XS Installing Software 0.6

  This page is monitored by the OLPC team.

This page describes how to obtain a copy of the XS school server software, load it onto media, and install it onto a system. A more complete description of the software repositories, configuration information, and testing instructions are also available.

This page covers XS 0.5 and newer. For older releases, see XS_Installing_Software_0.4.

Downloading the System Image

You can obtain the latest image from http://xs-dev.laptop.org/xs/:

wget http://xs-dev.laptop.org/xs/OLPC_XS_LATEST.iso

This can be copied onto a CD or DVD using your favorite software.

Using a USB key/disk for installation

Using a USB key to install this version of the XS involves several additional steps.

• First, copy the installation using the 'mkusbinstall' script you can download here (click on the 'raw' link). Assuming your usb key is /dev/sdb, you can invoke it like this:

mkusbinstall OLPC_XS_LATEST.iso /dev/sdb1

• You may need to configure your machine to boot from USB - see XS_Boot_from_USB for details.
• Early in the installation , anaconda will say that it cannot find its kickstart file. Change the path from 'cdrom:/anaconda.ks' to 'hd:sdb1:/anaconda.ks'. You will get prompted again for the path to the ISO - set it to device: '/dev/sdb1' and directory: 'iso'. If the machine has more than one hard drive, then the device might be sdc1 instead of sdb1.

Installing the Software

Please read the release notes for the version you are installing.

The install from a CD or USB key will eventually be automatic upon booting. While the install is currently mostly automated (not interactive), it is not performed automatically upon boot.

1. Boot from the USB Key or CD-ROM
2. Select "Install using kickstart" at the initial boot screen.
3. Note: the default graphical installer can be instable at times. You can press tab and add 'text' at the end of the line to request the text-based installer.
4. Anaconda (the Fedora installer) takes over and you will be prompted for the standard questions - these are preset to the correct defaults for the Scgool Server configuration. You will want to set keyboard type, the time zone, and a root password for your specific system.
5. When it has finished installing, you will be prompted to reboot. Remove the CD-ROM or USB key after power-down, but before the boot process begins.

You should now have a school server! It needs initial configuration before it starts providing services to the laptops.

Initial Configuration

Right after installation, you must

• Set the server domain name (the hostname is always 'schoolserver') using:

/etc/sysconfig/olpc-scripts/domain_config example.org

• Set the hostname of the machine like this (until we fix bug 8983) by editing /etc/sysconfig/network to set HOSTNAME=schoolserver.example.org and restarting.
• Enable ejabberd on startup, and start it using:

chkconfig --level 345 ejabberd on
service ejabberd start

• Create an account on ejabber for the administrator:

ejabberdctl ejabberd register admin schoolserver.example.org admin

• Go to the web-based administration interface for ejabberd at http://schoolserver.example.org:5280/admin/, or http://172.18.0.1:5280/admin/ if using an XO or other laptop connected through the LAN interface.
• Login as "admin@schoolserver.example.org" with the password you set when registering (admin).
• Click on "Virtual Hosts", then your hostname, then "Shared Roster". Type "Online" and click Add New.
• Click on "Online" and enter "Online" for Name, "@online@" for Members, and "Online" for Displayed Groups. Click Submit.

Optional

• Setup and start web caching by typing:

/etc/sysconfig/olpc-scripts/TURN_SQUID_ON

Network

The default server setup is to connect to the Internet on the first wired ethernet network interface, using IPv4 DHCP. Laptops connect to the server over Acceess Points (APs) connected to the second wired ethernet network interface or via the wireless mesh using one or more Active Antenna, connected through USB interfaces.

If your XS has 2 network interfaces and you would like to reverse their (WAN, LAN) roles you can use the xs-swapnics utility.

IPv6 is not enabled by default and not needed -- to enable external IPv6 you will have to configure the global address of the machine and setup an IPv6 tunnel.

Installing additional software

If you wish to install packages that aren't part of the default school server distribution, you should first try using yum. The stable and testing school server repositories include all packages included in Fedora, even if they aren't installed by default. For third party software you should follow their installation procedure for Fedora 7 or for the XS Server specifically. For example, to install Moodle, follow these instructions: http://docs.moodle.org/en/OLPC_XS_installation#Install_Moodle_from_the_OLPC_XS_Image

Keeping your XS software up to date

Upgrading a server is done using the yum package interface provided by Fedora.

If you have an Internet connection, you can upgrade from the default servers at OLPC, or your own mirrors of them. This is done using yum:

 yum -y upgrade

Upgrading from earlier version of XS

If you are upgrading from XS 0.4, the process is similar to a new installation, with some minor changes. In the menu shown right after booting, you should choose the (preselected) 'Install with kickstart' option, press the Tab key, and add 'upgradeany' to the boot configuration line. After adding that line, press enter twice.

With this extra option, Anaconda will recognise the old installation and will offer to upgrade.

Notes:

• Right after the upgrade, you must re-run the /etc/sysconfig/olpc-scripts/domain_config script with the appropriate domain name for the machine.
• The new OS may detect your network cards differently -- the roles of WAN and LAN cards may end up swapped from what they were under 0.4. If that happens, use the xs-swapnics script.

See also

• XS Server Installation