WARNING: this is not working at the moment, this guide still needs a lot of polishment

Install

You should get the latest eBox Platform installer based on Ubuntu GNU/Linux installer from the download page. #FIXME i386 vs amd64 download

Assumptions Used Below

Language and Location

For this guide we will be assuming an English Speaker from the USA.

Networking

No matter how many network interfaces you have on the system disconnect all of them but the primary network one. This will simplify identifying which is which latter.

Server Information

Partition Information

Because this guide was developed on a Virtual System we have limited disk space so we will be making smaller choices in the pictures than we would recommend in real life. Please choice sizes that make more sense for your installation.

Other Server Information

Server Name will be : ebox

User Full Name : user #FIXME - Should be eBox Administrator Full Name in pictures and here.

User Name : user #FIXME - Should be eBoxAdministrator in pictures and here.

User Password AGoodPassword - will be displayed as ****

eBox HTTPS Port: 443

Checking ISO Image Integrity

When downloading an ISO image you should check that the file you have downloaded is correct before burning the image into a CD or DVD ROM. We need to download the corresponding MD5 file for the ISO file we have. If the md5sum command doesn't match, download both files again.

% ls
ebox_installer-1.0-1.iso  ebox_installer-1.0-1.iso.md5
% md5sum -c ebox_installer-1.0-1.iso.md5
ebox_installer-1.0-1.iso: OK

Now we are ready to burn the image.

Installing eBox Platform

General settings

You should check that your server is configured to boot up from the CD or DVD ROM unit otherwise the installer won't start. Most of the times this is the default behavior but if it doesn't check your hardware vendor documentation. This is set in the BIOS of your computer.

The first screen that appears lets us choose the installer language. Just press Enter to select English or move with the arrows to select the desired language.

On the main screen we can do 5 different actions:

• Install eBox Platform (Selected by default, this is the option we will select)
• Check CD for defects (We can use this option to check that the image was properly burned)
• Rescue a broken system (We will use this option to rescue the system if we have a fatal error)
• Test memory (The installer includes a memory tester application, we should check our server memory if it does random weird things)
• Boot from first hard disk (We will use this option to boot the system if we have a boot loader fatal error)

The next step is to choose your system language:

We will select English.

The next step is to chose your system Localization:

We will select United States. #FIXME (The picture showes 'Ireland')

After that we will have to choose the keyboard layout, the installer can auto detect it or we can select it by hand, we prefer to do it this way:

First where it asks us Detect keyboard layout?.

We will select No

Where it next asks for The origin of the keyboard:.

We will then select USA.

Where it asks for the Keyboard layout:.

We will again select USA

Then the installer begins to load all the components.

Network configuration

And now it is time for the network configuration. We should select the interface connected to the network which are going to access the server through, usually the internal network, configuration for other interfaces will come later. If we don't have already a DHCP server on our network it will ask for the IP address, network mask, gateway and DNS server.

Select the network interface. Usually if only one network cable is installed you will only have one option. In this case we have three to choose from, we select the one that is connected to the internal LAN.

Please note that the text after the ":" will be based on your hardware not what we have installed here for this trial.

Where it asks for Primary network interface:.

We will will select eth0:

Next then the installer asks us for a hostname: for the machine.

We will type in ebox.

#FIXME RAID

Partitioning

Probably this is the most complex step and where you have to make more choices but this is also very important for your server future. Our install will be using LVM (Linux Volume Manager) and the partition scheme we recommend would be something like:

Partition	Size	Format	Mount Point	Comments
1	8GB	ext3	/	System Volume, Fixed Size
2	MAX	ext3		LVM - Dynamic Size
2a LVM	1GB	swap		Virtual Memory, Dynamic Size
2b LVM	20G	XFS	/var	General storage for all the modules but file sharing, dynamic size
2c LVM	20G	XFS	/home	File Sharing Storage
2d LVM	20G	XFS	/var/vmail	E-Mailbox storage
2e LVM				Free space on LVM for snapshots

Having a dedicated volume for /home and /var/vmail will depend on your needs but we strongly suggest it if you are going to use eBox as a file sharing server or as a mail server. The other services (Users and Groups databases, Certification Authority, eGroupware, Asterisk voicemail, etc.) and log files and databases are stored in /var so you should choose the partition size for the /var volume according to your number of users and their needs.

We shouldn't forget to leave some free space on the LVM volume in order to create the snapshots used for safe upgrades. This size usually should be around 2G but probably you will need more if you want to make snapshots on data partitions volumes, in that case 2G+15% of your other volumes size should be OK.

/boot

That's why we will choose Manual partitioning.

The Installer displays a summary of the disks and partitions we currently have on the system next. Sense this picture is from a virtual install we only have a 8.6 GB virtual hard disk.

We will move the highlighted area over the line that says: pri/log 8.6 GB FREE SPACE.

We select it by hitting Enter.

That will mark this area as marked and partitioned. The next few steps will be to configure the /boot partition, marking it as a primary partitions and placing it at the beginning of the hard disk

So where it asked us How to use this free space:

We Select Create a new partition.

We will select 256M here, but you should select ???? or the correct size you need for /boot.

Where it asks us for the New partition size:.

We type in 256M.

Where it asks us Type for the new partition:.

We Select Primary.

Where it asks us Location for he new partition:

We select Beginning

Where it asks us Partition settings. We should be able to accept all but two of the defaults, and they should be: The file system should be ext3, the mount point is /boot, leave the other settings as their defaults.

So where under Partition settings is says Use as:.

We should select Ext3 journaling file system

So where under Partition settings it says Mount point.

We should select /boot.

And this is the state after creating the system partition:

So we select Done setting up the partition.

Logical Volume Manager

The steps now will be the same as before, creating the partition with the maximum size, but on the last one will have to change the defaults:

Select the FREE SPACE.

Select Create a new partition.

Next we select the maximum size we can for the LVM partition. Our example will be using 8.3 GB, you should select max, or perhaps the default will be the max.

Select Primary

Here you must move to the Use as: field, and hit Enter and select the Physical volume for LVM. Leave the rest of the settings at their default values.

This is what you see after you selected Use as: field and hit Enter move down to and select the Physical volume for LVM.

Now we are done with this partition. So we select Done setting up the partition.

Select Configure the Logical Volume Manager:

Now the partition needs to be put on disk.

Where it asks Write the changes to disks and configure LVM?

We select Yes, and wait a little while.

Logical Volume Group

Now we have to create a volume group.

Where it says LVM configuration action:

We select Create volume group.

Now we give the volume group a name.

Where it says Volume group name:

We will type in ebox.

Now we select the devices for the new volume group. We only have one device, so that is what we select.

Where it says Devices for the new volume group: We highlight the only disk we have.

Then we select Continue.

Logical Volumes

Now with the LVM setup we can create the logical volumes for every partition we want, usually that would probably be /root, swap, /var, /home and /var/vmail. But for this guide we will only do /root, swap and /var.

Next we see the Summary of current LVM configuration: with the current summary.

Where it says LVM configuration action:

We will select the Create logical volume

Next we have to select the volume group where the new logical volume will be created. We have only one choice ebox.

Where it says Volume group:

We select ebox, our only choice.

So now we have to name the new logical volume, this one will be root.

Where it says Logical volume name:

We will type in root.

Now we enter the size of the new logical volume, we select 4G.

Where it says Logical volume size:

We will type in 4g.

We have to repeat the last 2 steps and create the following logical volumes

Name	Size
swap	536.9M
var	2.1G

Now we are done with creating the logical volumes...

So where it says LVM configuration action:

We select Finish.

This is what our partitions now look like,

Partition	Phy/Log	Size	File System	Comments
1 /boot	Phy Partion	255MB	ext3
2	Log V Group	8.3 GB	lvm	Volume Group
2a root	Log Volume	4.3 GB		/root in the LVM
2b swap	Log Volume	536.9 MB		swap in the LVM
2c var	Log Volume	2.1 GB		/var in the LVM

Now we will put the file system on the root logical volume

Select the line that says #1 4.2GB

Now we will tell it what file system we want on it.

We select Use as:

Now we will select the file system we want.

Select Ext3 journaling file system.

Now we will mark it and go to the next one.

Select Done setting up the partition.

We have to do the same things for swap and /var only the file systems will be different.

This is what our partitions now look like,

Partition	Phy/Log	Size	File System	Comments
1 /boot	Phy Partion	255MB	ext3
2	Log V Group	8.3 GB	lvm	Volume Group
2a root	Log Volume	4.3 GB	ext3	/ in the LVM
2b swap	Log Volume	536.9 MB	swap	swap in the LVM
2c var	Log Volume	2.1 GB	xfs	/var in the LVM

Now we have configured the file system we want to write it to the disk.

Select Finish partitioning and write changes to disk.

It checks to make sure that your done.

Where it says Write the changes to disks?

Select Yes

We are done with the storage sub-system at this point.

Setup the eBox Administrators Account

Where it asks Full name for the new user:

We will type in the eBox administrators full name.

We will type in user #FIXME - Should be eBox Administrator Full Name

Where it asks Username for the new user:

We will type in the eBox administrators username.

We will type in user #FIXME - Should be eBoxAdministrator

Where it asks Choose a password for the new user:

We will type in the eBox administrators password.

We will type in AGoodPassword - will be displayed as *************

Where it asks Re-enter password to verify:

We will type in the eBox administrators password again.

We will type in AGoodPassword - will be displayed as *************, again

At this point it will install the software from the CD or DVD and it may take a while....

System Clock

At this point we have to tell the Operating System whether the system clock is set to normal time or to Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. If you plan to use Network Time Protocol (NTP) for setting the time and keeping it accurate, then this is needed.

Where it asks Is the system clock set to UTC?

Select Yes.

The Ubuntu installation is complete so now you just have to remove the CD or DVD and reboot the system. But first we have to configure some things for eBox.

Select Continue

eBox Web Interface Setup

Now we have to set two values for the eBox Web Interface and then we can reboot.

Web Interface Password

We need a password for the Web Interface.

Where it says eBox administrator password:

Type in AGoodPassword

Where it says Confirm password:

Type in AGoodPassword

Now we have to configure the port that the eBox Web server listens on.

Where it says eBox HTTPS port:

Type in 443 or accept the default and select <Ok>

Once the above is done the server will shutdown and reboot.

presenting you with a console login prompt.

The password is the one for the eBox Administrator, not the one for the eBox Web Interface.