Are you looking for a reliable and efficient ticketing system for your help desk, call center, or IT service management team? Look no further than OTRS Community Edition. OTRS, which stands for “Open Source Trouble Ticket System,” is a free and open-source service management suite. It is written in the PERL programming language and uses MariaDB as a database backend. OTRS Community Edition offers an admin dashboard, agent portal, and customer portal, making it a versatile solution for managing and resolving customer inquiries and issues.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of installing OTRS Community Edition on Alma Linux 8. By following these steps, you’ll be able to set up OTRS and start streamlining your ticketing system efficiently.

Prerequisites

Before diving into the installation process, make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

1. A server running Alma Linux 8.
2. A root password configured on the server.

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies

To begin, we need to install the necessary dependencies for OTRS Community Edition. Start by installing the EPEL repository and enabling the Powertools repository:

dnf install epel-release -y
dnf config-manager --set-enabled powertools

Next, install the additional required dependencies:

dnf install gcc expat-devel procmail mod_perl perl perl-core sharutils -y

Step 2: Install Apache and MariaDB

OTRS requires both the Apache webserver and MariaDB database server. Install them using the following command:

dnf install httpd mariadb-server -y

After the installation is complete, start and enable both services:

systemctl start httpd mariadb
systemctl enable httpd mariadb

Step 3: Create Database for OTRS

To create a database for OTRS, you first need to secure the MariaDB installation and set the root password. Run the following command to secure MariaDB:

mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to set the root password and remove unnecessary access.

Once MariaDB is secured, log in to the MariaDB shell:

mysql -u root -p

Create a database and user for OTRS:

CREATE DATABASE otrs character set UTF8 collate utf8_bin;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON otrs.* TO 'otrs'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

Replace ‘password’ with a strong password of your choice.

Flush the privileges and exit the MariaDB shell:

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Next, edit the MariaDB configuration file:

nano /etc/my.cnf.d/mariadb-server.cnf

Add the following lines below the [mysqld] section:

max_allowed_packet=256M
character-set-server=utf8
collation-server=utf8_general_ci
innodb_buffer_pool_size=4G
innodb_log_file_size=1G

Save and close the file, then restart the MariaDB service:

systemctl restart mariadb

Step 4: Install OTRS

Now, it’s time to install OTRS. Start by creating a dedicated user for OTRS:

useradd otrs

Add the OTRS user to the Apache group:

usermod -G apache otrs

Download the latest version of OTRS:

wget https://otrscommunityedition.com/download/otrs-community-edition-6.0.33.zip

Unzip the downloaded file:

unzip otrs-community-edition-6.0.33.zip

Move the extracted directory to /opt:

mv otrs-community-edition-6.0.33 /opt/otrs

Check all the Perl modules required for OTRS:

perl /opt/otrs/bin/otrs.CheckModules.pl

Install any missing Perl modules listed in the output.

Step 5: Configure OTRS

Next, we need to configure OTRS. Start by renaming the configuration file:

cp /opt/otrs/Kernel/Config.pm.dist /opt/otrs/Kernel/Config.pm

Edit the configuration file:

nano /opt/otrs/Kernel/Config.pm

Find the following lines and update them with your database information:

$Self->{Database} = 'otrs';
$Self->{DatabaseUser} = 'otrs';
$Self->{DatabasePw} = 'password';

Replace ‘password’ with the password you set for the OTRS database user.

Save and close the file.

Edit the Apache Perl configuration file:

nano /opt/otrs/scripts/apache2-perl-startup.pl

Uncomment the following lines by removing the ‘#’ symbol at the beginning:

use DBD::mysql();
use Kernel::System::DB::mysql;

Save and close the file.

Verify the configuration files for any syntax errors:

perl -cw /opt/otrs/bin/cgi-bin/index.pl
perl -cw /opt/otrs/bin/cgi-bin/customer.pl
perl -cw /opt/otrs/bin/otrs.Console.pl

Set the proper permissions:

/opt/otrs/bin/otrs.SetPermissions.pl

Step 6: Configure Apache for OTRS

OTRS provides an Apache configuration file that allows you to access it over the internet. Copy it to the Apache configuration directory:

ln -s /opt/otrs/scripts/apache2-httpd.include.conf /etc/httpd/conf.d/otrs.conf

Restart the Apache service:

systemctl restart httpd

You can check the status of Apache to ensure it’s running:

systemctl status httpd

Step 7: Access OTRS Web Installer

Now, open your web browser and access the OTRS web installation wizard using your server’s IP address and the following URL: http://your-server-ip-address/otrs/installer.pl.

Follow the installation wizard, starting with the license terms acceptance. Provide the necessary information, such as the database settings and system configuration. Skip the email configuration, as it’s optional.

Once the installation is complete, you will be redirected to the OTRS login page. Enter your login credentials and click on the Login button.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed OTRS Community Edition on Alma Linux 8. You can now start using OTRS as a ticketing system to streamline your customer support and IT service management processes.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact Shape.host. Shape.host offers reliable and scalable Linux SSD VPS hosting solutions to empower businesses with efficient cloud hosting services.

Conclusion

OTRS Community Edition is a powerful and versatile ticketing system that can greatly enhance your organization’s customer support and IT service management capabilities. By following the installation steps outlined in this article, you can successfully set up OTRS on Alma Linux 8. With its intuitive interface and comprehensive features, OTRS will help you streamline your ticketing system and improve customer satisfaction. So why wait? Install OTRS Community Edition today and take your customer support to the next level!