Installing Live Helper Chat on Void Linux

Live Helper Chat is an open-source live chat software that allows users to interact with website visitors in real-time. This tutorial will guide you through the steps of installing Live Helper Chat on the Void Linux operating system.

Prerequisites

Before installing Live Helper Chat, it is recommended to update your Void Linux system packages to the latest version:

sudo xbps-install -Su

Installing dependencies

Live Helper Chat requires the following dependencies to be installed on your system: Apache/Nginx, PHP, and a MySQL database. In the case of Void Linux, we will need to install these dependencies first:

sudo xbps-install -S nginx mysql php php-mysqlnd

Once the packages are installed, we need to start and enable the Nginx and MySQL services:

sudo ln -s /etc/sv/nginx /var/service/
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/mysql /var/service/

Installing Live Helper Chat

To install Live Helper Chat, follow the steps below:

1. Download the latest version of Live Helper Chat from the official website or use the following command to download it directly to your server:

cd /var/www/
sudo wget https://github.com/LiveHelperChat/livehelperchat/archive/master.zip

2. Extract the downloaded zip file:

sudo unzip master.zip
sudo mv livehelperchat-master livehelperchat

3. Change ownership of the Live Helper Chat files to the Nginx user:

sudo chown -R nginx:nginx /var/www/livehelperchat/

4. Create a new virtual host configuration file for Live Helper Chat:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/livehelperchat.conf

Add the following configuration to the file:

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/livehelperchat;

    index index.php;

    location / {
        # try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
    }

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

Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name.

5. Test the Nginx configuration:

sudo nginx -t

If no errors are reported, reload the Nginx configuration:

sudo systemctl reload nginx

6. Create a new MySQL database and user for Live Helper Chat:

mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE lhchat;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON lhchat.* TO 'lhuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Replace your_password with a strong password.

7. Import the Live Helper Chat database schema:

mysql -u lhuser -p lhchat < /var/www/livehelperchat/sql/mysql/install.sql

Enter the password for the lhuser MySQL user.

8. Create a new configuration file for Live Helper Chat:

sudo cp /var/www/livehelperchat/settings/settings.ini.default.php /var/www/livehelperchat/settings/settings.ini.php
sudo nano /var/www/livehelperchat/settings/settings.ini.php
# Edit the database settings in the file as follows:
/*
'host' => 'localhost',
'user' => 'lhuser',
'password' => 'your_password',
'database' => 'lhchat',
'port' => ''
*/

Replace your_password with a strong password.

9. Change the ownership of the Live Helper Chat files to the Nginx user:

sudo chown -R nginx:nginx /var/www/livehelperchat/

10. Restart the PHP-FPM and Nginx services:

sudo systemctl restart php-fpm
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Now, Live Helper Chat is installed on your Void Linux server and can be accessed using your domain name in a web browser.

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!

Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!