How to Install OpenSupports on NixOS Latest

OpenSupports is a free open source ticket system for customer support, which helps businesses to organize and solve their customer complaints quickly and easily. In this tutorial, we will explain how to install OpenSupports on NixOS Latest.

Requirements

A server with NixOS Latest installed
A user account with sudo privileges

Step 1: Update the System

Before installing OpenSupports, it's advisable to update your system packages to the latest version. To update the NixOS system, open the terminal and run the following command:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch --upgrade

This command will update all the installed packages to their latest versions.

Step 2: Install PostgreSQL

OpenSupports requires a PostgreSQL database to run. To install PostgreSQL, run the following command:

sudo nix-env -i postgresql

This command will install the PostgreSQL database on your server.

Step 3: Create a PostgreSQL User and Database

Now that PostgreSQL is installed, you need to create a new user and database for OpenSupports. To do so, first, move into the PostgreSQL terminal using the command below:

sudo -u postgres psql

Once you are in the PostgreSQL terminal, run the following command to create a new PostgreSQL user:

CREATE USER opensupportsuser WITH PASSWORD 'strong_password';

Replace 'strong_password' with a secure password of your choice.

Now, create the OpenSupports database by running the following command:

CREATE DATABASE opensupportsdb WITH OWNER opensupportsuser;

This will create a new database named 'opensupportsdb' with the owner as 'opensupportsuser.'

Step 4: Install OpenSupports

To install OpenSupports, you need to clone the OpenSupports git repository to your system as shown in the command below:

sudo git clone https://github.com/opensupports/opensupports.git /var/www/opensupports

This command will clone the OpenSupports git repository to '/var/www/opensupports.'

Next, you need to create a new config file for OpenSupports. Copy the sample config file using the command below:

sudo cp /var/www/opensupports/config.php.sample /var/www/opensupports/config.php

After that, open the OpenSupports configuration file using a text editor of your choice as shown in the command below:

sudo nano /var/www/opensupports/config.php

Modify the following settings in the configuration file with your PostgreSQL database details:

'host' => 'localhost', // Add the hostname of your PostgreSQL server
'dbname' => 'opensupportsdb', // Add the name of the database you created earlier
'user' => 'opensupportsuser', // Add the PostgreSQL user you created earlier
'password' => 'strong_password', // Add the password of the PostgreSQL user you created earlier

Once you have made these changes, save the file and exit the text editor.

Step 5: Configure OpenSupports

OpenSupports requires a secret key to operate. To generate the secret key, run the following command:

sudo php /var/www/opensupports/framework/oss generate:key

This command will generate a new OpenSupports secret key, which you need to copy and paste in the 'application_secret' configuration value in the OpenSupports config file.

Step 6: Permissions

For OpenSupports to work correctly, the webserver must have access to the files. To do this, you need to change the ownership of the OpenSupports directory to the webserver user.

Run the following command to change the ownership:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/opensupports

Step 7: Configure Nginx

OpenSupports requires a web server to function. In this tutorial, we will be using Nginx.

Before configuring Nginx, you need to install it using the command below:

sudo nix-env -i nginx

After installing Nginx, you need to create a new Nginx virtual host file and configure it for OpenSupports. Create the new virtual host file using the command below:

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

Add the following configuration to the file:

server {
  listen 80;
  server_name your_domain.com;

  location / {
    root /var/www/opensupports/;
    index index.php;

    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
  }

  location ~ \.php$ {
    include fastcgi_params;
    fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php-fpm.sock;
    fastcgi_index index.php;
    fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
  }
}

Replace 'your_domain.com' with your domain name or server IP address.

Save the file and exit the text editor.

Enable the virtual host by creating a symlink:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/opensupports /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

After enabling the virtual host, restart Nginx using the command below:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 8: Install PHP and Extensions

OpenSupports requires PHP 7.0 or later to run. In this tutorial, we will be installing PHP 7.4 along with some required extensions.

To install PHP and the required extensions, run the following command:

sudo nix-env -i php php-fpm php-pdo php-pdo_pgsql php-ctype php-curl php-gd php-json php-mbstring php-session php-xml php-zip

Step 9: Configure PHP

After installing PHP, you need to modify the PHP configuration file to optimize the server for OpenSupports. To do this, open the PHP configuration file using the command below:

sudo nano /etc/php/php.ini

Find the following lines in the file:

max_execution_time = 30
memory_limit = 128M

And replace them with:

max_execution_time = 300
memory_limit = 256M

Save the file and exit the text editor.

Step 10: Final Steps

After completing the above steps, you can access OpenSupports by visiting your server's domain name or IP address in a web browser. The first time you visit the site, you will be prompted to create an administrator account.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed OpenSupports on NixOS Latest.