Tutorial - How to Install Request Tracker on Windows 11

In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing Request Tracker on Windows 11. Request Tracker is a free and open-source issue tracking system that allows organizations to manage and improve their workflow.

Prerequisites

Before starting the installation process, please make sure you have the following prerequisites:

  • Windows 11 installed
  • Administrative access to your system
  • A web server running on your system (e.g. Apache, IIS, nginx)

Step 1 - Download Request Tracker

Go to the official website of Request Tracker at https://www.bestpractical.com/rt/ and download the latest stable version of Request Tracker for Windows.

Step 2 - Install Dependencies

Request Tracker requires a set of dependencies to be installed on your system. Please follow the instructions below to install the dependencies:

  1. Download and install Strawberry Perl for Windows.
  2. Install MySQL or PostgreSQL on your system. You can choose any of the two databases, depending on your preference.
  3. Install the required Perl modules using the following command in the Command Prompt:
cpan -i CPAN MySQL PostgreSQL DBD::mysql DBD::Pg

Step 3 - Configure Request Tracker

After installing the dependencies, we need to configure Request Tracker before we can use it. Follow the following steps to configure Request Tracker:

  1. Extract the Request Tracker archive to your web server's document root directory.
  2. Rename the extracted folder to "rt".
  3. Navigate to the "rt_install_dir/etc" directory and open the "RT_SiteConfig.pm" file with a text editor.
  4. Modify the following lines according to your server settings:
Set($DatabaseType, "mysql"); # or "Pg"
Set($DatabaseHost, "localhost");
Set($DatabaseName, "rtdb");
Set($DatabaseUser, "rtuser");
Set($DatabasePassword, "rtpass");
  1. Save the file and close it.

Step 4 - Install Request Tracker

Now that we have configured Request Tracker, we can install it by following these steps:

  1. Open the Command Prompt.
  2. Navigate to the "rt_install_dir/bin" directory.
  3. Run the following command:
perl rt-test-dependencies --with-mysql --with-pg --install
  1. This command will install any other missing dependencies required by Request Tracker.
  2. After the installation of dependencies is completed, run the following command to initialize the database:
perl rt-setup-database --action install --dba rtuser --prompt-for-dba-password
  1. Now you are ready to use Request Tracker.

Step 5 - Access Request Tracker

To access Request Tracker, open your web browser and go to the following URL:

http://<your-server-IP>/rt/

Replace <your-server-IP> with the IP address of your web server. You should now see the Request Tracker login page.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to install Request Tracker on Windows 11. If you followed these steps correctly, you should now be able to use Request Tracker to manage your organization's workflow.