Installing CentOS – www.pasta.freemyip.com

Introduction

This page describes the installation of CentOS on the following systems:

spaghetti: test RPM-based VM

To clarify before starting

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Backing up first

<nothing>

Preparing media

Prepare CentOS-6.3-x86_64-minimal.iso as an ISO image

Installing minimal OS

Boot the media and accept all defaults except as noted below.
At the ‘Disk Found’ window, when prompted to perform a media check, select ‘Skip’
At the ‘System to Upgrade’ window, when prompted prompted to upgrade or reinstall, select ‘Reinstall System’
At the ‘Time Zone Selection’ window, set the correct timezone
At the ‘Partitioning Type’ window, when prompted to specify which space to use, select ‘Use entire drive’
At the ‘Writing storage configuration to disk’ window, select ‘Write changes to disk’

Urgent steps

Run:

ifconfig eth0 <ip-addr> up
route add -net default gw <gateway-ip-addr>
echo "nameserver <nameserver-ip-addr>" > /etc/resolv.conf

Run the following:
```
yum install system-config-network-tui
system-config-network
```
and set up the interface, routing and DNS as per the parameters just used.
Edit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 and be sure to set:
```
...
ONBOOT=yes
NM_MANAGED=no
...
```
Edit /etc/hosts, remove all content and add entries for localhost and the hostname itself.
Edit /etc/selinux/config and adjust the following settings:
```
SELINUX=disabled
```
Reboot.
Run the following:
```
yum install vim
```
(The editors are useful for steps later in this section.)

Configure SSH as follows:

Run:
```
yum install openssh-server
```
If you want to restore host keys then do so.
Edit ~root/.ssh/authorized_keys and add the following entry:
```
<trust-server's-public-ssh-key>
```

Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config and make the following settings:

StrictModes yes
IgnoreRhosts yes
X11Forwarding yes
RSAAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes
RhostsRSAAuthentication no
HostbasedAuthentication no
PermitEmptyPasswords no
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no
PasswordAuthentication no
PermitRootLogin yes

Run:
```
service sshd restart
```

Run:

cat ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Copy over the following files from a system where they are already set up as per local preferences:
- .bashrc
- .profile
- .vimrc
- .hushlogin

Accessing more software

Run:

yum install redhat-lsb vim-common
rpm -ihv https://repo.pasta.freemyip.com/redhat/7/x86_64/ade-1.11-2.noarch.rpm
rpm -ihv https://repo.pasta.freemyip.com/redhat/7/x86_64/paa-2.0.10-2.noarch.rpm
cd /usr/share/doc/paa/examples
zcat autopaa.gz | AUTOPAA_MODE=client sh

Add access to EPEL by running:

paa repo epel rpm accessed false
paa editrepo epel

and provide the following config:

##############################################################################
#
#  Internal variables (defined for convenience and referenced only from within
#  this file)
#
##############################################################################

_RELEASES="4 5 6"
_PORTS="i386 x86_64"
_LAYOUT="<release>/<port>"

##############################################################################
#
#  Repository contents (defines what is in or may be inserted into this repo)
#
##############################################################################

#  The set of *all* releases and ports this repository will contain.
for _RELEASE in $_RELEASES; do
    release $_RELEASE
    for _PORT in $_PORTS; do
        port $_RELEASE $_PORT
    done
    layout $_RELEASE $_LAYOUT
done

##############################################################################
#
#  Compatibility (defines on which distros each release in this non-distro
#  repo may be installed)
#
##############################################################################

#  Each release in this repository is compatible with which distros?
for _RELEASE in $_RELEASES; do
    for _SIMILAR_DISTRO in rhel scientificlinux centos; do
        compat $_RELEASE rpm $_SIMILAR_DISTRO ${_RELEASE%.*}
        for _MINOR_RELEASE in 1 2 3 4 5 6; do
            compat $_RELEASE rpm $_SIMILAR_DISTRO ${_RELEASE%.*}.$_MINOR_RELEASE
        done
    done
done
compat 6 rpm fedora \*
compat 6 rpm sles   \*

##############################################################################
#
#  Misc settings
#
##############################################################################

#  URL for the paacrt archive
url "http://ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/fedora-epel/"

and then run:

paa access epel

Drivers and updates

Network configuration

Mail

It is possible to simplify this procedure for non-mobile satellite systems, but in order to standardise the procedure it is extended slightly to make it all encompassing.

Install the following packages:
- mutt
- postfix
- heirloom-mailx
and accept all defaults (the config file will be overwritten in a minute)

Determine the name of the system itself for mail purposes and the mail relay to which the system (not its users) should send mail and assign them to variables as follows:

spaghetti:

MAILNAME=spaghetti.pasta.net
MAILRELAY=mail.pasta.freemyip.com   #  since laptop used at home and outside
MAILCLIENT=$(uname -n)
DNAME=pasta.net
ROOTRCPT=$(echo alexishuxley-at-gmail.com | sed 's/-at-/@/')
AUTHREQ=false

Run:
```
echo "$MAILNAME" > /etc/mailname
```

Create /etc/postfix/main.cf containing:

myorigin = /etc/mailname
append_dot_mydomain = no
smtpd_tls_cert_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
smtpd_tls_key_file=/etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
smtpd_use_tls=yes
smtpd_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${data_directory}/smtpd_scache
smtp_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${data_directory}/smtp_scache
myhostname = MAILCLIENT
alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases
alias_database = hash:/etc/aliases
mydestination = MAILCLIENT, MAILCLIENT.DNAME, localhost.localdomain, localhost
relayhost = MAILRELAY
smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes
smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
smtp_sasl_security_options =
mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8
mailbox_size_limit = 0
recipient_delimiter = +
inet_interfaces = loopback-only
inet_protocols = ipv4

Run:

#  Replace placeholders
perl -pi -e "s/MAILCLIENT/$MAILCLIENT/g; s/DNAME/$DNAME/g; s/MAILRELAY/$MAILRELAY/g" /etc/postfix/main.cf

If $AUTHREQ is ‘true’ then:

On the mail server set the same environment variables as defined earlier on the mail client.

On the mail server create an account for the mail client:

adduser --no-create-home --shell /bin/false --disabled-password --gecos '' $MAILCLIENT
echo -e "$RELAYPASSWD\n$RELAYPASSWD" | passwd $MAILCLIENT

On the mail client run:

echo "$MAILRELAY $MAILCLIENT:$RELAYPASSWD" >> /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
postmap hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd

Add a suitable alias for root by running:

#  Remove existing alias
perl -0777 -pi -e 's/^root.*?\n//' /etc/aliases
#  Add new alias
echo "root: $ROOTRCPT" >> /etc/aliases
newaliases
service postfix restart

Test.

Boot screens

Run:

perl -pi -e 's/(splashimage|hiddenmenu)/#$1/; s / rhgb quiet//' /boot/grub/grub.conf
perl -pi -e 's/(mingetty)/$1 --noclear/' /etc/init/tty.conf

Applications

Run:

yum install `sed -e 's/#.*//' -e 's/,//g' <<-EOF

#  Utils
w3m, gpm, a2ps, apg, nmap, lshw, sqlite,
rdiff-backup, subversion, less,
rsync, screen, subversion, bc, telnet,
time, jwhois, kpartx, usbutils, pciutils, wget,
strace, traceroute, mdadm

#  p7zip-full is needed for unetboot
p7zip-plugins p7zip

EOF`

Install ganglia-monitor by running:
```
yum install ganglia-gmond
```

User accounts

Applications in user accounts

Miscellaneous

Complete the section of Configuring monitoring services using Icinga regarding installing client software.
Create /usr/local/opt.

Install ntp by running:

yum install ntpd
chkconfig ntpd on
service ntpd start

To support PAA development:
1. Install the following packages:
  - rng-tools
  and edit /etc/sysconfig/rngd to contain:
```
EXTRAOPTIONS="-r /dev/urandom"
```
2. Install the following packages from EPEL:
  - dpkg
  - dpkg-devel

Other storage

Backups

Outstanding issues

package config screwed up:

spaghetti# AUTOPAA_MODE=client ./autopaa
paa: WARNING: moving contents of /etc/yum.repos.d to /tmp/paa.1617.-etc-yum.repos.d (you should review them!) ...
paa: INFO: centos: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: debian-lenny-i386: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: debian-squeeze: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: debian-wheezy: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: epel: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: localprivate-deb: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: localprivate-rpm: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: localpublic-deb: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: localpublic-rpm: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: multimedia-lenny-i386: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: multimedia-squeeze: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: multimedia-wheezy: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: scientificlinux: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: virtualbox: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: debian-security: defining repository ...
paa: INFO: centos: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: debian-lenny-i386: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: debian-squeeze: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: debian-wheezy: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
cat: epel.conf: No such file or directory
paa: INFO: epel: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: ERROR: epel: url: missing directive
paa: INFO: localprivate-deb: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: localprivate-rpm: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: localpublic-deb: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: localpublic-rpm: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: multimedia-lenny-i386: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: multimedia-squeeze: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: multimedia-wheezy: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: scientificlinux: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: virtualbox: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: debian-security: changes detected; recompiling configuration ...
paa: INFO: spaghetti: registering host ...
paa: INFO: centos: accessing ...
paa: INFO: localprivate-rpm: accessing ...
paa: INFO: localpublic-rpm: accessing ...
spaghetti#

mail got lost
want automounter and NIS for user accounts
does Ganglia need configuring?
need Rocon
Nagios

Introduction

To clarify before starting

Backing up first

Preparing media

Installing minimal OS

Urgent steps

Accessing more software

Drivers and updates

Network configuration

Mail

Boot screens

Applications

User accounts

Applications in user accounts

Miscellaneous

Other storage

Backups

Outstanding issues

See also