How to Install UVdesk with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

Install Apache

To install Apache on your Ubuntu server for UVdesk, open your terminal and run the commands sudo apt update and sudo apt install apache2. This sets up the web server needed to host your helpdesk site and handle incoming visitor traffic.

To install Apache2 HTTP on the Ubuntu server, run the commands below.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2

After installing 💿 Apache2, the commands below can stop, start, and enable the Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots.

sudo systemctl stop apache2.service
sudo systemctl start apache2.service
sudo systemctl enable apache2.service

To test the Apache2 setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address. You should see the Apache2 default test page, as shown below. When you see that, Apache2 will work as expected.

http://localhost

Install MariaDB

To install MariaDB on your Ubuntu server, run the commands sudo apt update and sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client in your terminal. This creates the database system required by UVdesk to store user accounts, tickets, and settings securely.

To install MariaDB, run the commands below:

sudo apt update
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.

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

sudo mysql_secure_installation

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

• Enter current password for root (enter for none): 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 the MariaDB server when done.

Create UVdesk database

To create the UVdesk database, log into your MariaDB prompt using sudo mysql -u root -p and run the command CREATE DATABASE uvdesk;. This prepares a blank storage space where the helpdesk software will save all of its operational data.

When prompted for a password, type the root password you created above.

sudo mysql -u root -p

Then, create a database called uvdesk

CREATE DATABASE uvdesk;

Create a database user called uvdeskadmin with a new password

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

Next, grant the user full access to the uvdeskadmin database.

GRANT ALL ON uvdesk.* TO 'uvdeskadmin'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

Finally, save your changes and exit.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Now that the MariaDB server is installed and a database created go and install UVdesk.

Install PHP and Related Modules

To install PHP and the required modules for UVdesk on Ubuntu, add the third-party repository by running sudo apt-get install software-properties-common and sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php. UVdesk relies on PHP to execute its core application code.

Run the commands below to add the below third party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.4

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

Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.4

sudo apt update

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

sudo apt install php7.4 libapache2-mod-php7.4 php7.4-common php7.4-gmp php7.4-curl php7.4-intl php7.4-mbstring php7.4-xmlrpc php7.4-mysql php7.4-gd php7.4-xml php7.4-imap php7.4-mailparse php7.4-cli php7.4-zip

After installing PHP 7.4, run the commands below to open the PHP default config file for Apache2.

sudo nano /etc/php/7.4/apache2/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
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.

Next, enable Apache modules for FastCGI support, then restart the Apache service.

sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

To test PHP 7.4 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in the Apache2 root directory by running the commands below

sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php

Then, type the content below and save the file.

<?php phpinfo( ); ?>

Save the file. Then browse to your server hostname followed by /phpinfo.php

http://localhost/phpinfo.php

You should see the PHP default test page.

Install UVdesk

To install UVdesk on your server, first download Curl and Git with sudo apt install curl git, and then install Composer to manage project dependencies. Composer downloads and sets up all the underlying code required to run the helpdesk platform.

sudo apt install curl git
curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | sudo php -- --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

After installing curl and Composer above, please change it to the Apache2 root directory and download UVdesk packages from GitHub.

sudo mkdir /var/www/uvdesk
sudo chown $USER:$USER /var/www/uvdesk
cd /var/www/uvdesk
composer clear-cache
composer create-project uvdesk/community-skeleton helpdesk-project

After running the commands above, you should see a success message similar to the one below:

To start things off, here are a few commands to help you setup:

  * Configuring your project:

    php bin/console uvdesk:configure-helpdesk

  * Run your project through a local php web server:

    php bin/console server:run

Made with 💖  by the UVDesk Team. Happy helping :)

Then, run the commands below to set the correct permissions for UVdesk to function.

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

Configure Apache

To configure Apache for your UVdesk site, create a new virtual host file by running sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/uvdesk.conf in your terminal. This file tells the web server where to find your site files and how to process incoming requests.

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

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.

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerAdmin admin@example.com
     DocumentRoot /var/www/uvdesk/helpdesk-project/public
     ServerName example.com
     ServerAlias www.example.com

     <Directory /var/www/uvdesk/helpdesk-project/public/>
        Options +FollowSymlinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
     </Directory › ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
     CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

</VirtualHost>

Save the file and exit.

Enable the UVdesk

To make your UVdesk site live, run sudo a2ensite uvdesk.conf, enable URL rewriting with sudo a2enmod rewrite, and restart the server using sudo systemctl restart apache2.service. These commands activate your new configuration and apply the changes.

sudo a2ensite uvdesk.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service

Then open your browser and browse to the server domain name. You should see the complete UVdesk setup wizard. Please follow the wizard carefully.

http://example.com/.

The wizard will check your MySQL database connection for any issues and configure it with your application.

Type in the database and user you created above and continue.

The wizard will create a default super admin account that can be used to access your application's backend.

Create a UVdesk super admin account.

Proceed with the wizard until you've successfully installed the platform. Then, done, start using it.

That's it!

Conclusion:

This post showed you how to install UVdesk on Ubuntu 20.04 | 18.04. If you find any error above, please use the form below to report.