Tutorial: How to install OTOBO on Linux Mint

OTBO is a free, open-source ticketing system that aims to be a complete replacement for OTRS. It has a modern, user-friendly interface and offers many powerful features, including customizable workflows, automatic email and text message notifications, and integration with other systems. In this tutorial, you will learn how to install OTBO on Linux Mint.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, you will need:

• A computer running Linux Mint (version 20.1 or newer).
• Root access or sudo privileges on the Linux Mint computer.
• About 15 minutes, depending on the speed of your computer and internet connection.

Steps

1. Update your system:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

2. Install required packages:

sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server libapache2-mod-perl2 libdatetime-perl libmail-imapclient-perl libtemplate-perl libcrypt-eksblowfish-perl libdbi-perl libdbd-mysql-perl libnet-dns-perl libsoap-lite-perl libtext-csv-xs-perl libxml-libxml-perl libxml-libxslt-perl libyaml-perl libarchive-zip-perl libjson-xs-perl libencode-hanextra-perl libgd-text-perl libtimedate-perl libpdf-api2-perl libapache-dbi-perl libapache-session-perl libpdf-api2-simple-perl libcrypt-cbc-perl libcrypt-blowfish-perl libcrypt-smbhash-perl libcrypt-ssleay-perl libdbd-pg-perl libtemplate-plugin-xml-perl libtemplate-perl-doc unzip zip

3. Download the latest version of OTBO from the official website:

wget https://otobo.de/download/otobo-latest.zip

4. Extract the downloaded archive:

unzip otobo-latest.zip

5. Move the extracted folder to the webroot:

sudo mv otobo-*/ /var/www/html/otobo

6. Set the correct file permissions:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/otobo
sudo chmod -R 770 /var/www/html/otobo/var /var/www/html/otobo/Kernel /var/www/html/otobo/Custom /var/www/html/otobo/Kernel/Config/;

7. Configure the Apache virtual host:

sudo cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/otobo.conf
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/otobo.conf

Then replace the content with below code, save and exit:

<VirtualHost *:80>
        ServerName your-server-name # Replace this with your server's domain name, or IP address
        DocumentRoot /var/www/html/otobo/
 
        <Directory /var/www/html/otobo>
                Options FollowSymLinks
                AllowOverride All
                Require all granted
        </Directory>
 
        ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/otobo_error.log
        CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/otobo_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

8. Enable the new virtual host:

sudo a2ensite otobo.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite

9. Restart the Apache service:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

10. Create the MariaDB database and user:

sudo mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE otobo;
CREATE USER 'otobo'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'otobo1234'; # Replace otobo1234 with a secure password
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON otobo.* TO 'otobo'@'localhost';
exit;

11. Configure the OTBO installation:

sudo nano /var/www/html/otobo/Kernel/Config.pm

Then modify your database login details as below, save and exit:

$Self->{'Database::Type'} = 'mysql';
$Self->{'Database::Host'} = 'localhost';
$Self->{'Database::Name'} = 'otobo';
$Self->{'Database::User'} = 'otobo';
$Self->{'Database::Password'} = 'otobo1234'; # Replace otobo1234 with the password you set earlier

12. Install OTBO:

sudo /var/www/html/otobo/bin/otobo.Console.pl Maint::Database::Upgrade 
sudo /var/www/html/otobo/bin/otobo.Console.pl Maint::Installer::Post::Install

13. Navigate to the OTBO login page:

Open your browser and go to http://your-server-name/otobo/ (replace your-server-name with your server's domain name or IP address). You should now see the OTBO login page. Login with the default root username and password otobo and change it later on.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed OTBO on Linux Mint! You can now start customizing and using the software. To learn more about OTBO, check out the official documentation at http://doc.otobo.org/.

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