Log the session, and check the success

util/install/native.sh

 #!/bin/bash
 ##
-## Installs the pre-requisites for running edX on a single Ubuntu 16.04
+## Installs the pre-requisites for running Open edX on a single Ubuntu 16.04
 ## instance.  This script is provided as a convenience and any of these
 ## steps could be executed manually.
 ##
@@ -23,6 +23,23 @@ if [[ `lsb_release -rs` != "16.04" ]]; then
 fi
 
 ##
+## Log what's happening
+##
+
+mkdir -p logs
+log_file=logs/install-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).log
+exec > >(tee $log_file) 2>&1
+echo "Capturing output to $log_file"
+echo "Installation started at $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')"
+
+function finish {
+    echo "Installation finished at $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')"
+}
+trap finish EXIT
+
+echo "Installing release '$OPENEDX_RELEASE'"
+
+##
 ## Set ppa repository source for gcc/g++ 4.8 in order to install insights properly
 ##
 sudo apt-get install -y python-software-properties
@@ -77,7 +94,7 @@ if [[ -f my-passwords.yml ]]; then
     EXTRA_VARS="-e@$(pwd)/my-passwords.yml $EXTRA_VARS"
 fi
 
-CONFIGURATION_VERSION=${CONFIGURATION_VERSION-${OPENEDX_RELEASE-master}}
+CONFIGURATION_VERSION=${CONFIGURATION_VERSION-$OPENEDX_RELEASE}
 
 ##
 ## Clone the configuration repository and run Ansible
@@ -98,3 +115,18 @@ sudo -H pip install -r requirements.txt
 ## Run the edx_sandbox.yml playbook in the configuration/playbooks directory
 ##
 cd /var/tmp/configuration/playbooks && sudo -E ansible-playbook -c local ./edx_sandbox.yml -i "localhost," $EXTRA_VARS "$@"
+ansible_status=$?
+
+if [[ $ansible_status -ne 0 ]]; then
+    echo " "
+    echo "========================================"
+    echo "Ansible failed!"
+    echo "----------------------------------------"
+    echo "If you need help, see https://open.edx.org/getting-help ."
+    echo "When asking for help, please provide as much information as you can."
+    echo "These might be helpful:"
+    echo "    Your log file is at $log_file"
+    echo "    Your environment:"
+    env | egrep -i 'version|release' | sed -e 's/^/        /'
+    echo "========================================"
+fi