If you have to install OTRS from source, first download the .tar.gz or
.tar.bz2 file with the sources from
http://www.otrs.org
please.
Unpack the archive for example with tar e.g. into the
directory /opt:
linux:/opt# tar xf /tmp/otrs-2.0.0.tar.gz
linux:/opt# ls
otrs
linux:/opt#
Because the modules of OTRS should not be executed with root rights, a new
user for OTRS will be added in the next step. The home directory of this
new user should be /opt/otrs. If your webserver is not
running with the same user rights like the new otrs users (this is the case
on most systems), you have to add the new otrs user to the group of the web
server user:
linux:/opt# useradd -d /opt/otrs/ -c 'OTRS user' otrs
linux:/opt# usermod -G nogroup otrs
linux:/opt#
Now some demo config files of OTRS have to be copied. The system will later
use the copied files. The files are located in
/opt/otrs/Kernel and
/opt/otrs/Kernel/Config and have the ending .dist.
linux:/opt# cd otrs/Kernel/
linux:/opt/otrs/Kernel# cp Config.pm.dist Config.pm
linux:/opt/otrs/Kernel# cd Config
linux:/opt/otrs/Kernel/Config# for foo in *.dist; do cp $foo `basename
$foo .dist`; done
linux:/opt/otrs/Kernel/Config#
The last step to prepare the installation of OTRS is to set the proper
access rights for the files of the ticket system. You can use the script
SetPermissions.sh, which is located in the
bin directory in the home directory of the OTRS user.
The script can be executed with the following parameters:
SetPermissions.sh {
Home directory of the OTRS user
} {
OTRS user
} {
Web server user
} [
Group of the OTRS user
] [
Group of the web server user
]
Is your web server running with the same user rights as OTRS, the command
to set the proper access rights is
SetPermissions.sh /opt/otrs otrs otrs. On SUSE systems
the web server is running with the user rights of wwwrun. You would use the
command SetPermissions.sh /opt/otrs otrs wwwrun to set
the proper access rights.
OTRS needs some additional per modules. If you install OTRS from source,
you'll have to install these modules manually. This can either be done with
the packagemanager of your distro (yast,
apt-get) or, like described in this section,
through the perl shell and CPAN.
OTRS requires the following additional perl modules:
Table 3-1. Needed perl modules for OTRS
|
Name
|
Description
|
|---|
|
CGI
|
This module is needed by the web interface of OTRS.
|
|
Date::Pcalc
|
This module is needed for date calculations. OTRS uses this module
for example in time specific calculations for tickets.
|
|
DBI
|
OTRS needs this module to connect to the database backend.
|
|
DBD::mysql
|
Module with special functions to connect to the MySQL
database backend.
|
|
Digest::MD5
|
This module makes it possible to use the md5 algorithm..
|
|
LWP::UserAgent
|
Module to process HTTP requests.
|
|
MIME::Base64
|
En- and decoding Base64 strings, e.g. for mail attachments.
|
|
MIME::Tools
|
This module provide some tools to process messages with MIME
parts.
|
|
Mail::Internet
|
This module makes it possible to process emails based on the
RFC 822 standard.
|
|
Net::DNS
|
Perl interface to the domain name system.
|
|
Net::POP3
|
This module contains procedures to access and process messages on a
POP3 server.
|
|
Net::LDAP
|
Perl interface to a LDAP directory. You only need to install this
module, if you want to use a LDAP back-end.
|
|
Net::SMTP
|
Module that contains procedures to send emails.
|
|
Authen::SASL
|
SASL authentication framework, e.g. needed for the
authentication against mailservers.
|
|
GD
|
Interface to the GD graphics library. You only need to install
this module, if you want to use the stats module in OTRS.
|
|
GD::Text, GD::Graph, GD::Graph::lines, GD::Text::Align
|
Some more text- and graphic tools for the GD graphics library. You
only need to install this modules, if you want to use the stats
module of OTRS.
|
|
XML::Parser
|
This module is needed to read and write xml configuration
files. The graphical configuration front-end of OTRS uses this
module.
|
|
PDF::API2, Compress::Zlib
|
This module are needed to generate the PDF output for reports, search results or for the ticket print view.
|
To install one of the modules from above with CPAN, you have to execute the
command perl -e shell -MCPAN. The perl shell will be
started in interactive mode and the CPAN module will be loaded. If CPAN is
already configured, you can install the modules with the command
install followed by the name of the module. CPAN takes
care of the dependencies of a module to other perl modules and lets you know,
if other modules are needed.
After you have installed all modules you can use the script
otrss.checkModules to check if OTRS has all needed perl
modules. The script is located in the bin
directory in the home directory of the OTRS user.
linux:~# cd /opt/otrs/bin/
linux:/opt/otrs/bin# ./otrs.checkModules
CGI ... ok
Date::Pcalc ... ok
Date::Format ... ok
DBI ... ok
DBD::mysql ... ok
Digest::MD5 ... ok
Crypt::PasswdMD5 ... ok
LWP::UserAgent ... ok
IO::Scalar ... ok
IO::Wrap ... ok
MIME::Base64 ... ok
MIME::Tools ... ok
Mail::Internet ... ok
Net::DNS ... ok
Net::POP3 ... ok
Net::LDAP ... ok
Net::SMTP ... ok
Authen::SASL ... ok
GD ... ok
GD::Text ... ok
GD::Graph ... ok
GD::Graph::lines ... ok
GD::Text::Align ... ok
XML::Parser ... ok
PDF::API2 ... not installed! (for PDF output - not required)
Compress::Zlib ... ok
linux:/opt/otrs/bin#
Execute also the two commands
perl -cw bin/cgi-bin/index.pl and
perl -cw bin/PostMaster.pl after changing into the
directory /opt/otrs. If the output of
both commands is "syntax OK", you have a proper perl installation to use
with OTRS.
linux:~# cd /opt/otrs
linux:/opt/otrs# perl -cw cgi-bin/installer.pl
cgi-bin/installer.pl syntax OK
linux:/opt/otrs# perl -cw PostMaster.pl
PostMaster.pl syntax OK
linux:/opt/otrs#
This section describes the basic configuration of the
apache web server for OTRS. The web server
should be able to execute CGI scripts. OTRS won't work if no perl scripts
can be parsed. Check the config files of your web server and search for the
line that loads the CGI module. If you see something like the following,
the CGI module should be in use.
LoadModule cgi_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_cgi.so
To access the web interface of OTRS comfortably via a short address, an
Alias and a ScriptAlias entry is needed. Most
apache installations have a
conf.d directory included. On linux systems you can
find this directory very often under /etc/apache or
/etc/apache2. Log in as root and change to the
conf.d directory and open/create a file called
otrs.conf. Insert the following lines into this file:
#
# Basic apache configuration file for OTRS
#
# agent, admin and customer frontend
#
ScriptAlias /otrs/ "/opt/otrs/bin/cgi-bin/"
Alias /otrs-web/ "/opt/otrs/var/httpd/htdocs/"
#
# Directory settings
#
<Directory "/opt/otrs/bin/cgi-bin/">
AllowOverride None
Options +ExecCGI -Includes
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>
<Directory "/opt/otrs/var/httpd/htdocs/">
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>
Save the file and restart your webserver to load the new config settings
for the web server. On most systems you can start/restart your webserver
with the command /etc/init.d/apache restart or
/etc/init.d/apache2 restart.
linux:/etc/apache2/conf.d# /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
Forcing reload of web server: Apache2.
linux:/etc/apache2/conf.d#
Now your webserver should be basicaly configured for OTRS.
If you are using MySQL for database back-end, you
can easily configure the OTRS database via a web front-end. Use the URL
http://localhost/otrs/installer.pl
to access the start page of the web installer. Just follow the few steps
through the installation process.
 |
It is never a good idea to use default passwords. Please change the default
password for the OTRS database!
|
If you can't use the web installer to setup the OTRS database, you have to
set it up manually. Scripts with the SQL statements to create and configure
the database are located in scripts/database in the
home directory of the OTRS user.
linux:~# cd /opt/otrs/scripts/database/
linux:/opt/otrs/scripts/database# ls
initial_insert.sapdb.sql otrs-schema-post.maxdb.sql
initial_insert.sql otrs-schema-post.mysql.sql
otrs-schema.maxdb.sql otrs-schema-post.oracle.sql
otrs-schema.mysql.sql otrs-schema-post.postgresql.sql
otrs-schema.oracle.sql otrs-schema.xml
otrs-schema.postgresql.sql
linux:/opt/otrs/scripts/database#
To setup the database for the different database back-ends the .sql files
must be processed in a special order.
Create the OTRS database manually step by step
Creating the DB: Create the database, that you want to use for OTRS, with
your database client or your database interface.
Creating the tables: With the otrs-schema.DatabaseType.sql files
(e.g.. otrs-schema.oracle.sql,
otrs-schema.postgresql.sql) you can create the tables
in your OTRS database.
Inserting the initial system data: OTRS needs some initial system data to
work properly (e.g. the different ticket states, ticket and
notification types). Depending on the type of your database Use either the file
initial_insert.sql or
initial_insert.sapdb.sql to insert the initial data.
Creating references between tables: The last step is to create the
references between the different tables in the OTRS database.
Use the otrs-schema-post.DatabaseType.sql files to create these
references (e.g. otrs-schema-oracle.post.sql,
otrs-schema-post.postgresql.sql).
After you have finished the database setup you should check and set proper
access rights for the OTRS database. It should be enough to grant access to
one user. Depending on the database server you are using setting up the
access rights differs, but it should be possible either with your database
client or your graphical database front-end.
If your database and the access rights are configured properly, you have
to tell OTRS which database back-end you want to use and how the ticket
system can connect to the database. Open the file
Kernel/Config.pm in the home directory of the OTRS
user and change the following parameters to your needs:
# Database
# (The database name.)
$Self->{Database} = 'otrs';
# DatabaseUser
# (The database user.)
$Self->{DatabaseUser} = 'otrs';
# DatabasePw
# (The password of database user.)
$Self->{DatabasePw} = 'some-pass';
OTRS needs some cron jobs to work properly. The cron jobs should be run
with the same user rights that were specified for the OTRS modules. That
means that the cron jobs must be inserted into the crontab file of the OTRS
user.
All scripts with the cron jobs are located in
var/cron in the home directory of the OTRS user.
linux:~# cd /opt/otrs/var/cron
linux:/opt/otrs/var/cron# ls
aaa_base.dist pending_jobs.dist session.dist
fetchmail.dist postmaster.dist unlock.dist
generic_agent-database.dist postmaster_pop3.dist
generic_agent.dist rebuild_ticket_index.dist
linux:/opt/otrs/var/cron#
All scripts are ending in .dist. You should copy them to files with no ending.
linux:/opt/otrs/var/cron# for foo in `ls -1 *.dist` ; do cp $foo
`basename $foo .dist`; done
linux:/opt/otrs/var/cron# ls
aaa_base generic_agent.dist rebuild_ticket_index
aaa_base.dist pending_jobs
rebuild_ticket_index.dist
fetchmail pending_jobs.dist session
fetchmail.dist postmaster session.dist
generic_agent postmaster.dist unlock
generic_agent-database postmaster_pop3 unlock.dist
generic_agent-database.dist postmaster_pop3.dist
linux:/opt/otrs/var/cron#
The following table describes what the several scripts are doing and why
they are need to be a cron job for the OTRS user.
Table 3-2. Description of the several cron job scripts
|
Script
|
Function
|
|---|
|
aaa_base
|
This script sets the basics for the crontab of the OTRS user.
|
|
fetchmail
|
If new mails shell be fetched with fetchmail into the ticket
system, this script can be used.
|
|
generic_agent
|
This script executes the jobs of the GenericAgent that are not
stored in the database but in own config files.
|
|
generic_agent-database
|
This script executes the jobs of the GenericAgent that are stored
in the database.
|
|
pending_jobs
|
This script checks the system for waiting (pending) tickets.
|
|
postmaster
|
This script checks the message queue of the ticket system and
delivers messages that are still in the queues.
|
|
postmaster_pop3
|
This script fetches the mails from the POP3 accounts that were
specified in the admin area in the section for
"PostMaster POP3 Account".
|
|
rebuild_ticket_index
|
This script rebuilds the ticket index. That improves the speed of
the QueueView.
|
|
session
|
This script removes old and not longer needed session ID's.
|
|
unlock
|
This script unlocks tickets in the system.
|
To setup all cron jobs the script bin/Cron.sh can be
used, which is located in the home directory of the OTRS user. the script
needs a parameter when it is executed that tells if you like to install,
remove or reinstall the cron jobs. The following parameters can be used:
Cron.sh {
start
} {
stop
} {
restart
} [
OTRS user
]
Because the cron jobs need to be installed in the crontab file of the OTRS
user, you need to be logged in as OTRS user. If you are logged in as root,
you can change to the OTRS user with the command
su otrs. Execute the following command to install the
cronjobs:
|
Please note that other crontab entries of the OTRS user will be overwritten
or removed by the Cron.sh script. Please change the
Cron.sh script to keep also other crontab entries.
|
linux:/opt/otrs/var/cron# cd /opt/otrs/bin/
linux:/opt/otrs/bin# su otrs
linux:~/bin$ ./Cron.sh start
Cron.sh - start/stop OTRS cronjobs - <$Revision: 1.10 $>
Copyright (c) 2002 Martin Edenhofer <martin@otrs.org>
(using /opt/otrs) done
linux:~/bin$ exit
exit
linux:/opt/otrs/bin#
the command crontab -l -u otrs, which can be executed as
root, shows you the crontab file of the OTRS user and you can check if all
entries are right:
linux:/opt/otrs/bin# crontab -l -u otrs
# --
# cron/aaa_base - base crontab package
# Copyright (C) 2002-2003 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# Who gets the cron emails?
MAILTO="root@localhost"
# --
# cron/fetchmail - fetchmail cron of the OTRS
# Copyright (C) 2002-2003 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# fetch every 5 minutes emails via fetchmail
#*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/fetchmail -a >> /dev/null
# --
# cron/generic_agent - GenericAgent.pl cron of the OTRS
# Copyright (C) 2002-2003 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# --
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# start generic agent every 20 minutes
*/20 * * * * $HOME/bin/GenericAgent.pl >> /dev/null
# example to execute GenericAgent.pl on 23:00 with
# Kernel::Config::GenericAgentMove job file
#0 23 * * * $HOME/bin/GenericAgent.pl -c "Kernel::Config::GenericAgentMove" >> /dev/null
# --
# cron/generic_agent - GenericAgent.pl cron of the OTRS
# Copyright (C) 2001-2004 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# --
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# start generic agent every 10 minutes
*/10 * * * * $HOME/bin/GenericAgent.pl -c db >> /dev/null
# --
# cron/pending_jobs - pending_jobs cron of the OTRS
# Copyright (C) 2002-2003 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# --
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# check every 120 min the pending jobs
45 */2 * * * $HOME/bin/PendingJobs.pl >> /dev/null
# --
# cron/postmaster - postmaster cron of the OTRS
# Copyright (C) 2002-2003 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# --
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# check daily the spool directory of OTRS
#10 0 * * * * test -e /etc/init.d/otrs & /etc/init.d/otrs cleanup >> /dev/null; test -e /etc/rc.d/init.d/otrs && /etc/rc.d/init.d/otrs cleanup >> /dev/null
10 0 * * * $HOME/bin/otrs.cleanup >> /dev/null
# --
# cron/postmaster_pop3 - postmaster_pop3 cron of the OTRS
# Copyright (C) 2002-2003 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# --
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# fetch emails every 10 minutes
*/10 * * * * $HOME/bin/PostMasterPOP3.pl >> /dev/null
# --
# cron/rebuild_ticket_index - rebuild ticket index for OTRS
# Copyright (C) 2002-2003 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# just every day
01 01 * * * $HOME/bin/RebuildTicketIndex.pl >> /dev/null
# --
# cron/session - delete old session ids of the OTRS
# Copyright (C) 2001-2004 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# delete every 120 minutes old/idle session ids
55 */2 * * * $HOME/bin/DeleteSessionIDs.pl --expired >> /dev/null
# --
# cron/unlock - unlock old locked ticket of the OTRS
# Copyright (C) 2002-2003 Martin Edenhofer <martin+code@otrs.org>
# --
# $Id: installation-and-basic-configuration.xml,v 1.10 2006/09/07 13:15:07 cs Exp $
# This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
# --
# unlock every hour old locked tickets
35 * * * * $HOME/bin/UnlockTickets.pl --timeout >> /dev/null
linux:/opt/otrs/bin#
