
> >         
> >         
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> 



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