Ticketing System Setup and Management

Introduction

I set up and configured osTicket to manage IT support requests. This project simulates a help desk environment and demonstrates my skills in server management, problem-solving, and customer service.

I worked with Linux (Ubuntu) to install and run web servers, manage databases, and handle support tickets. This hands-on experience helped me better understand help desk operations and troubleshooting.

Tools I Used

• VMware Workstation
• Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
• osTicket
• Apache, MySQL, PHP

Setting Up the Environment

For this project, I used VMware Workstation to create a virtual machine (VM). Since I already had VMware Workstation installed on my computer, I jumped straight to creating the VM. I set up Ubuntu on the VM to host the osTicket system.

Software Installation

I downloaded the Ubuntu Server ISO from the official website and installed it on the VM.

To get the web server running, I installed Apache, MySQL, and PHP by running:

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sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install apache2 mysql-server php libapache2-mod-php php-cli php-mysql unzip

Installing osTicket

After setting up the server, I downloaded and extracted the osTicket files directly into the web server directory:

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cd /var/www/html
sudo wget https://github.com/osTicket/osTicket/releases/download/v1.17/osTicket-v1.17.zip
sudo unzip osTicket-v1.17.zip
sudo mv upload osticket

Configuring Apache for osTicket

To ensure osTicket runs smoothly, I configured Apache by creating a virtual host file:

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

I added the following configuration:

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<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin admin@example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/osticket
    ServerName your_domain_or_ip

    <Directory /var/www/html/osticket>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

I enabled the site and restarted Apache:

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sudo a2ensite osticket
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Database Setup

To get osTicket working, I created a MySQL database and user by entering these commands:

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CREATE DATABASE osticket;
CREATE USER 'osticket_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON osticket.* TO 'osticket_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Web Setup and Configuration

I accessed the osTicket setup by going to this address in my browser:

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http://<vm_ip>/osticket/setup/

From there, I created departments, help topics, and user roles.

Fixing Missing Configuration File

During the setup, osTicket couldn’t find ost-config.php. I fixed this by adjusting the permissions and copying the configuration file:

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cd /var/www/html/osticket/include
sudo cp ost-sampleconfig.php ost-config.php
sudo chown www-data:www-data ost-config.php
sudo chmod 0666 ost-config.php
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Testing the System

I verified the system by submitting and resolving sample tickets, ensuring all functionalities like email notifications, ticket assignments, and user role permissions worked as expected. This confirmed that the osTicket installation was fully operational.