Due to the popularity, good feedback, and support requests we received for our original request tracker guide, we decided to respond to a request to look at how to automate this installation a bit more than the previous guide. So, we created an install script that installs Request Tracker 5.0.7 from a base Ubuntu server to the point of the web UI login. An overview diagram is below.
Below is the Bash installation script to install Request Tracker (RT) 5.0.7 on an Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS base server. (Should work on any Debian-based system 😉). This script assumes a fresh system, installs the necessary dependencies, downloads RT 5, configures it with MariaDB as the database, and sets up Apache as the web server. It’s designed to be run as root (using sudo) and includes basic error handling.
Please note:
- This script is tailored for a typical setup and may need adjustments based on your specific environment.
- It uses the latest stable version of RT 5 (5.0.7) available as of March 2025
- You should first review and test this script in a non-production environment.
The script used for this install can be found here -> https://hendgrow.com/ugs/hendgrow_auto_install_rt5.sh
—Guide Start Here—
Login to your Ubuntu server. (Ubuntu install guide)
Download the RT auto-install script.
wget https://hendgrow.com/ugs/hendgrow_auto_install_rt5.shMake it executable
sudo chmod +x hendgrow_auto_install_rt5.sh
Now let us kick it off
sudo ./hendgrow_auto_install_rt5.sh
During the installation, you will receive prompts that require a response. Below, I have captured the responses we used for the prompts during the creation of this walk-through guide.
1st prompt: Would you like to configure as much as possible automatically? [yes] –> Response = yes
Note: Don’t be concerned about seeing the MISSING messages. the script will rectify this at a later stage.
2nd prompt: Continue anyways? [y] –> Response = y
3rd prompt: Check for a new version of the Public Suffix List? [N] –> Response = N
4th prompt: Do you want to run external tests? These tests *will* *fail* if you do not have network connectivity. [n] –> Response = n
5th prompt: These test will detect if there are network problems and fail soft, so please disable them only if you definitely dont’t want to have any network traffic to external sites. [Y/n] –> Response = Y
6th prompt: Do you want to build the XS Stash module? [y] –> Response = y
7th prompt: Do you want to use the XS Stash by default? [y] –> Response = y
8th prompt: Password: –> Just press the return/enter key.
Open your browser and enter the IP Address of your server. In our example it is
192.168.2.125
Login with Username = root & Password = password
How to remove the “Possible cross-site request forgery” message RT 5.0.7 will show when making changes via the Web UI.
Edit the RT_SiteConfig.pm and add your server’s IP Address. this will remove the “Possible cross-site request forgery” message.
Steps below:
sudo vi /opt/rt5/etc/RT_SiteConfig.pm
Set( $WebDomain, 'your-servers-ip' );
or
Set( $WebDomain, 'your-domain' );
Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart apache2
—End—
If you would rather have the Virtual machine in OVA format we used in this guide? Reach out details on our contact page.
If you got to this stage of the guide, congratulations you now have a basic installed and working instance of Request Tracker 5.0.7! There is still a lot to do, like configuring the domain to use and linking it, SSL, RT email gateway, task scheduler, full-text search, general system security etc etc.
This guide does not cover server/application hardening, or security as it is a broad topic dependent on many variables and not the aim of this guide. That’s potentially for a future guide should there be demand.
You should always harden your servers by default!
Some useful links:
Secure your MariaDB installation – https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mysql_secure_installation/
Apache2 Security Tips – https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/misc/security_tips.html
Ubuntu Security and Server hardening – https://ubuntu.com/security
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