How to Install FreeScout on NixOS Latest

FreeScout is an open-source helpdesk software that lets you manage customer support tickets. It is available on GitHub and can be installed on NixOS Latest. This tutorial will guide you through the installation process.

Prerequisites

Before installing FreeScout, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:

• A running instance of NixOS Latest
• Basic command-line knowledge

Installation

You can install FreeScout on NixOS Latest by following these steps:

1. Install PHP and its related modules:

sudo nix-env -i php php-fpm php-phar php-mbstring php-xml php-mysql

2. Install a web server (Apache, Nginx or Caddy). For instance, to install Nginx:

sudo nix-env -i nginx

3. Install MySQL:

sudo nix-env -i mysql

4. Set up a MySQL user and database:

sudo mysql --execute="CREATE DATABASE freescout;"
sudo mysql --execute="CREATE USER 'freescout'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'freescout';"
sudo mysql --execute="GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON freescout.* TO 'freescout'@'localhost';"

5. Clone the FreeScout repository:

git clone https://github.com/freescout-helpdesk/freescout.git /home/freescout

6. Install dependencies using Composer:

cd /home/freescout
php composer.phar install --no-dev --prefer-dist

7. Copy the .env.example file to .env:

cp .env.example .env

8. Generate an application key:

php artisan key:generate

9. Edit the .env file with your MySQL credentials:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_DATABASE=freescout
DB_USERNAME=freescout
DB_PASSWORD=freescout

10. Create a new virtual host configuration file. For instance, to create one for Nginx:

sudo vim /etc/nginx/sites-available/freescout.conf

11. Add the following configuration to the file:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name _;
    root /home/freescout/public;
    index index.php;

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

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php7-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }
}

12. Enable the virtual host:

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

13. Restart the web server to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

14. Create symbolic links for uploaded files:

php artisan storage:link

15. Set up a cron job to schedule email sending and other tasks:

* * * * * php /home/freescout/artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

16. Finally, visit http://localhost/ on your web browser to access FreeScout. You will be prompted to complete the installation process.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have gone through the steps required to install FreeScout on NixOS Latest. FreeScout is a powerful and intuitive helpdesk software that can streamline customer support for your business or organization.

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