A good helpdesk system is quite important for any company who relies on IT services either internally or externally. OneorZero Helpdesk provides an Open Source PHP/ MYSQLHelpdesk ticketing service all from a web based interface. Since it is web based it essentially accessible from any system that has a web browser installed. This guide provides easy to follow steps on how Setup OneOrZero Open source helpdesk on your own web server.

System Requirements of OneOrZero Helpdesk

The OneOrZero Web Based Task Management System can be installed and run successfully
on PHP enabled web servers with MySQL version 4.1 and higher.

The following outlines the required components to run OneOrZero MySQL
Edition

1. PHP 4.1 or higher. - PHP 5.2.5 in this tutorial
2. MySQL 4.1 or higher - MYSQL 5.1.22 in this tutorial
3. Web Server (IIS/Apache/other) that supports PHP - Apache 2.2 in this Tutorial
4. Optional Email Server
5. Optional SSL for secure web transactions
6. Optional Forum Software
7. Optional LDAP server for LDAP authentication

Some assumptions:

• This guide assumes that you have SSH to your server’s console most of the tasks here are associated to working on the command line.
• And some working knowledge of console commands and their principles.

You can find Pinoy Compuworld’s Test Server Configuration HERE .

{mospagebreak title=Preparation Part 1}

Helpdesk - Download OneOrZero Helpdesk

OneOrZero makes the latest version of OneOrZero only to paid subscribers. However, non subscribers can download the next available version from sourceforge.net. You can download it from here:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=123701

Once downloaded you will need to extract the files from the archive and move it to your webserver’s document root.

unzip ooz1654.zip
mv ooz1654/ oneorzero/
mv onerorzero /home/host/httpdocs/helpdesk/

In the above commands, I first unzipped the archive file using the unzip command. Unzipping the archive will give you a directory filled with files named ooz1654. For consistency’s sake, I renamed it to oneorzero using the ‘mv’ command. I then use the mv command again to move the oneorzero directory to its permanent place in the webserver ‘/home/host/httpdocs/helpdesk/’ you should change this to suite your own webserver.

OneOrZero Helpdesk Installation Documentation

OneOrZero developers provide the complete documentation with the archive. This is accessible after you have moved the files to the document root. Similar to below:

http://www.yourdomain.com/directory/docs/Install_and_Upgrade_Manual.pdf

To access your documentation, simply replace “yourdomain.com/directory/” with the path for your installation.

NOTE: The instructions in this guide are nearly identical to once provided in the documentation, I merely added some screenshots and some annotations.

Set the Correct Permissions of Helpdesk files

cd /home/host/httpdocs/helpdesk/
chown -R www oneorzero/
cd oneorzero/
chmod -R 775 *
chmod 777 attachments/
chmod 777 configuration/

It is important that the whole directory is readable and writable by your webserver and the attachments and configuration directory to readeable and writable by everyone.

Check PHP Setttings for OneOrZero Helpdesk

• register_globals = off - earlier versions of PHP (version 3 i think have set this to On) But this have been turned of by the developers of PHP for security reasons. There is a good reason for this so make yours is also OFF
• Ensure your session.save_path is valid - OneOrZero uses sessions all through its system. so make sure that this part works.
• error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE - Not setting this to the correct value will cause you to see weird output so it would do you well to set this.
• File Uploads section - Make sure this section has adequate limitations/directory paths set.
• Mail function section - If you select the OneOrZero SMTP option ‘PHPConfig’ then OneOrZero will use the php.ini settings to send email. You can configure such things as SMTP server here. For this installaiton I will be using PHPConfig

NOTE: You can view all of your current php.ini settings by clicking the ‘Check Your PHP Settings’ link in the setup server page. See the coming section ‘Run
the OneOrZero Setup Server Page’ for more information.

{mospagebreak title=Preparation Part 2}

Server Settings Used for OneorZero Helpdesk of OneOrZero

Oneorzero Open Source Helpdesk provides various tools to setup itself. This includes tools for the server where you will setup OneOrZero Open Source Helpdesk as well as a tool to configure the system administration panel.

The first tool is the Server Settings Page, you can access it by going to the following URL:

http://www.youroneorzero.com/oneorzerodirectory/utilities/setup_server.php

You will be presented with a screen similar to below:

Here is a summary of all the items listed in the Server Settings Page of OneOrZero Opensource Helpdesk

1. Server DNS Name - The full domain name of your web server e.g. the name the whole world uses to get to your web server. Make sure that you are using an existing domain or atleast that has a record in your local DNS Server. In our case the domain is:

   host.pinoy-compuworld.com

2. OneOrZero Web Alias (OneOrZero Directory) - If you extracted the contents of the ozh16 file to the root of your web server leave this empty otherwise enter the name of the OneOrZero install directory relative to the root of the web server. For example:

   For host.pinoy-compuworld.com/ozh16 enter “ozh16″
   For host.pinoy-compuworld.com simply leave the field blank
   For host.pinoy-compuworld.com/testwebs/ozh16, enter “testwebs/ozh16″

   In our installation, oneorzero will be located on

   http://host.pinoy-compuworld.com/helpdesk/oneorzero/

   So I will simply indicate - “helpdesk/oneorzero”

3. Maximum Attachment Size - The largest attachment that can be uploaded to OneOrZero (megabytes). This must not exceed the value set in the File Uploads section of the php.ini file
4. Database Type - Select the database you wish to use either Mysql 4 or 5. In this installation I will be using Mysql 5.

   Note: If you have MySQL 5 and have used the old_password() funtion to make passwords MySQL 4 compliant use the MySQL 4 or Earlier option

5. For Mysql HostName, Username and Password - If you already have these information at hand just fill out the fields with the appropriate values. Otherwise here are some useful steps on how to set it up.

   NOTE: you will need to have console access for this to be possible.

   • Login into Mysql - In this case I am using the “root” username and password combination.

     mysql -u root -p

     You will be logged on into the Mysql Administrator console similar to the screen below:

     

   • Create the Database - Use the following command to create the database:
   • Identify a user that will be used by OneOrZero to access the database.

     grant all privileges on helpdesk_oneorzero.* to helpdesk@localhost identified by “h3lpd3sk”;

     The statement above tells MYSQL to give the user “helpdesk” all access privileges to the database named “helpdesk_oneorzero” by using the password “h3lpdesk” the hostname “localhost”.

6. OneOrZero Tablename Prefix - this is useful if you share OneOrZero with a other applications on the same database. In our installation since we are installing one or zero on the same database this will be insignificant but it is recommended that you keep the default “ooz_” entry.

{mospagebreak title=Installation Proper}

Installation - OneorZero Opensource Helpdesk

Actual installation will be done by accessing the install script. use the following URL:

http://host.pinoy-compuworld.com/helpdesk/oneorzero/utilities/install.php

You will find a screen similar to the one below.

This is the license screen. READ THIS very carefully. It is still useful to know what your license is then click on NEXT

Next will be Administrator Details setup (see screen below). Just fill up the fields as you see fit then click “Next”.

The installation is now COMPLETE!

You can now access the administrator control panel by accessing the URL:

http://host.pinoy-compuworld.com/helpdesk/oneorzero/admin/control.php

and your users can access the helpdesk interface by accessing:

http://host.pinoy-compuworld.com/helpdesk/oneorzero/

One thing remember: Make sure to remove the “utilities” directory from your oneorzero installation as a security precaustion. I usually rename it to an obsscure name so that I can use it as need. For example:

mv utilities/ removed/

And you are now done. I will be providing an in depth review within the next week.