HOWTO: OTRS on FreeBSD 8.x

[da1]

General Information
This guide walks you through the steps needed to have a working OTRS on a FreeBSD 8.x box.



Requirements
apache
mysql-server
perl
local or remote root access to the box
a updated ports tree
vi or ee knowledge

Optional packages:
mysql-client
portmaster



Installation


1) Install apache (skip if apache is already installed and/or configured)

cd /usr/ports/www/apache22; make install clean

(make sure "mod_cgi" is selected when the ncurses config dialog pops up)
or

portmaster --delete-build-only -P www/apache22

or

pkg_add -r apache22

(make sure to have mod_cgi compiled in)

The portmaster "--delete-build-only" switch tells portmaster to delete build-dependancies while the "-P" switch tells portmaster to use a package if one is available.


2) Install Perl (skip if perl is already installed and/or configured)

cd /usr/ports/lang/perl5.x; make install clean

or

portmaster --delete-build-only -P lang/perl5.x

or

pkg_add -r perl

PS: replace perl5.x with the newest version available (ex: perl5.12)


3) Installing OTRS (default dir: /usr/local/otrs)

cd /usr/ports/devel/otrs; make install clean

or

portmaster --delete-build-only devel/otrs

or

pkg_add -r otrs

4) Installation of (optional) Perl modules
To check which (optional) Perl modules are available for OTRS do:

cd /usr/local/otrs/bin ; ./otrs.CheckModules.pl

- install the missing ones by checking the location of the port package

cd /usr/ports; make quicksearch name=<module_name>; cd <location>/<port>; make install clean

or

portmaster --delete-build-only -P <category>/<port_name>

or

pkg_add -r <name>

5) Check if Perl is properly setup

cd /usr/local/otrs; perl -cw cgi-bin/index.pl

perl -cw otrs.PostMaster.pl

- is the reply is "syntax OK" you are good to go
- if NOT, there is a problem with the OTRS files (try reinstalling the port)


6) Configuring the Apache web server
check if we have the cgi module loaded:

vi /usr/local/etc/apache22/httpd.conf

(hit "/" and type "cgi" then hit "enter"; if you see "LoadModule cgi_module libexec/apache22/mod_cgi.so", you are good to go; type ": q" and hit enter; if you do not see it, you need to recompile apache with "mod_cgi" selected)

6.1) Setup an Alias and a ScriptAlias

cp /usr/local/otrs/scripts/apache2-httpd.include.conf /usr/local/etc/apache22/extra/otrs.conf

- modify the apache httpd.conf file to load the new otrs.conf

vi /usr/local/etc/apache22/httpd.conf

(I prefer to put it at the end of the file) and insert "Include etc/apache22/extra/otrs.conf" to the file. Then, reload apache by:

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/apache reload

7) Configuring the database (via the web-i)
go to: http://localhost/otrs/installer.pl
and setup the db (note: use your mysql root credentials when prompted)

8) login to OTRS
* if the password isn't working, do

cd /usr/local/otrs/bin && ./otrs.SetPassword.pl root@localhost <password>

Enjoy!