Deploy SupportPal on Linux

Contents

Prerequisites
Installation & Configuration
Next Steps

Prerequisites

Ensure your system meets our system requirements.

We provide a convenience script to setup requirements for supported Linux distros:

Use at your own risk
The convenience script assumes use on a new server with no prior modifications.


curl -LsS https://raw.githubusercontent.com/supportpal/helpdesk-install/5.x/templates/linux/setup.sh | sudo bash

Installation & Configuration

Configure SSL Database Connection

If your database is stored on the same server as SupportPal or you're not sure how to implement SSL database connections. you can skip ahead to the next step. However, if your database is going to be stored on a separate server to the SupportPal application we recommend to connect via SSL/TLS. This prevents man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks on data in transit.

SSL connections require some file configuration changes before you can run the installer:

Open config/database.php in a text editor

Browse down through the file to an array defined similarly to:

'connections' => [

    'mysql' => [
        'driver'      => 'mysql',
        'host'        => 'localhost',
        'port'        => '3306',
        'database'    => 'mysql',
        'username'    => 'mysql',
        'password'    => '',
        'unix_socket' => '',
        'charset'     => 'utf8mb4',
        'collation'   => 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci',
        'prefix'      => '',
        'prefix_indexes' => true,
        'strict'      => false,
        'engine'      => null,
    ],

],

After 'engine' => null, (or the last entry within the array) define your SSL certificate on a new line:
```
'options'   => [PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA => '/home/foo/rds-combined-ca-bundle.pem'],
```
Replace /home/foo/rds-combined-ca-bundle.pem with the absolute path to your SSL certificate.

Run Installer

SupportPal can be installed through the web installer (user-friendly) or the command line installer (advanced).

Web Installer

Start the install process by visiting the URL or IP that has been set up for the server, e.g. http://support.yourdomain.com.
Verify the right version shows in the installation type and click continue.
Read through our EULA and accept.
The installer will verify if your server passes the system requirements. If anything shows a cross, please correct and retry. It's worth checking over optional requirements in case it covers a feature you'd like to use. Continue when everything required passes.
Enter your database details, the installer will try to create a database with that name if one doesn't already exist.
Click the 'Begin' button, this will start the process of running the database migrations and seeds. This may take several minutes, wait for it to complete and then click 'Continue' once the button shows.
Enter your license key, and it should show a 'License Valid' below. If it doesn't, you may need to re-issue the license at our client area and then enter it again. Also fill in your operator account details and continue.
Enter your company information and change the locale settings as necessary and continue.
The installation is complete, keep a note of the operator panel login URL.

Command Line Installer

The below commands assume use of the convenience script. You may need to change the user and path if you've configured the server yourself.

In a shell, change the current working directory to where the SupportPal files were extracted.
```
cd /var/www/supportpal
```
The installer can be ran in interactive mode, or non-interactive mode by passing a path to a JSON config file.
For interactive mode, run:

CentOS / RHEL
```
sudo -u apache -H php artisan app:install
```
Debian / Ubuntu
```
sudo -u www-data -H php artisan app:install
```
A number of options will show that you'll need to fill before the installation can start.

For non-interactive mode, run:

CentOS / RHEL
```
sudo -u apache -H php artisan app:install /full/path/to/file.json --agree-eula
```
Debian / Ubuntu
```
sudo -u www-data -H php artisan app:install /full/path/to/file.json --agree-eula
```
By running this command with the '--agree-eula' option, you are agreeing to our EULA.
For this, you'll need to create and upload a configuration file to your server. Take our example file below.
install.json
Assuming everything entered validates correctly, the database migrations and seeds will run and this may take several minutes to complete.
Finally when it shows the installation has completed, you can login by appending /admin to your install location. For example if SupportPal was installed at http://support.yourdomain.com, the operator panel can be accessed by going to http://support.yourdomain.com/admin

Set up Cron Job

Open /etc/crontab in an editor of your choice, for example:
```
vi /etc/crontab
```
Add your email address to the MAILTO parameter at the top of the file. This will ensure you receive email notifications if the cron job fails.
```
MAILTO=email@domain.com
```
Add the SupportPal cron job at the bottom of the file.
The below commands assume use of the convenience script. You may need to change the user and path if you've configured the server yourself.

CentOS / RHEL
```
* * * * * apache php -q /var/www/supportpal/cron
```
Debian / Ubuntu
```
* * * * * www-data php -q /var/www/supportpal/cron
```

Next Steps

Congratulations, you've successfully installed SupportPal!

We now recommend that you learn how to administer your installation.