How to install Helpy on Debian Latest

In this tutorial, we will be walking through the process of installing Helpy on Debian Latest.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure that your system meets the following prerequisites:

  • Debian Latest
  • sudo privileges
  • Git
  • Ruby 2.6 or later
  • MySQL/MariaDB

Step 1: Update your system

Start by updating your system to the latest packages by running the following command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Please ensure that you have installed build-essential, libmariadb-dev, and libpq-dev packages, which are required for Helpy installation.

sudo apt install build-essential libmariadb-dev libpq-dev -y

Step 3: Install Ruby

By default, Debian Latest comes with Ruby installed, but if it's not installed on your system, run:

sudo apt install ruby-full -y

Check if the Ruby version is higher than 2.6.0 as required using the following command:

ruby --version

Step 4: Configure MySQL/MariaDB

Next, log in to your MySQL/MariaDB database, create a new database, a new user, and grant permissions as illustrated below:

$ mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE helpy;
CREATE USER 'helpy_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON helpy.* TO 'helpy_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 5: Clone the Helpy repository

Clone the Helpy repository using git by running:

git clone https://github.com/helpyio/helpy.git helpy

Then move into the new directory:

cd helpy

Step 6: Prepare the Helpy environment

Before installing Helpy, make sure to have created the .env file in the root directory with the respective database credentials:

DATABASE_URL=mysql2://username:password@localhost/databasename

Install required gems by running the following command:

bundle install

Generate the session secret key:

echo "HELPY_SESSION_SECRET=$(bundle exec rake secret)" >> .env

Run database migrations:

bundle exec rake db:create db:migrate db:seed

Step 7: Start the Helpy Application

Start the Helpy application by running:

bundle exec rails server

Once the server is started, you can access the Helpy application by visiting the URL http://your_server_ip:3000 in your web browser.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have explained how to install Helpy on Debian Latest. You can now customize and start using the Helpy help desk software to improve your customer support.