Chapter 2. Installation

Table of Contents

The simple way - Installation of pre-built packages
Installing the RPM on a SUSE Linux server
Preparing the database for OTRS
Installing OTRS
Installation of additional perl modules
Installing OTRS on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux or CentOS system
Preparing the database for OTRS
Installing OTRS
Installation of additional perl modules
Installation of Oracle database driver on Red Hat / CentOS
Installing OTRS on a Debian or Ubuntu system
Installation from source (Linux, Unix)
Using the web installer
OTRS on Windows
How to migrate existing Windows installations to Linux
Introduction and preparation
Get OTRSCloneDB script to clone databases
Enable remote access for the postgresql database of target system
Stop OTRS services
Drop the existing database of your target system to have an empty database for the clone data
Get the postgresql password of your database
Clone your database into the target system
Copy the following files from your windows based system to the target system
Reinstall all packages
Disable remote access for the postgresql database of your target system
Start OTRS services
Upgrading OTRS from 3.3 to 4
Additional applications
FAQ

Abstract

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.

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 and Red Hat 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=20M
        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-3.3.*.rpm
....
Retrieving package otrs-3.3.3-01.noarch (1/26), 17.5 MiB (74.3 MiB unpacked)
Installing: otrs-3.3.3-01 [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. For OTRS 3.3 and up, RHEL 6 or CentOS 6 is a requirement, version 5 is not supported. 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 RHEL-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=20M
        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-3.3.*.rpm
...
Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================
 Package                    Arch   Version                Repository       Size
================================================================================
Installing:
 otrs                       noarch 3.3.3-01               /otrs-3.3.3-01.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-3.3.3-01.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 0:3.3.3-01

Dependency Installed:
  ...

Complete!
[root@otrs-centos6 ~]#
    

Script: Command to install OTRS.

The OTRS installation is complete. 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.

Installation of Oracle database driver on Red Hat / CentOS

If you want to deploy OTRS on an Oracle database, you'll need to compile and install the DBD::Oracle database driver. This is slightly more complicated than installing any of the other packages; this is because Oracle is a proprietary database and Red Hat nor the CentOS project are allowed to distribute drivers in their RPM repositories.

First of all, we'd need to install gcc, make and CPAN so we can compile and install the driver. Below you see the command on CentOS; on other versions it might look a little different.

[root@otrs-centos6 otrs]# yum -y install gcc make "perl(CPAN)"
        

The next step is to obtain and install the database client. For this you would need to sign up for a free account at the Oracle website. You can download the drivers from this page: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/features/instant-client/index-097480.html Please choose the Linux x86 or x86-64 version corresponding to the architecture of your system. You can check this with the uname -i. It is either 'x86_64' for x86-64 or 'i386' for x86. You should download the packages 'Instant Client Package - Basic', 'Instant Client Package - SQL*Plus', and 'Instant Client Package - SDK'. Save them to a location on your disk. Now as the root user you can install the packages using the following command:

[root@otrs-centos6 otrs]# yum install oracle-instantclient*
        

After this you should set two environment variables and compile the DBD::Oracle driver. Again, perform these tasks as the root user. The steps are outlined below. Please note that for briefness some lines outputted by the commands have been removed.

[root@otrs-centos6 otrs]# export ORACLE_HOME=/usr/lib/oracle/11.2/client64
[root@otrs-centos6 otrs]# export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib
[root@otrs-centos6 otrs]# cpan
cpan[1]> look DBD::Oracle
...
Fetching with LWP:
  http://www.perl.org/CPAN/authors/id/P/PY/PYTHIAN/CHECKSUMS
Checksum for /root/.cpan/sources/authors/id/P/PY/PYTHIAN/DBD-Oracle-1.62.tar.gz ok
Scanning cache /root/.cpan/build for sizes
DONE
...
Working directory is /root/.cpan/build/DBD-Oracle-1.62-ZH6LNy
[root@localhost DBD-Oracle-1.62-ZH6LNy]# perl Makefile.PL
...
[root@localhost DBD-Oracle-1.62-ZH6LNy]# make
...
[root@localhost DBD-Oracle-1.62-ZH6LNy]# make install
...
cpan[2]> exit
Terminal does not support GetHistory.
Lockfile removed.
        

Now you should edit the file Kernel/Config.pm to provide ORACLE_HOME. The next step is to configure OTRS using the web installer, as described in this section.

Installing OTRS on a Debian or Ubuntu system

Important

Please install OTRS from source, and do not use the OTRS packages that Debian/Ubuntu provides.

The installation of required Perl modules is easier if you use the available packages:

apt-get install libapache2-mod-perl2 libdbd-mysql-perl libtimedate-perl libnet-dns-perl \
    libnet-ldap-perl libio-socket-ssl-perl libpdf-api2-perl libdbd-mysql-perl libsoap-lite-perl \
    libgd-text-perl libtext-csv-xs-perl libjson-xs-perl libgd-graph-perl libapache-dbi-perl