How to Install Request Tracker on POP! OS Latest

In this tutorial, we will walk through the steps needed to install Request Tracker on the latest version of POP! OS. Request Tracker is an open-source issue tracking system that enables organizations to manage customer requests, IT issues, and software bugs. It is developed by Best Practical Solutions and provides a web-based interface for managing tickets.

Prerequisites

Before we start installing Request Tracker, please ensure that the following requirements are met:

1. You have administrative access to the POP! OS system.
2. You have a sudo-enabled user to run the commands.
3. The system has an up-to-date software package list.
4. You have an internet connection.

Step 1: Update the software package list

Start by fetching the latest software package list by running the following command:

sudo apt update

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Request Tracker requires a number of dependencies to be installed on the system. Run the following command to install them:

sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server libapache2-mod-fcgid libcgi-pm-perl \
libapache2-mod-perl2 libapache-session-perl libapache2-mod-authz-unixgroup \
libnet-ldap-perl libdbd-mysql-perl libdbi-perl libdbix-searchbuilder-perl \
libdatetime-perl libtext-template-perl libhtml-formattext-withlinks-perl \
libmime-lite-perl libemail-address-perl libgd-graph-perl

Step 3: Install Request Tracker

Now that we have installed the dependencies, we can move on to installing Request Tracker. The following commands will download and install Request Tracker from Best Practical Solutions:

sudo apt install libyaml-perl build-essential libcrypt-eksblowfish-perl \
libmodule-install-perl
sudo curl -sL https://download.bestpractical.com/pub/rt/release/rt-latest.tar.gz | \
sudo tar -xz -C /opt/
sudo ln -s /opt/rt-5.0.1 /opt/rt

Note that in the above commands, we are installing the latest version of Request Tracker, which is 5.0.1 at the time of writing this tutorial. You can check the latest version by visiting the official website.

Step 4: Configure Apache

The next step is to configure Apache to serve Request Tracker. Start by creating a new virtual host file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/rt.conf

Add the following lines to the file:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot "/opt/rt/share/html"
    ServerName rt.example.com
    AddDefaultCharset UTF-8
    <Location />
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
        SetHandler perl-script
        PerlResponseHandler Plack::Handler::Apache2
        PerlSetVar psgi_app /opt/rt/sbin/rt-server
    </Location>
</VirtualHost>

Note that you'll want to replace rt.example.com with your own domain name.

Now, enable the virtual host and restart Apache:

sudo a2ensite rt.conf
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 5: Configure MySQL

Request Tracker requires a MySQL database to store the data. You'll need to create a new user and database specifically for Request Tracker. Start by logging into the MySQL shell:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Once logged in, create a new database and user. Replace rtuser and rtpass with your preferred username and password:

CREATE DATABASE rtdb;
CREATE USER 'rtuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'rtpass';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON rtdb.* TO 'rtuser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Step 6: Finish Installing Request Tracker

Now that we have the necessary components in place, we can proceed with the final step of installing Request Tracker. Run the following command to start the installation process:

sudo /opt/rt/sbin/rt-setup-database --action init --dba root --prompt-for-dba-password

This command will prompt you to enter the MySQL root password in order to create the necessary database tables and configure the settings.

Once the command completes, navigate to http://your-domain.com in your web browser to access Request Tracker. You will be prompted to create a new administrator account.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Request Tracker on POP! OS Latest.

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