Install on SELinux with Apache HTTP Server

This step-by-step guide outlines the main steps for the WebSpellChecker Server installation on a Security-Enhanced Linux with Apache HTTP Server. In this guide we will come through the whole installation process from downloading installation packages to embedding spell/grammar checking functionality to your web-based system.

Before you begin:

1. Check if your environment configuration meets:

   1. WebSpellChecker Server System Requirements

   2. WebSpellChecker Server Hardware Requirements

2. Acknowledge with WebSpellChecker Server Architecture Diagram.

3. Do you have a valid license?

   First of all you need to get a valid License Ticket ID to proceed with the license activation. Depending on the server license type, it may be a commercial (e.g. 1 year) or a 30-day trial license. Except the validity period, there is no difference between ticket types from the technical perspective.

   Good to know:

   • If you do not have a license yet, you can obtain it using one of the following ways:

     • request a 30-day trial license for evaluation and testing purposes;

     • acquire a commercial license by contacting our sales department.

   • Starting from v5.8.1 released on December 30, 2020, the license is no longer validated by or tied to the hardware characteristics of a machine or server. License for older versions of the packages is hardware-dependent.

   • If you are migrating WebSpellChecker from one server to another, you will need to deactivate (detach) a license on the current server and then reactivate it on a new one. Check carefully the Migrating License to New Server guide under the Licensing section.

   • If you have problems with your license, contact us.

1. Install WebSpellChecker

For detailed installation requirements, refer to Installing WebSpellChecker v5.14+ on Linux with Apache HTTP Server guide.

2. Configure WebSpellChecker on SELinux

Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) defines the access and transition rights of every user, application, process, and file on the system. SELinux manages the interactions of these entities using a security policy that specifies how strict or lenient a given Red Hat Enterprise/CentOS Linux installation should be.

The default installation of the WebSpellChecker Server package is not intended for such a secured environment. It requires additional configuration steps from your side. Once the default installation has been performed, you can proceed with the SELinux configuration as described in this section.

2.1. Define security context for WebSpellChecker Server. To do so, specify the appropriate security context for all the files inside the installation directory using the following command:

sudo /sbin/restorecon -R -v /<WebSpellChecker_Installation_Dir>/WSC

restorecon command sets files security context. Read more about SELinux/restorecon. -R option changes files and directory file labels recursively. -v option defines where the changes will take place, e.g. all the files under /<WebSpellChecker_Installation_Dir>/WSC will be changed.

2.2. Allow network connection. To do so, allow Apache HTTP Server scripts and modules to connect to the network by setting a SELinux boolean to a given value.

sudo /usr/sbin/setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect=1

setsebool command allows setting a SELinux boolean value. Read more about SELinux/setsebool. httpd_can_network_connect allows HTTPD scripts and modules to connect to the network. -P option saves all pending values on the disk. Without -P option, only the current boolean value would be affected. After the reboot, it will be reverted.