Server Setup

Reference: https://docs.tutor.edly.io/gettingstarted.html

Ubuntu Server 24.04

• On NUC hardware, if there is a previous Windows install, use diskpart to clean the drive partitions.

• Install Ubuntu Server 24.04 according to Ubuntu Server Installation.

Docker Engine

Docker | Install Docker Engine

DNS

Update IPAM so that subdomains point to server.

• Add an alias for all sub-domains to the record for the server.

  • Open the record in IPAM.

  • Click on the EDIT button.

  • Click the NEXT button until reaching the ALIASES CONFIGURATION page.

  • Enter the *. sub-domain in the Name field, including the server name. For example, *.ece-openedx-01.

  • The Domain should be set to the same as for the server. For example, eng.uwaterloo.ca.

  • The Type should be set to CNAME.

  • Click the ADD button. The new alias should appear in the list of aliases.

  • It may take about 5 minutes for the DNS changes to propagate and be accessible from your local computer.

Python pip

Python venv

• Create the Python virtual environment.

  python3 -m venv openedx

• Activate the Python virtual environment.

  source openedx/bin/activate

Tutor

• Install Tutor:

  pip install "tutor[full]"

• Add current user to docker group:

  sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

• Logout and log back in.

• Start tutor:

  source openedx/bin/activate tutor local launch

• Enter parameters:

  Are you configuring a production platform? Type 'n' if you are just testing Tutor on your local computer [Y/n] Your website domain name for students (LMS) [www.myopenedx.com] ece-openedx-01.eng.uwaterloo.ca Your website domain name for teachers (CMS) [studio.ece-openedx-01.eng.uwaterloo.ca] Your platform name/title [My Open edX] ECE Open edX dev1 Your public contact email address [contact@ece-openedx-03.eng.uwaterloo.ca] d24lau@uwaterloo.ca The default language code for the platform [en] Activate SSL/TLS certificates for HTTPS access? Important note: this will NOT work in a development environment. [y/N]

• Test the OpenEdX LMS site.

  • Open a browser to the server address (e.g., http://ece-openedx-01.eng.uwaterloo.ca).

  • The OpenEdX welcome page should be displayed.

Open

• Test the OpenEdX CMS site.

  • Open a browser to the studio server address (e.g., http://studio.ece-openedx-01.eng.uwaterloo.ca).

  • The OpenEdX Studio welcome page should be displayed.

Open

Admin user

In order to create an administrator account on the OpenEdX server:

You will be asked to set the password interactively.

Creating first course

• Go to the OpenEdX CMS site (e.g. http://ece-openedx-01.eng.uwaterloo.ca).

• Login with the administrator account previously created.

• Click on the New course button.

• Enter the course information:

  • Course name: In general, use the course name from the UW Academic Calendar.

  • Organization: A short, all caps, abbreviation for the organization. For example, UW or ECE. CAUTION: The programming for this field is buggy. It interferes with the activation of the Create button. After typing in this field, use the mouse to click to the next field. Do not use the drop-down selection. Do not use the TAB key to move to the next field. Failure to follow this may result in the Create button not activating and it being impossible to click it. This requires restarting the new course creation page from scratch.

  • Course number: The course code, without spaces. For example, ECE106.

  • Course run: The year and term the course is being run. For example, 2025_1W.

• The Create button should activate (turn dark blue). Click the Create button.