ServerAtSchool Installation Guide
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I. Getting started with ServerAtSchool

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Intended audience

3. Prerequisites

4. Relation between OpenNA Linux (VSLC) 1.0 and ServerAtSchool

5. Necessary information for a smooth installation

6. Taking notes

7. Getting help

1. Introduction

This chapter discusses the intended audience for this guide and the requirements for setting up ServerAtSchool.

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2. Intended audience

This guide's intended audience is the slightly above-average computer user. That is, you do not have to be a bearded Unix guru with 20+ years of experience. On the other hand, if you have almost no experience with computers, this guide (and this system) may not be for you.

This guide assumes that you have basic computer skills. You have to know a little bit about disks and partitions, about networking, IP addresses, and Unix/Linux file systems. You should also know how to use a text-based editor to edit various configuration files when necessary. The ServerAtSchool server provides both the vi and nano editors for this purpose.

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3. Prerequisites

In order to successfully set up a school server, you should have the following at your disposal.

NOTICE: the hardware requirements are an absolute minimum, just enough to accomodate a very small school or set up a demonstration environment.

The recommended hardware configuration is:

The 1000 Mb/s interface can be used to create a high-speed connection to a network switch with, say, twenty-four 10/100 Mb/s ports and one or two 10/100/1000 Mb/s ports. This would dramatically improve network performance when multiple clients are accessing the server at the same time.

NOTICE: there are ways to deal with dynamic IP addresses on the Internet connection (e.g. by configuring the server to work as a DHCP client), but it is very tricky to get it right. You really want a fixed IP address.

NOTICE: the software installs very well on standard ATA disks (IDE disks). It is also possible to install the software on computers with supported SCSI disks. At the time of writing this documentation there is no support for installing the software on Serial ATA disks, although this may well be the case by the time you read this guide. Please refer to the README file(s) on the ServerAtSchool CD.

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4. Relation between OpenNA Linux (VSLC) 1.0 and ServerAtSchool

ServerAtSchool is the 11th server type added to the 10 standard OpenNA Linux (VSLC) 1.0 server types. Standard OpenNA Linux 1.0 allows you to choose from the following 10 options:

ServerAtSchool adds an 11th option to the 10 existing ones. This server type combines features from the web server, name server, mail server, database server and the gateway server, and adds several features specially aimed at schools. In order to add this 11th option, the original OpenNA installation program was modified and extended.

This guide focuses on the ServerAtSchool installation using the ServerAtSchool installation CD. If you want to install one of the 10 original OpenNA servers, you can also use the ServerAtSchool CD. However, for detailed instructions on installing OpenNA Linux you should refer to The Official OpenNA Linux Installation Guide ([Mourani 2003]). An electronic version of this guide is available on the OpenNA website: www.openna.com.

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5. Necessary information for a smooth installation

For a smooth standard installation of the ServerAtSchool software you need to have the answers to a few questions. The answers are listed in the table below, including the default answers (if any). There is also an empty column which you can use to enter your own answers.

NOTICE: You may want to look ahead at section 2. Server properties in Appendix D. Worksheets, and create a hard copy of the list below.

Summary of questions and default answers.
item default answer your answer notes
Keyboard layout US keyboard    
Your time zone Europe/Amsterdam    
The target disk drive the first disk drive detected, usually /dev/hda    
Do you want to install the documentation Yes    
Fully qualified domain name of the server (none)    
IP address 10.0.0.201    
Netmask 255.255.255.0    
Broadcast 10.0.0.255    
Network 10.0.0.0    
Default gateway 10.0.0.138    
Primary nameserver 194.109.6.66   Please do not use this address unless it happens to be your ISP's name server.
Secondary nameserver 194.109.9.99   Please do not use this address unless it happens to be your ISP's name server.
Search option (derived from the fully qualified domain name)    
Your root password (none)   Think of a good one!
The e-mail address of the administrator (none)    
The Samba workgroup name (derived from the fully qualified domain name)    
Install optional proxy server Yes    
Install optional USB/laptop software No    
Install optional firewall Yes    
Install optional webmail client Yes    
Install optional mailing list manager Yes    

NOTICE: During the configuration phase (see chapter V. Configuring all ServerAtSchool components) there will be some more questions to answer, decisions to make and (good) passwords to think of. We will deal with these issues later on.

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6. Taking notes

Before starting the actual work, find yourself an exercise book. Make it a habit to write down everything you do during the installation. Your server will probably have a long life. After a couple of years you or your successor may be completely baffled by your well-informed decisions at the time of installation.

For example, why did you connect the system disk as /dev/hdc? (The IDE cable was too short.) Or, why do the fans appear to blow in opposite directions? (At the time it was for a very good reason, but the modification has since become obsolete as the newly installed disk produces much less heat.) The same applies during the software installation. Our written journal notes have saved us numerous times during hardware maintenance and software upgrades.

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7. Getting help

This guide contains a lot of information, not just step-by-step instructions, but also related information, usually in the form of a 'notice'. Together, this guide provides all the information you need to set up a ServerAtSchool server.

However, we cannot give any further support for the ServerAtSchool installation than this guide provides; we simply do not have the time for it. When you read this, we will be working on a new release of ServerAtSchool and trying to earn a few euros by installing ServerAtSchool at primary schools in the Netherlands.

If you need more help, Appendix B. Bibliography may contain some useful pointers for you. You can also ask a local Linux group, which exist in many places all over the world. Or go to the nearest polytechnic or university. There are lots of IT students looking for projects that involve non-commercial interests. As a school, you probably have some goodwill; ask parents for help. Linux knowledge is spreading rapidly.

We do provide a mailing list for ServerAtSchool users. Please refer to the project's home page at http://serveratschool.net for subscription information.

If you find any errors or omissions in this guide, we would like to hear from you. You can reach us via e-mail: info@serveratschool.net.

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Acknowledgements   II. Preparing the hardware for installation

Author: Peter Fokker <peter (at) berestijn.nl>
$Id: gettingstarted.html,v 1.17 2006/03/31 15:35:47 peter Exp $