This chapter includes the following topics:
Before installing Linux on the STA server, review the system requirements in the STA Requirements Guide.
Note:
You cannot perform an in-place upgrade of Linux 5.x to Linux 6.x. If you are installing Linux 6.x as part of an upgrade to STA 2.0.x, see Chapter 7, "Upgrading to STA 2.3.x."To install and configure Linux for STA, perform the following tasks in the following sections, in the order indicated.
Preparation
Installation
Post-installation
Before installing Linux on the STA server, perform the procedures in the following sections.
Due to the wide variety of network configuration requirements and options, refer to the following documents for help with installing and configuring the hardware, software, and network. IPv4 and IPv6 network configuration are discussed in detail in these documents.
Oracle Linux Installation Guides:
RedHat Linux Documentation:
The locations used by the STA application are user-defined, meaning you can configure them to meet your site requirements. Table 2-1 describes the recommended layout and space allocations for typical installations. For large installations, see additional information in "Sizing considerations for larger installations".
The Oracle user must have write access to all of these locations. See "Users, Groups, and Locations Used by the STA Installer" for details about the Oracle user and group.
Note:
Oracle recommends configuring this layout during Linux installation, before installing STA.During STA installation, the STA installer prompts you for the locations and attempts to create any not already present. But because the STA installer runs as the Oracle user, not system root, the installation will fail if the Oracle user does not have write privileges to create the layout you specify. Creating the file systems in advance allows you to control the directory properties and ensure that the Oracle user has the privileges it needs.
Oracle recommends that usage for any partition should never exceed 80 percent. Once STA is installed, you can configure the STA Resource Monitor to monitor some locations and automatically notify you if usage exceeds the high-water marks you define. See the STA Administration Guide for instructions. You need to periodically check locations not monitored by the STA Resource Monitor.
Table 2-1 Recommended File System Layout
| File System | Default Mount Point | Size | Description and Recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|
|
root |
/ |
32 GB minimum |
root file system. Space requirement is for files and directories critical for system operation. See entries below for additional space requirements if the temp and STA logs directories are also located in this file system. |
|
temp |
/tmp |
11 GB minimum |
Location of temporary files. At least 4 GB of free space is required in temp for STA installations and upgrades. |
|
STA logs |
/var/log/tbi |
30 GB minimum 50 GB to 100 GB recommended |
Location of STA logs and STA database binary logs. This location should be a separate volume at a separate mount point. The default location is /var/log/tbi, but you can change this location at any time after STA installation; see "Relocate the STA Logs Directory (optional)" for instructions. Note: The contents tend to grow over time. Except for log rotation, STA does not perform space management. Note: Incremental database backups (binary files) in /STA_logs/db may consume significant space but are purged every 24 hours by the STA backup utility. See the STA Administration Guide for details on configuring their frequency. |
|
swap |
None. Defined as memory. |
50 to 100 percent of RAM size |
Used for swap space. |
|
Oracle storage home |
/Oracle |
30 GB minimum 50 GB recommended |
Location of the STA and Oracle Middleware (WebLogic, MySQL, RDA) application files. See "Oracle storage home location" for details. This location is user-defined. This location should be a separate file system on a separate volume. Maintain a minimum of 11 GB free space for STA installations and upgrades. Maintain an additional 5 GB free space for WebLogic log rotation. STA automatically creates the following Oracle Middleware subdirectories:
|
|
STA database location |
/dbdata |
250 GB to 2 TB |
Location of the STA database. This location is user-defined. Oracle highly recommends you place this directory on its own volume, separate from root, swap, Oracle storage home, and the STA logs location. For performance, backup, and maintainability, best practice is to use a separate set of mirrored or striped drives. Required size depends on the number of libraries, drives, media, exchanges per day, and historical years of data. Oracle recommends that you configure STA services to alert if space utilization exceeds a specified percentage. |
|
STA database local backup location |
/dbbackup |
70 to 80 percent of /dbdata size |
Location of the most recent local database backup. This location is user-defined. Oracle recommends that this directory be on a different volume from the STA database, and on mirrored or striped drives in case of database corruption or failure. |
If you have significant library exchanges-per-hour rates (that is, greater than 300 EPH), with multiple libraries attached to a single STA server and a long history with STA, you should carefully consider the following recommendations. You may also want to consider using SSDs.
root file system—Oracle recommends this to be on its own appropriately sized HDD. Allocate an additional 100 GB if temp is in the root partition and another 200 GB if the STA logs directory is included.
Oracle storage home (default /Oracle)—Oracle recommends at least 100 GB.
STA database location (default /dbdata)—Oracle recommends this to be on its own appropriately sized HDD. Guidance is from 250GB up to 500GB.
STA database local backup location (default /dbbackup)—Oracle recommends this to be on its own appropriately sized HDD. Guidance is from 500GB up to 2TB.
Use this procedure to download the Linux installer media pack from the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud website. The media pack is delivered as a compressed ISO image file, which you can extract and write to portable media of your choice (flash drive, DVD, etc.).
Before performing this task, you must obtain an Oracle Software Delivery Cloud user ID and password from your Oracle support representative.
Start a Web browser and navigate to the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud website:
Click Sign In/Register.
Enter the user ID and password provided by Oracle Support.
On the Terms & Restrictions screen, select the boxes to indicate your acceptance of the License Agreement and Export Restrictions, and then click Continue.
On the Media Pack Search screen:
In the Select a Product Pack menu, select Oracle Linux.
In the Platform menu, select x86 64 bit (STA requires 64-bit Linux).
Click Go.
Select a Linux version, and then click Continue.
For Linux version requirements, see the STA Requirements Guide.
Click Download for the 64-bit option.
Save the ISO file and write it to media.
To install Linux on the STA server, perform the procedures in the following sections.
Note:
These procedures assume an Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL) 6u4 DVD installation with graphical installer and setup agent. If you install a different version of Linux, use different media, or use the console mode, the steps and packages may vary.Contact your system administrator to obtain the following information:
Hostname and IP address for the STA server
Gateway IP address and netmask for your network
DNS server IP addresses and search domains for your network
IP address of the NTP (network time protocol) servers you will be using
Network proxy information, if applicable
Use this procedure to perform the Linux installation.
Connect the installation media to the STA server.
Start the Linux installer using the instructions in the README file on the media.
Select Install or upgrade an existing system.
If you are installing from a DVD, the CD Found screen appears. You can optionally perform a test of the media. To skip the test, press Tab to highlight the Skip option, and then press Spacebar.
On the Welcome screen, click Next.
Select a language, and then click Next.
Select a keyboard layout, and then click Next.
Select Basic Storage Devices, and then click Next.
Enter a hostname for the STA server, and then click Configure Network.
Select the network adapter name, and then click Edit.
Ensure that Connect automatically and Available to all users are both selected.
In the remaining tabs, configure the adapter according to your network administrator's IPv4 or IPv6 specifications. You must specify a static IP address for the STA server, and at least one DNS server. When done, click Apply, Close, and Next.
Select the STA server's time zone, select the System clock uses UTC check box, and then click Next.
Enter and confirm a system root password for the server, and then click Next.
Identify a partitioning layout to use on the server:
Because STA requires a dedicated server, Oracle recommends selecting Use All Space.
Select the Review and modify partitioning layout check box, and then click Next.
Use Table 2-1 to modify the file system layout, as the default does not meet the minimum requirements for STA. Alternatively, you can use the system-config-lvm utility to modify the file system after Linux installation.
When done, click Next.
When ready, select Write changes to disk.
In the boot loader screen, leave all options as-is, and then click Next.
In the software selection screen, select Basic Server, and do not change the repository options. Then, select Customize now, and then click Next.
In the package selection screen, use Table 2-2 to configure the packages for each package category:
Select a package category.
Select the box for each package in the Select column.
If a package requires an option (indicated with a +), highlight the parent package, click the Optional packages button, select the child package in the list, and then click Close.
Deselect the box for each package in the Deselect column.
Leave other check boxes as-is.
Table 2-2 Linux Package Selection
| Package Category | Select | Deselect |
|---|---|---|
|
Base System |
|
|
|
Servers (optional) |
|
NA |
|
Web Services |
NA |
All packages |
|
Databases |
NA |
All packages |
|
System Management |
NA |
NA |
|
Virtualization |
NA |
NA |
|
Desktops (recommended)— Used to perform certain post-installation steps in a graphical environment; see "Post-Installation Tasks" for details. |
|
NA |
|
Applications (optional)— Can be used to configure and manage the STA server locally with the GUI interface. |
|
NA |
|
Development |
|
NA |
|
Languages |
NA |
NA |
Footnote 1 Optional. Can be used to configure or re-configure the file system once Linux installation is complete.
When you are finished with package selection, click Next. Installation will begin.
If you accidentally click Next before configuring all the packages, click Back after the software completes a dependency check.
When the Congratulations screen appears, remove the installation media, and then click Reboot.
A complete log of the installation can be found in /root/install.log.
The Linux Setup Agent starts automatically when you reboot the Linux server. Use this procedure to configure the system environment.
On the Welcome screen, click Forward.
Read the License Agreement, select Yes, I agree to the License Agreement, and click Forward.
On the Software Updates screen, if you'd like to register your system for updates, select Yes, I'd like to register now. Otherwise, select No, I prefer to register at a later time, and click Forward.
On the Finish Updates Setup screen, click Forward.
On the Create User screen, leave the fields blank, click Forward, and then Yes to continue. The STA server does not require a non-administrative user.
In the Date and Time screen:
Set the current date and time.
Select the Synchronize date and time over the network check box.
Add or remove the desired NTP servers (obtained from your IT administrator), and then click Forward.
Note:
To ensure that STA data and log files are correct, the date and time on the STA server must be correct. Additionally, any library connected to STA must also have the correct time.On the Kdump screen, do not select Enable kdump?. Then click Finish.
The system reboots.
After the system reboots, log in as the system root user:
Click Other....
Enter username root, and then click Log In.
Enter the system root password, and then click Log In again.
If a message appears about being logged in as root super user, you may ignore the message.
Confirm the Linux release and update level. This step is optional.
# cat /etc/*-release
Oracle Linux Server release 6.4
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 6.4 (Santiago)
Oracle Linux Server release 6.4
To ensure that the STA server is configured properly for STA installation, perform the tasks in the following sections.
Use this procedure to ensure that the necessary directories for Linux configuration are included in the path for the system root user.
Open a terminal session on the STA server and log in as the system root user.
Display the PATH variable and verify that it includes all the following directories:
For example:
# echo $PATH
/usr/lib64/qt-3.3/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/root/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
If any directories are missing, use a text editor to open the user profile and add them. For example:
# vi /root/.bash_profile
PATH=$PATH:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
Save and exit the file.
Log out and log in as the system root user.
Confirm that the PATH variable has been updated correctly.
# echo $PATH
/usr/lib64/qt-3.3/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/root/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
Starting with STA 2.3.0, the iptables firewall service must be running. Before beginning an STA installation, you must enable iptables so the installer can set up required port configurations. Once STA is installed, iptables must remain running to support internal port forwarding for SNMP traps.
Use this procedure to enable iptables and configure it to restart automatically during system startup.
Open a terminal session on the STA server and log in as the system root user.
Use the following steps to enable iptables now.
Check the current status of the iptables service.
# service iptables status
iptables: Firewall is not running.
If the firewall is not running, enable it.
# service iptables restart
iptables: Applying firewall rules: [ OK ]
Use the following steps to configure iptables to start automatically during system startup.
Check whether iptables is currently managed by the chkconfig utility.
# chkconfig --list iptables
service iptables supports chkconfig, but is not referenced in any runlevel (run 'chkconfig --add iptables')
Add iptables for management by chkconfig. By default, it is configured to restart in runlevels 2 through 5.
# chkconfig --add iptables # chkconfig --list iptables iptables 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off
STA does not support SELinux. You must use this procedure to disable SELinux before installing STA.
Open a terminal session on the STA server and log in as the system root user.
Open the SELinux configuration file with a text editor.
# vi /etc/sysconfig/selinux
In the file, set SELINUX to disabled:
SELINUX=disabled
Save and exit the file.
Reboot the STA server to make your changes take effect.
Use this procedure to remove SELinux permissions for directories that were created before you disabled SELinux. In particular, the Oracle storage home, STA database, STA database local backup, and STA logs locations must not have SELinux permissions.
Open a terminal session and log in as the system root user.
List permissions for the Oracle storage home, STA database, STA database local backup, and STA logs locations. For example:
# ls –ld /Oracle /dbdata /dbbackup /var/log/tbi
drwxr-xr-x. 2 oracle oinstall 4096 Jul 30 14:48 /Oracle
drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 4096 Jul 30 14:46 /dbdata
drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root 4096 Jul 29 14:13 /dbbackup
drwxrwxrwx. 4 root root 4096 Jul 30 14:46 /var/log/tbi
#
In the output for each command, look for a dot at the end of the permissions. In the following example, note the "." after drxwr-xr-x.
# ls -ld /Oracle
drxwr-xr-x. 5 oracle oinstall 4096 Jul 30 18:27 /Oracle
If none of the directories contain a dot after the permissions statement, SELinux permissions have not been assigned to the directories and you can proceed to the next task.
If SELinux permissions are assigned to a directory, enter the following command for that directory.
# setfattr -h -x security.selinux directory_name
For example:
# setfattr -h -x security.selinux /Oracle /dbdata /dbbackup /var/log/tbi
Confirm that the SELinux permissions have been removed.
# ls –ld /Oracle /dbdata /dbbackup /var/log/tbi
drwxr-xr-x 2 oracle oinstall 4096 Jul 30 14:48 /Oracle
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Jul 30 14:46 /dbdata
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Jul 29 14:13 /dbbackup
drwxrwxrwx 4 root root 4096 Jul 30 14:46 /var/log/tbi
#
You can configure the STA server to connect to the network directly or through a proxy server.
From the Linux desktop System menu, select Preferences, then select Network Proxy.
In the Network Proxy Preferences dialog box, specify the proxy configuration according to your site requirements.
Click Close.
There are a variety of methods for installing the required RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) Linux software packages. Oracle recommends you use yum (Yellowdog Updater, Modified), as it greatly simplifies the package installation process. yum automatically searches RPM package repositories for the latest package versions and their dependencies. See "Install Required Linux Packages" for the required packages.
If you will be using yum, use this procedure to ensure that yum is configured correctly on the STA server.
Note:
The following command examples use the yum repository for Oracle Linux. In the commands, the "l" in "ol6" is lowercase "L".Ping the Oracle public-yum server to ensure the network connection is working.
# ping public-yum.oracle.com
Change to the yum repository directory and determine the yum repository filename.
# cd /etc/yum.repos.d # ls public-yum-ol6.repo
Remove the existing yum repository file.
# rm public-yum-ol6.repo
Download the latest yum repository file from the yum website.
# wget http://public-yum.oracle.com/public-yum-ol6.repo
Note:
Subsequent executions of this command will copy a new repository file into the yum.repos.d folder with a new extension (for example, public-yum-ol6.repo.1). However, yum always uses the repository file with no extension.Open the repository file with a text editor.
# vi public-yum-ol6.repo
In the file, locate the entry that matches your Linux version and enable it by setting enabled=1. Disable all other entries by setting enabled=0.
For example:
[Linux_Version] name=Oracle Linux $releasever Update x installation media copy ($basearch) baseurl=http://public-yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL6/x/base/$basearch/ gpgkey=http://public-yum.oracle.com/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle-ol6 gpgcheck=1 enabled=1
Save and exit the file.
Additional RPM packages are required for STA installation and operation. The STA installer will check for the following packages and if they are not present, STA installation will fail.
Note:
RPM package names are case-sensitive.
|
|
|
You can use a variety of methods to install the required RPM packages. This procedure describes how to use yum.
The yum package install command checks for the most current version of the package for your Linux version, and then installs the package and any dependencies. Depending on your Linux installation, some of these packages may have already been installed. If a package is already installed and at the most current version, the system notifies you.
Open a terminal session on the STA server.
Proceed as follows:
If you can reach Oracle's public yum server (see "Ensure Proper Setup of yum (optional)"), use one of the following methods to install packages:
Install packages one at a time.The specified package will be downloaded and checked, and you must answer all prompts.
# yum install package_name
Install all packages at once with no prompting. The –y option automatically answers "yes" to all installation prompts.
# yum –y install binutils compat-libcap1 compat-libstdc++-33.i686 cronie expect gcc gcc-c++ glibc glibc-devel libaio libaio-devel libgcc libstdc++ libstdc++-devel net-snmp-utils rpm-build sysstat xorg-x11-utils
If your network firewall prohibits external network access, you can use yum to install locally available packages from the Linux media. For example:
# cd /mnt/install_media_mount_location/packages # yum install ./package_name
Use this procedure to ensure that SSH (secure shell) is set up correctly on the STA server. This will speed up transfers of STA database backups to a remote host.
Open the SSH configuration file with a text editor.
# vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Search for the AddressFamily and UseDNS entries. Modify them so they are not preceded with the comment character and their values are as follows:
AddressFamily inet UseDNS no
Save and exit the file.
Restart the sshd daemon.
# service sshd restart
Use this procedure to ensure that the STA server's IP address is mapped to its hostname.
Open the hosts file with a text editor.
# vi /etc/hosts
At the end of the file, add the STA server's IP address, followed by a tab, and then the STA server's hostname. For example:
127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4... ::1 localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6... 192.0.2.20 sta_server
Save and exit the file. You do not need to restart the STA server for the new setting to take effect.
Name services such as LDAP can conflict with STA installation. Use this procedure to temporarily disable these services.
Open the Name Service Switch configuration file with a text editor.
# vi /etc/nsswitch.conf
Disable any name service entries. For example, to disable LDAP, comment out "ldap" from the following lines as shown:
passwd: files #ldap nis nisplus shadow: files #ldap nis nisplus group: files #ldap nis nisplus
Save and exit the file. You do not need to restart the STA server for the new setting to take effect. After you install STA, you can modify the nsswitch.conf file to re-enable the name services.
To configure and administer STA locally on the STA server, ensure you have the minimum supported browser versions and plugins installed (see the STA Requirements Guide).
If STA is accessed at your site using the HTTPS protocol, see the STA User's Guide for instructions on ensuring that HTTPS is supported by your browser.
Note:
Oracle does not recommend local access to the STA application due to server performance degradation.