Chapter 2. Installation

Table of Contents

The simple way - Installation of pre-built packages
Installing the RPM on a SUSE Linux server
Installing OTRS on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux or CentOS system
Installing OTRS on a Debian system
Installing OTRS on a Ubuntu system
Installing OTRS on Microsoft Windows systems
Installation from source (Linux, Unix)
Preparing the installation from source
Installation of Perl modules
Configuring the Apache web server
Configuring the database
Setting up the cron jobs for OTRS
The simple way - Using the web installer (works only with MySQL)
Upgrading the OTRS Framework
Upgrading Windows Installer
Additional applications
FAQ

This chapter describes the installation and basic configuration of the central OTRS framework. It covers information on installing OTRS from source, or with a binary package such as an RPM or a Windows exectuable.

Topics covered here include configuration of the web and database servers, the interface between OTRS and the database, the installation of additional Perl modules, setting proper access rights for OTRS, setting up the cron jobs for OTRS, and some basic settings in the OTRS configuration files.

Follow the detailed steps in this chapter to install OTRS on your server. You can then use its web interface to login and administer the system.

The simple way - Installation of pre-built packages

If available for your platform you should use pre-built packages to install OTRS, since it is the simplest and most convenient method. You can find them in the download area at http://www.otrs.com . The following sections describe the installation of OTRS with a pre-built or binary package on SUSE, Red Hat and Microsoft Windows systems. Only if you are unable to use the pre-built packages for some reason should you follow the manual process.

Installing the RPM on a SUSE Linux server

This section describes the installation of our RPM package on a SUSE Linux server. We have tested against all recent SLES and openSUSE versions. Before you start the installation, please visit http://www.otrs.com/downloads and make sure you use the latest OTRS RPM package available.

Preparing the database for OTRS

You can use OTRS using different database back-ends: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server. The most popular database to deploy OTRS on is MySQL. This chapter shows the steps you need to take to configure MySQL on a SUSE-based server. Of course you can install the database on a dedicated database server if needed for scalability or other purposes.

Note

If you follow this chapter on openSUSE 12.3 and up you'll actually not install MySQL but MariaDB instead, a MySQL compatible fork of the MySQL code. This is no problem, it will work just as well (and even a little better at some points).

Install MySQL by executing the following command as root:

        linux:~ # zypper install mysql perl-DBD-mysql
    

This will install MySQL with the default options on your system. You'll need to change the defaults in order to make it suitable for OTRS. With a text editor open the file /etc/my.cnf and change the line with max_allowed_packet on it, and add a line below, like this:

        max_allowed_packet = 16M
        query_cache_size = 32M
    

Now execute rcmysql restart to re-start the database server and activate these changes. Then run /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation and follow the on-screen instructions to set a database root password, remove anonymous access and remove the test database. Lastly, run chkconfig -a mysql in order to make sure mysql is automatically started at server startup time.

Installing OTRS

Install OTRS with via the command line using zypper. This will also pull in some dependencies such as the apache web server and some Perl modules. Make sure you copied the OTRS RPM file to the current directory.

otrs-sles:~ # zypper install otrs-3.2.*.rpm
....
Retrieving package otrs-3.2.3-01.noarch (1/26), 17.5 MiB (74.3 MiB unpacked)
Installing: otrs-3.2.3-01 [done]
Additional rpm output:
Check OTRS user ... otrs added.

Next steps:

[start database and Apache]
 Make sure your database is running and execute 'rcapache2 restart'.

[install the OTRS database]
 Use a webbrowser and open this link:
 http://myserver.example.com/otrs/installer.pl

[OTRS services]
 Start OTRS 'rcotrs start-force' (rcotrs {start|stop|status|restart|start-force|                                                                                                                     stop-force}).

((enjoy))

 Your OTRS Team
 http://otrs.org/

otrs-sles:~ #
    

Script: Command to install OTRS.

The OTRS installation is done. Start your web server to load the OTRS specific changes in its configuration, as shown in the script below. Also run chkconfig to make sure OTRS is automatically started when the server reboots.

otrs-sles:~ # chkconfig -a apache2
apache2                   0:off  1:off  2:off  3:on   4:off  5:on   6:off
otrs-sles:~ # rcapache2 start
Starting httpd2 (prefork) httpd2-prefork: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 10.x.x.x for ServerName
                                                                                                                                                                                          done
otrs-sles:~ #

Script: Starting the web server.

Installation of additional perl modules

OTRS needs some more modules than can be installed by the RPM. You can post-install them manually. You can check what modules you are missing by running the bin/otrs.CheckModules.pl script located in the /opt/otrs directory. Some modules are only needed for optional functionality, such as communication with IMAP(S) servers or PDF generation. On SLES you should add an external repository to the zypper configuration in order to get the modules needed for your system. Choose the module needed for your OS version from here: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/languages:/perl/. Add the repository like this for SLES 11 SP2:

            zypper ar -f -n perl http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/languages:/perl/SLE_11_SP2 Perl
        

On openSUSE 12.3 the extra repository is only needed for the Mail::IMAPClient module, which you'd only need if you need to collect mails from an IMAP server secured with TLS. The corresponding line would look like this:

            zypper ar -f -n perl http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/languages:/perl/openSUSE_12.3/ Perl
        

The first time you use zypper after you added this repository, you will be prompted to add its key. Now you can install missing modules like below.

otrs-sles:/opt/otrs # zypper install -y "perl(YAML::LibYAML)"
Refreshing service 'susecloud'.
Retrieving repository 'perl' metadata [\]

New repository or package signing key received:
Key ID: DCCA98DDDCEF338C
Key Name: devel:languages:perl OBS Project <devel:languages:perl@build.opensuse.org>
Key Fingerprint: 36F0AC0BCA9D8AF2871703C5DCCA98DDDCEF338C
Key Created: Wed Oct 10 22:04:18 2012
Key Expires: Fri Dec 19 22:04:18 2014
Repository: perl

Do you want to reject the key, trust temporarily, or trust always? [r/t/a/?] (r): a
Retrieving repository 'perl' metadata [done]
Building repository 'perl' cache [done]
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
'perl(YAML::LibYAML)' not found in package names. Trying capabilities.
Resolving package dependencies...

The following NEW package is going to be installed:
  perl-YAML-LibYAML

The following package is not supported by its vendor:
  perl-YAML-LibYAML

Retrieving package perl-YAML-LibYAML-0.38-12.4.x86_64 (1/1), 75.0 KiB (196.0 KiB unpacked)
Retrieving: perl-YAML-LibYAML-0.38-12.4.x86_64.rpm [done (55.7 KiB/s)]
Installing: perl-YAML-LibYAML-0.38-12.4 [done]
        

The next step is to configure OTRS using the web installer, as described in this section.

Installing OTRS on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux or CentOS system

This section describes the installation of our RPM package on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or CentOS server. We ship separate RPMs for versions 5 and 6 of RHEL and CentOS. Before you start the installation, please visit http://www.otrs.com/downloads and make sure you use the latest OTRS RPM package available.

Preparing the database for OTRS

You can use OTRS using different database back-ends: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server. The most popular database to deploy OTRS on is MySQL. This chapter shows the steps you need to take to configure MySQL on a SUSE-based server. Of course you can install the database on a dedicated database server if needed for scalability or other purposes.

Install MySQL by executing the following command as root:

        [root@otrs-centos6 ~]# yum -y install mysql-server
    

This will install MySQL with the default options on your system. You'll need to change the defaults in order to make it suitable for OTRS. With a text editor open the file /etc/my.cnf and add the next two lines under the [mysqld] section:

        max_allowed_packet=16M
        query_cache_size=32M
    

Now execute service mysqld start to re-start the database server and activate these changes. Then run /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation and follow the on-screen instructions to set a database root password, remove anonymous access and remove the test database. Lastly, run chkconfig mysqld on in order to make sure mysql is automatically started at server startup time.

Installing OTRS

Install OTRS with via the command line using yum. This will also pull in some dependencies such as the apache web server and some Perl modules. Make sure you copied the OTRS RPM file to the current directory.

[root@otrs-centos6 ~]# yum install --nogpgcheck otrs-3.2.*.rpm
...
Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================
 Package                    Arch   Version                Repository       Size
================================================================================
Installing:
 otrs                       noarch 3.2.3-01               /otrs-3.2.3-01.noarch
                                                                           74 M
Installing for dependencies:
 apr                        x86_64 1.3.9-5.el6_2          updates         123 k
 ...
 procmail                   x86_64 3.22-25.1.el6          base            163 k

Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install      26 Package(s)

Total size: 80 M
Total download size: 6.0 M
Installed size: 88 M
Downloading Packages:
(1/25): apr-1.3.9-5.el6_2.x86_64.rpm                     | 123 kB     00:00
...
(25/25): procmail-3.22-25.1.el6.x86_64.rpm               | 163 kB     00:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                           887 kB/s | 6.0 MB     00:06
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
  Installing : apr-1.3.9-5.el6_2.x86_64                               1/26
  ...
  Installing : otrs-3.2.3-01.noarch                                   26/26
Check OTRS user ... otrs added.

Next steps:

[httpd services]
 Restart httpd 'service httpd restart'

[install the OTRS database]
 Make sure your database server is running.
 Use a web browser and open this link:
 http://myserver.example.com/otrs/installer.pl

[OTRS services]
 Start OTRS 'service otrs start' (service otrs {start|stop|status|restart).

((enjoy))

 Your OTRS Team

Installed:
  otrs.noarch 0:3.2.3-01

Dependency Installed:
  ...

Complete!
[root@otrs-centos6 ~]#
    

Script: Command to install OTRS.

The OTRS installation is now done. Now you should make sure that Apache is started and that it starts whenever the server reboots.

[root@otrs-centos6 ~]# chkconfig httpd on
[root@otrs-centos6 ~]# service httpd start
Starting httpd: httpd: Could not reliably determine the server's fully qualified domain name, using 10.x.x.x for ServerName [  OK  ]
[root@otrs-centos6 ~]#

Script: Starting the web server.

Installation of additional perl modules

OTRS needs some more modules than can be installed by the RPM. You can post-install them manually. You can check what modules you are missing by running the bin/otrs.CheckModules.pl script located in the /opt/otrs directory. Some modules are only needed for optional functionality, such as communication with IMAP(S) servers or PDF generation. On Red Hat or CentOS we recommend installing these modules from the EPEL repository, a repository maintained by the Fedora project, which provides high quality packages for RHEL and derivatives. Check for more information the EPEL web site.

If you're on RHEL 6 or CentOS 6, you can get the latest package for EPEL from this site. You can add this repository to yum it in one go by copying the RPM URL you find on this page and executing this command:

 [root@otrs-centos6 otrs]# yum -y install http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/i386/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
Loaded plugins: security
Setting up Install Process
epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm                                   |  14 kB     00:00
Examining /var/tmp/yum-root-7jrJef/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm: epel-release-6-8.noarch
Marking /var/tmp/yum-root-7jrJef/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm to be installed
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package epel-release.noarch 0:6-8 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

=====================================================================================
 Package             Arch          Version     Repository                       Size
=====================================================================================
Installing:
 epel-release        noarch        6-8         /epel-release-6-8.noarch         22 k

Transaction Summary
=====================================================================================
Install       1 Package(s)

Total size: 22 k
Installed size: 22 k
Downloading Packages:
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
  Installing : epel-release-6-8.noarch                                           1/1
  Verifying  : epel-release-6-8.noarch                                           1/1

Installed:
  epel-release.noarch 0:6-8

Complete!
[root@otrs-centos6 otrs]#
        

The first time you use yum after you added this repository, you will be prompted to add its key. Now you can install missing modules like below.

[root@otrs-centos6 otrs]# yum -y install "perl(Text::CSV_XS)"
Loaded plugins: security
Setting up Install Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package perl-Text-CSV_XS.x86_64 0:0.85-1.el6 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

=====================================================================================
 Package                   Arch            Version               Repository     Size
=====================================================================================
Installing:
 perl-Text-CSV_XS          x86_64          0.85-1.el6            epel           71 k

Transaction Summary
=====================================================================================
Install       1 Package(s)

Total download size: 71 k
Installed size: 154 k
Downloading Packages:
perl-Text-CSV_XS-0.85-1.el6.x86_64.rpm                        |  71 kB     00:00
warning: rpmts_HdrFromFdno: Header V3 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 0608b895: NOKEY
Retrieving key from file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6
Importing GPG key 0x0608B895:
 Userid : EPEL (6) <epel@fedoraproject.org>
 Package: epel-release-6-8.noarch (@/epel-release-6-8.noarch)
 From   : /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
  Installing : perl-Text-CSV_XS-0.85-1.el6.x86_64                                1/1
  Verifying  : perl-Text-CSV_XS-0.85-1.el6.x86_64                                1/1

Installed:
  perl-Text-CSV_XS.x86_64 0:0.85-1.el6

Complete!
[root@otrs-centos6 otrs]#
        

The next step is to configure OTRS using the web installer, as described in this section.

Installing OTRS on a Debian system

On the OTRS Wiki you can find detailed instructions for setting up OTRS on a Debian system: http://wiki.otrs.org/index.php?title=Installation_on_Debian_5.04_lenny .

Installing OTRS on a Ubuntu system

On the OTRS Wiki you can find detailed instructions for setting up OTRS on an Ubuntu system: http://wiki.otrs.org/index.php?title=Installation_on_Ubuntu_Lucid_Lynx_(10.4) .

Installing OTRS on Microsoft Windows systems

Installing OTRS on a Microsoft Windows system is very easy. Download the latest installer for Win32 from http://www.otrs.org/downloads/ and save the file to your local file system. Then simply double-click on the file to execute the installer, and follow the few installation steps to setup the system. After that you will be able to login as OTRS administrator and configure the system according to your needs. To log in as OTRS administrator use the user name 'root@localhost' and the default password 'root'.

Warning

Please change the password for the 'root@localhost' account as soon as possible.

Important

The Windows installer for OTRS contains all needed components for OTRS, i.e. the Apache web server, the MySQL database server, Perl (with all needed modules) and cron for Windows. For that reason you should only install OTRS on Windows systems that don't already have an installation of Apache or another web server, or a MySQL database installation.