In this installation tutorial, I will walk you through what you need and how to set up osTicket, an open-source help desk ticketing system. With some notes and screenshots to give you a quick peek at the important stuff.
- Microsoft Azure (Virtual Machines: Windows 10 recommend for this guide)
- RD Client
- Internet Information Services (IIS)
- Windows 10 Pro
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Start by logging into your Azure portal.
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Click on Create a resource and choose Resource group.
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Name your resource group, and select a region.
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Click Review + create and then Create.
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In the Azure portal, select your created resource group.
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Click on Add and search for Windows 10 Pro.
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Configure your VM with 2-4 virtual CPUs memory as needed.
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Allow the creation of a new Virtual Network (VNet) during VM setup.
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Name your VM (e.g., "Vm-osticket").
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Set a username (e.g., "labuser").
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Choose a strong password (e.g., "osTicketPassword1!") or an easy password for you to remember when you login through the VM Machine.
- Open your RD Client and within the VM, you can you copy and paste it through the search bar and download the installation files: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1APMfNyfNzcxZC6EzdaNfdZsUwxWYChf6
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Open Server Manager on your Windows 10 VM. Then go to Manage and select Add roles and features.
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Go to World Wide Web Services to Application Development Features
- CGI
- Common HTTP Features
- Go to Internet Information Services (or IIS) to Web Management Tools to IIS Management Console
- IIS Management Console
- Download and install "PHP Manager for IIS" (PHPManagerForIIS_V1.5.0.msi) from your installation files.
- Download and install the "Rewrite Module" (rewrite_amd64_en-US.msi) from your installation files.
- Find Windows Files Explorer and head to The PC and create a folder of PHP.
- Download PHP 7.3.8 (php-7.3.8-nts-Win32-VC15-x86.zip) from your installation files. (Note: if you see a warning icon, ignore it and keep it!)
- After downloading the content, first move the content and unzip it into the PHP folder.
- Download and install "VC_redist.x86.exe" from your installation files.
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Download and install "MySQL 5.5.62" (mysql-5.5.62-win32.msi) from your installation files.
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During installation, select Typical Setup and configure with the password Password1.
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Open IIS as an administrator.
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Register PHP from within IIS.
- Open IIS, stop and start the server.
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Download osTicket from the Installation Files Folder.
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Extract and copy the upload folder to c:\inetpub\wwwroot.
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Rename the upload folder to osTicket within c:\inetpub\wwwroot.
- Open IIS, stop and start the server.
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Go to sites -> Default -> osTicket.
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Click *Browse :80. and note any missing extensions.
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Go back to IIS, sites -> Default -> osTicket.
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Double-click PHP Manager.
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Click Enable or disable an extension.
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Enable:
- php_imap.dll
- php_intl.dll
- php_opcache.dll
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Refresh the osTicket site in your browser and observe the changes.
- Rename ost-sampleconfig.php to ost-config.php within C:\inetpub\wwwroot\osTicket\include.
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Disable inheritance and remove all permissions.
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Add new permissions for Everyone with All access.
- Visit the osTicket setup page in your browser and follow the on-screen instructions. Name your helpdesk and set the default email.
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Download and install "HeidiSQL" from your installation files.
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Open HeidiSQL and create a new session using root and the password Password1.
- Connect to the session and create a database called osTicket.
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Continue setting up osTicket in the browser, providing the following details:
- MySQL Database: osTicket
- MySQL Username: root
- MySQL Password: Password1
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Click Install Now!
- Delete the C:\inetpub\wwwroot\osTicket\setup folder.
- Set the permissions of C:\inetpub\wwwroot\osTicket\include\ost-config.php to Read only.
Congratulations! You've made it through a complicated task of installing a help desk software by scratch! Now that the osTicket is installed with no errors. You can access your help desk login page at http://localhost/osTicket/scp/login.php. Along with the End Users osTicket URL: http://localhost/osTicket/ you will use for another lesson.