Installing Rivendell 4 on a RedHat Enterprise Linux 8 System

Fred Gleason


Table of Contents

Introduction
Overview
Prerequisites
Installing the Base Distribution
Running the Installation Script
Final Details

Introduction

Overview

This HOWTO contains procedures for installing the Rivendell Radio Automation System on a system running RedHat Enterprise Linux 8 (RHEL-8). While the screenshots are specific to RHEL-8, these instructions are also applicable to other distributions derived from RedHat Enterprise 8.

Installing Rivendell on RHEL-8 consists of three primary steps:

  1. Install the base distribution and establish an Internet connection.

  2. Bootstrap and run the installation script.

  3. Secure accounts and finish up final details.

Prerequisites

The following items are required to complete the installation.

  • Target hardware. 64 bit (x86_64) AMD or Intel architecture is supported. For the purposes of this HOWTO, the target machine will be assumed to have a single, blank hard drive. Installations utilizing multiple hard drives (including RAID arrays) are possible, but beyond the scope of this HOWTO.

  • A 'DVD' ISO installer image for RHEL-8, available at https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux. After downloading the ISO image, make a "bootable" USB key using these instructions.

  • A working Internet connection.

Installing the Base Distribution

Boot the RHEL-8 installation media (DVD or USB key). You should wind up at the initial boot screen.

Highlight the Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 prompt and then press Enter to start the installation.

You will be asked to specify the language to use for the install. Choose and then touch the Continue button.

You should then be brought to the INSTALLATION SUMMARY screen.

Touch the Software Selection item to bring up the SOFTWARE SELECTION screen.

In the left-hand pane, select the Workstation environment, then touch the Done button to return to the INSTALLATION SUMMARY screen.

Touch the INSTALLATION DESTINATION item to bring up the INSTALLATION DESTINATION screen.

In the Storage Configuration section, change the selection from Automatic to Custom.

Warning

Do NOT use automatic partitioning! Doing so will waste large amounts of disc space while resulting in an installation with very little space available for storage of audio!

Touch the Done button to bring up the MANUAL PARTITIONING screen.

If there are any existing partitions on the system, delete them by touching the - button. Then, change the paritioning scheme from LVM to Standard Partition.

Touch the + button to bring up the ADD A NEW MOUNT POINT dialog.

Pull down the Mount Point: list and scan the entries. If you see a /boot/efi entry, select it, then enter 1G in the Desired Capacity: field, then touch the Add mount point button.

Repeat the above procedure, adding the following mount points:

Table 1. Mount Points

Mount PointDesired Capacity
swap8192M
/25G
/home100G
/var[leave blank]


After all mount points have been added, touch the Done button. You may see a SUMMARY OF CHANGES dialog asking you to confirm the partitioning. Touch the Accept Changes button and return to the INSTALLATION SUMMARY screen.

Touch the Root Password item to bring up the ROOT PASSWORD screen.

Enter a password in the two fields. and then touch the Done button to return to the SUMMARY OF CHANGES screen.

Warning

DO NOT FORGET WHAT YOU ENTER HERE, AS YOU WILL NEED IT TO MANAGE YOUR RIVENDELL SYSTEM!

Touch the User Creation item to bring up the CREATE USER screen.

Create a user called rd, using the settings as shown, and then touch the Done button to return to the INSTALLATION SUMMARY screen.

Caution

To ensure system security, use a password that is different from the one used for the root.

Touch the Begin Installation button to apply your partitioning settings and install RHEL.

When installation is complete, touch the Reboot System button.

The system will reboot and come up to the INITIAL SETUP screen.

Touch the License Information item to bring up the License Information screen.

Tick the I accept the license agreement checkbox and then touch the Done button to return to the INITIAL SETUP screen.

Touch the FINISH CONFIGURATION button. Then Login screen will then appear.

Click the Rivendell Audio item and enter the user password that was set earlier.

The system will log in and display the Welcome! screen.

Choose the desired language and then touch the Next button to bring up the Typing screen.

Choose the desired keyboard layout and then touch the Next button to bring up the Privacy screen.

Set the Location Services as desired then touch the Next button to bring up the Connect Your Online Accounts screen. Touch the Skip button to bring up the Ready to Go screen.

Touch the Start Using Red Hat Enterprise Linux button to bring up the Getting Started window.

Touch the 'X' in the upper right-hand corner to dismiss the window and show the Gnome Desktop.

Touch the Down Arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the desktop and then touch the "Tool" icon to open the Settings applet.

Touch the Network item in the left-hand pane and configure network access as is appropriate for your site.

Next, touch the Details item in the left-hand pane to bring up the About screen.

Touch the Register button to bring up the Register System dialog.

Enter the Login and Password for a Red Hat account authorized to issue a subscription and then touch the Register button. The system will prompt for an "Administrator" password.

Enter the "root" password that you created earlier and then touch the Authenticate button. The system will return to the About screen.

Touch the View Updates button to bring up a list of available updates.

Touch the Download to download them. When download is complete, touch the Restart & Update button to begin the update process.

After installing the updates, the system will reboot. Log back in as user rd, then open a Terminal by touching the "Activities" item in the upper left-hand corner of the desktop and then the Terminal icon.

Enter the following into the terminal to elevate its privileges to root:

su -

You will be prompted for the user "root" password. Type it, and then press the Enter key.

Note

The password will not appear on the screen as you type it. This is normal.

Next, set the host name of the machine by entering the following: hostnamectl set-hostname hostname, where hostname is the name. The name should be all lower-case, alphanumeric and not more than 32 characters.

The system is now ready to have Rivendell installed.

Running the Installation Script

Enter the following commands:

wget https://software.paravelsystems.com/rhel/8rd4/install_rivendell.sh -P .

chmod 755 install_rivendell.sh

./install_rivendell.sh

The installer will now start up and display its main menu.

The installer supports three different "installation modes" for Rivendell, as follows:

Standalone

Install system components (Rivendell application code, MariaDB database server and audio file store) on this machine, allowing it to operate as a completely self-contained and autonomous Rivendell system.

Server

The same as "Standalone", but will also configure the MariaDB database and audio file store components to be shared with additional "client mode" Rivendell systems.

Client

Install just the Rivendell application components, configuring it to use the database and audio store on one or two shared server(s). You will be prompted for the IP address of the server(s), as well as the name of the database and the username / password of a MariaDB database account for accessing the Rivendell database on that server.

Note

When prompted to enter the IP address of the NFS server that holds the Rivendell audio store, simply hit the Enter key if it is on the same server as the MariaDB database (almost always the case).

Enter the number for the type of installation desired, then press the Enter key.

Depending upon the speed of the Internet connection, installation can take between several minutes to fifteen minutes or more. When installation is complete, reboot the system with the command:

reboot

Final Details

After rebooting, the system will come back in GUI mode. To secure the system fully, open a Terminal as directed above and perform the following steps:

  1. If you used the "Standalone" or "Server" installation modes above, set the MariaDB administrator password with the following command (substitute your password for pwd):

    echo "SET PASSWORD FOR root@localhost = PASSWORD('pwd');" | mysql -u root

  2. Remove the Rivendell installer script with the following command:

    dnf -y remove rhel-rivendell-installer

The system is now ready for service.