How to Install Live Helper Chat on Manjaro

In this tutorial, we will walk you through the process of installing Live Helper Chat on Manjaro, a popular Linux distribution. Live Helper Chat is a free open-source live chat software for websites that allows businesses to communicate with their customers in real-time.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need to ensure that your Manjaro system is up-to-date. You can do this by running the following command in your terminal:

sudo pacman -Syu

Step 1: Install Apache and PHP

The first step is to install Apache and PHP on your system if you haven't already.

To install Apache, run the following command:

sudo pacman -S apache

To install PHP, run the following command:

sudo pacman -S php php-apache

Step 2: Install MySQL

You also need a MySQL database for Live Helper Chat to store data. To install MySQL, run the following command:

sudo pacman -S mariadb

Next, start the MySQL service with the following command:

sudo systemctl start mariadb

Run the following command to enable MySQL to start automatically at boot time:

sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Now, secure the MySQL installation by running the following command:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Step 3: Download and Extract Live Helper Chat

Next, we need to download and extract the Live Helper Chat software. You can do this by following these steps:

  1. Go to the official website of Live Helper Chat at https://livehelperchat.com/download.

  2. Download the latest version of Live Helper Chat.

  3. Extract the downloaded file to your web directory (/var/www/html) using the following command:

sudo tar xzf /path/to/live-helper-chat.tar.gz -C /var/www/html/

Step 4: Create a Database for Live Helper Chat

Now, we need to create a database for Live Helper Chat in MySQL. Follow these steps:

  1. Login to MySQL with the following command:
sudo mysql -u root -p
  1. Create a new database with the following command:
CREATE DATABASE livehelperchat;
  1. Create a new MySQL user and grant privileges to the new database with the following command:
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON livehelperchat.* TO 'lhuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'lhpassword';
  1. Exit the MySQL prompt with the following command:
EXIT;

Step 5: Configure Live Helper Chat

We are now ready to configure Live Helper Chat. Follow these steps:

  1. Rename the default configuration file with the following command:
cd /var/www/html/livehelperchat/
sudo cp settings/settings.ini.default.php settings/settings.ini.php
  1. Edit the configuration file with the following command:
sudo nano /var/www/html/livehelperchat/settings/settings.ini.php
  1. Modify the configuration settings to match your MySQL database and user credentials:
 <?php

/* Database settings */
'host' => 'localhost',
'user' => 'lhuser',
'password' => 'lhpassword',
'database' => 'livehelperchat',
'charset' => 'utf8mb4',
'adapter' => 'mysqli',

?>
  1. Save and close the configuration file.

Step 6: Configure Apache

We need to configure Apache to serve Live Helper Chat. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the Apache configuration file with the following command:
sudo nano /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
  1. Add the following lines to the file and save it:
DocumentRoot "/var/www/html/livehelperchat"

<Directory "/var/www/html/livehelperchat">
  Options FollowSymLinks
  AllowOverride All
  Require all granted
</Directory>
  1. Restart Apache for the changes to take effect with the following command:
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Step 7: Install Let's Encrypt SSL Certificate (Optional)

If you want to enable SSL for your website, you can use a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt. Follow these steps:

  1. Install Certbot with the following command:
sudo pacman -S certbot
  1. Obtain a new SSL certificate with the following command:
sudo certbot certonly --agree-tos --non-interactive --standalone -m [email protected] -d example.com
  1. Add the following lines to the Apache configuration file (/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf) and save it:
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem
  1. Restart Apache for the changes to take effect with the following command:
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Step 8: Access Live Helper Chat

Your Live Helper Chat installation is now complete. You can access it by opening your web browser and visiting the following URL:

http://localhost/livehelperchat/

If you have enabled SSL, access it using the following URL:

https://example.com/

Conclusion

That’s it! You have successfully installed Live Helper Chat on Manjaro. With this live chat software, you can now provide real-time customer support and connect with your website visitors.