How to Install Helpy on OpenBSD

Helpy is a helpdesk tool that enables businesses to manage customer support operations. In this tutorial, we will outline the steps involved in installing Helpy on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

Before beginning with the installation process, ensure that OpenBSD is installed and running on your server. Additionally, ensure that you have root access to the server.

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies

The first step in installing Helpy is installing required dependencies. For this tutorial, we will be using Nginx as our HTTP server, MySQL as our database management system, and Ruby as the programming language. Run the following command in your terminal to install these dependencies:

sudo pkg_add nginx mysql-server ruby

Step 2: Clone Helpy from GitHub

Once the dependencies are installed, you can clone Helpy from GitHub using the following command:

sudo git clone https://github.com/helpyio/helpy.git /var/www/helpy

Step 3: Configure Nginx

Now that Helpy is cloned on the server, you need to configure the Nginx HTTP server to serve Helpy. Run the following command to create a new Nginx configuration file:

sudo vi /etc/nginx/sites-available/helpy.conf

With the above command, it will open the configuration file for editing in the terminal. Now copy the below configuration into the file and save the file.

server {
  listen 80;
  server_name YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME;

  root /var/www/helpy/public;
  index index.html index.htm index.php;

  location / {
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
  }

  location ~ \.php$ {
    fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php-fpm.sock;
    fastcgi_index index.php;
    fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    include fastcgi_params;
  }
}

Replace YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME with your server's domain name. After that, create a symlink to this configuration file by running the following command:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/helpy.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Lastly, restart the Nginx HTTP server:

sudo service nginx restart

Step 4: Configure MySQL

Next, you need to configure the MySQL database. Run the following commands to create a new database, create a new MySQL user, and grant the user permissions:

mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE helpy_db;
CREATE USER 'helpy_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YourPassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON helpy_db.* TO 'helpy_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Step 5: Configure Helpy

After completing the above steps, you need to configure Helpy to work with Nginx and MySQL. Run the following command in the terminal, which will create a new configuration file for Helpy:

cd /var/www/helpy/config
cp database.yml.template database.yml

Now edit the database.yml file and update the configuration settings with the following:

production:
  adapter: mysql2
  encoding: utf8
  host: localhost
  port: 3306
  database: helpy_db
  username: helpy_user
  password: YourPassword
  pool: 5
  timeout: 5000

Once the configuration is updated, save the file.

Step 6: Install Required Gems

You need to install the required gems for Helpy to work properly. Run the following command in the terminal:

cd /var/www/helpy
export RAILS_ENV=production
bundle install --deployment --without development test

After completing the gem installation process, you need to create a database schema by running the following command:

bundle exec rake db:create RAILS_ENV=production
bundle exec rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=production

Step 7: Start the Helpy Server

With all the configurations in place, you can now start the Helpy server using the following command:

cd /var/www/helpy
export RAILS_ENV=production
bundle exec rails server -e production -p 3000

Helpy will now be running on your server. You can access your Helpy dashboard by navigating to http://your_domain.com:3000 on a web browser.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to install Helpy on OpenBSD. With Helpy installed, you can now manage your customer support operations effectively.

If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!