How to Setup Live Helper Chat with Nginx on Ubuntu Linux

Install Nginx HTTP

To set up Live Helper Chat on Ubuntu, you’ll first need to install the Nginx web server. Nginx is a popular choice for serving web content, and it’s essential for Live Helper Chat to function correctly on your Ubuntu system.

To install Nginx HTTP on the Ubuntu server, run the commands below.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

After installing Nginx, the commands below can be used to stop, start, and enable the Nginx service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop nginx.service
sudo systemctl start nginx.service
sudo systemctl enable nginx.service

To determine if the Nginx HTTP server is installed, open your web browser and type in the server’s IP or hostname.

Nginx is installed and working when you see a page like the one below.

http://localhost

Install MariaDB Database Server

Live Helper Chat requires a database to store all its information, and MariaDB is a reliable open-source option. Installing MariaDB on your Ubuntu server is a straightforward process using the apt package manager.

To install MariaDB, run the commands below.

sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

After installing MariaDB, the commands below can stop, start, and enable the service to start when the server boots.

Run these on Ubuntu

sudo systemctl stop mariadb.service
sudo systemctl start mariadb.service
sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service

After that, run the commands below to secure the MariaDB server by creating a root password and disallowing remote root access.

sudo mysql_secure_installation

When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.

• Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter
• Set root password? [Y/n]: Y
• New password: Enter password
• Re-enter new password: Repeat password
• Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y
• Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y
• Remove test database and access to it. [Y/n]:  Y
• Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]:  Y

Restart MariaDB server

To test if MariaDB is installed, type the commands below to log on to the MariaDB server.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, type the password you created above to sign on. If successful, you should see a MariaDB welcome message.

Install PHP 7.2-FPM and Related Modules

Live Helper Chat runs on PHP, and for this guide, we’ll use PHP 7.2-FPM, which might require adding a third-party repository on Ubuntu. Installing PHP 7.2-FPM and its necessary modules is a key step before proceeding.

Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.2-FPM

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2-FPM

sudo apt update

Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2-FPM and related modules.

sudo apt install php7.2-fpm php7.2-common php7.2-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-mysql php7.2-gd php7.2-bcmath php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip php7.2-sqlite

After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open Nginx’s PHP default config file.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/fpm/php.ini

Then, save the changes on the following lines below in the file. The value below is an ideal setting to apply in your environment.

file_uploads = On
allow_url_fopen = On
short_open_tag = On
cgi.fix_pathinfo = 0
memory_limit = 256M
upload_max_filesize = 100M
max_execution_time = 360
max_input_vars = 1500
date.timezone = America/Chicago

After making the change above, please save the file and close it.

Create a Live Helper Chat Database

With your database server ready, the next step is to create a dedicated database for Live Helper Chat. You’ll connect to MariaDB and create a new database named ‘livehelperchat’ to hold your chat application’s data.

Run the commands below to log on to MariaDB. When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, create a database called livehelperchat

CREATE DATABASE livehelperchat;

Create a database user called livehelperchatuser with a new password

CREATE USER 'livehelperchatuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';

Then grant the user full access to the livehelperchat database.

GRANT ALL ON livehelperchat.* TO 'livehelperchatuser'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Download Live Helper Chat Latest Release

To get the latest version of Live Helper Chat, you’ll download it directly from its GitHub repository. This involves using `wget` to fetch the files and then extracting them to the correct location on your server.

sudo apt install wget
cd /tmp
wget https://github.com/remdex/livehelperchat/archive/master.zip
unzip master.zip
sudo mv livehelperchat-master /var/www/livehelperchat

Since you just ran the web server as root, you should ensure the www-data user and group own any newly created files.

To do that, run the commands below:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/livehelperchat/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/livehelperchat/

Configure Nginx

Now it’s time to configure Nginx to work with Live Helper Chat, telling the web server how to handle requests for your chat application. You’ll create a new Nginx site configuration file specifically for Live Helper Chat.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/livehelperchat

Then copy and paste the content below into the file and save it. Replace the highlighted line with your domain name and directory root location.

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;

    server_name  example.com www.example.com;
    root   /var/www/livehelperchat/lhc_web;
    index  index.php;
    
    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;

    client_max_body_size 100M;
  
    autoindex off;

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

    location ~ .php$ {
         include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
         fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.2-fpm.sock;
         include fastcgi_params;
         fastcgi_intercept_errors on;
    }
}

Save the file and exit.

Enable the Live Helper Chat

After setting up the Nginx configuration, you need to enable it so that Nginx can serve your Live Helper Chat application. This involves creating a link to the configuration file and then restarting the Nginx service.

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/livehelperchat /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo systemctl restart nginx.service

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name or hostname. This is often localhost but can be a hostname or IP address. Your server admin or hosting company will have this information available.

http://example.com/

Continue with the installation wizard, validate that all requirements are met, and continue.

Next, enter the database username and password and the database created above.

After that, create an admin account to manage the platform.

After installing, log in and start to begin managing your platform.

Conclusion:

You have learned to install Live Helper Chat on Ubuntu with the Nginx HTTP server. If you find any errors above, please leave a comment below.

Thanks,