How to Install FreeScout on Linux Mint

In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the process of installing FreeScout on Linux Mint. FreeScout is a free and open-source helpdesk and email management software that can be used to manage email accounts, support tickets, and customer inquiries efficiently.

Prerequisites

Before we start, make sure you have the following requirements:

• A Linux Mint machine running the latest version.
• sudo/root access to install dependencies and packages.

Step 1: Update System

Before we begin the installation process, it's always better to update our system to its latest version to avoid any conflicts with installed packages.

Open your terminal and type the following command.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Required Packages

To run FreeScout on Linux Mint, we need to install some required packages.

Open terminal and run the following command to install all required packages:

sudo apt-get install wget curl unzip git sqlite3 nginx php-fpm php-cli php-mbstring php-xml php-zip php-json php-curl php-gd php-sqlite3

Step 3: Install Composer

Composer is a dependency manager for PHP. We need to install Composer to manage dependencies for FreeScout.

Type the following command in the terminal.

sudo apt-get install composer

Step 4: Clone FreeScout Repository

To clone the FreeScout repository, navigate to the directory where you want to clone the repository, and run the following command.

git clone https://github.com/freescout-helpdesk/freescout

Now navigate to the cloned directory by running the following command.

cd freescout

Step 5: Install FreeScout Dependencies

Now run the following command to install FreeScout dependencies.

composer install

Step 6: Configure FreeScout

By default, a configuration file is not provided, so we need to create one.

Copy the sample configuration file by running the following command.

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and update the following configuration settings with your database details.

DB_CONNECTION=
DB_HOST=
DB_PORT=
DB_DATABASE=
DB_USERNAME=
DB_PASSWORD=

Step 7: Artisan Commands

Run the following command to install and run the application.

php artisan key:generate

php artisan migrate --seed

Step 8: Configure NGINX

Configure NGINX server blocks by running the following command.

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Add the following server blocks.

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;
    root /var/www/freescout/public;
    index index.php;
 
    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }
 
    location ~ .php$ {
        try_files $uri =404;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

Save and close the file by pressing ctrl+x and type y/n to save and exit.

Step 9: Set Permissions

FreeScout requires write permissions on the storage directory. Run the following command to set the required permissions.

sudo chmod -R 777 storage/

Step 10: Restart NGINX

Now restart the NGINX server to apply the changes you've made.

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Conclusion

That's it! You've successfully installed FreeScout on Linux Mint. You can now access FreeScout by opening your browser and navigating to http://your-server-ip-address.

We hope you found this tutorial helpful!