How to Install UVdesk with Apache on Ubuntu Linux

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install UVdesk ticking systems on Ubuntu 20.04 | 18.04.

UVdesk is an open-source helpdesk system that provides complete support solutions for any business process to deliver the best customer service.

UVdesk is flexible, and user-friendly and can serve as a strong alternative to the popular support platforms in use today.

UVdesk also organizes internal and external communication through clear structures and optimized processes allowing IT teams to avoid errors and complete tasks quickly and efficiently.

To get started with installing UVdesk, follow the steps below:

Install Apache

Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. So install it since UVdesk needs it.

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 be used to 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 and you should see the Apache2 default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.

http://localhost

Install MariaDB

UVdesk also needs a database server to store its content… and the MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open-source database servers to use with UVdesk.

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 MariaDB service to start up when the server boots.

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

When you’redone, 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 the MariaDB server when done.

Create UVdesk database

Now that you’ve installed all required packages, continue below to start configuring the servers. First, create a blank database for UVdesk to use.

To do that, 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 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, now go and install UVdesk.

Install PHP and Related Modules

PHP 7.4 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories.

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 make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below is a great 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, 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 get UVdesk latest release you may want to use the GitHub repository. Install Composer, Curl and other dependencies to get started.

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, change into the Apache2 root directory and downloads 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 Apache2

Finally, configure the Apahce2 site configuration file for UVdesk. This file will control how users access UVdesk content. Run the commands below to create a new configuration file called uvdesk.conf

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

After configuring the VirtualHost above, enable it by running the commands below

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 UVdesk setup wizard complete. 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.