Request Tracker

This guide will get Request Tracker 4 setup working, with support for emails sent to an mlmmj mailing list to be inserted first into the ticket system, then sent on to mlmmj. It is intended for a HelpDesk-type deployment. This howto assumes that you have a working postfix setup already.

Note: This document has been tested on Alpine Linux 2.2.2, but contains some packages which are currently in the edge/testing repository.
Note: Use a computer with at least 512MB of RAM.

Initial package installation and setup

• add edge/main repository to /etc/apk/repositories

printf "http://nl.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main" >> /etc/apk/repositories apk update

• apk add lighttpd fcgi postgresql rt4 postfix postfix-pcre mlmmj

• Edit /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf and enable fastcgi

• /etc/init.d/postgresql setup

• /etc/init.d/postgresql start

• su - postgres -c "createuser -P rt_user"

Enter password for new role: rtpass
Enter it again: rtpass
Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) n
Shall the new role be allowed to create databases? (y/n) y
Shall the new role be allowed to create more new roles? (y/n) y

Setup RT4 environment

• cp /etc/rt4/RT_Config.pm /etc/rt4/RT_SiteConfig.pm

• chmod 644 /etc/rt4/RT_SiteConfig.pm

• Setup RT_SiteConfig.pm with proper queue name, link to your organization's homepage, support postgresql, set outbound email defaults.
  • /etc/rt4/RT_SiteConfig.pm:

Set($rtname, 'support');
Set($Organization, 'example.com');
Set($WebDomain, 'fqdn.in.example.com');
Set($OwnerEmail, 'RTAdmin@example.com');
Set($LogoLinkURL, 'http://www.example.com/');
Set($LogoAltText, 'Example.com Support');
# Set($LogoURL, );

Set($DatabaseType, 'Pg');
Set($DatabaseUser, 'rt_user');
Set($DatabasePassword, 'rtpass');
Set($DatabaseName, 'support_rt');

Set($LogToSyslog, 'warning');

Set($MailCommand, 'sendmailpipe');
Set($SendmailArguments , '-fpostmaster@example.com -oi -t');
Set($ParseNewMessageForTicketCCs, 1);
Set($UseTransactionBatch, 1);
Set($CorrespondAddress, 'support@example.com');
Set($CommentAddress, 'support@example.com');
Set($RecordOutgoingEmail, 0);
Set($ForwardFromUser, 1);
Set($SetOutgoingMailFrom, 1);
Set($FriendlyFromLineFormat, '"%s" <%s>');

• /usr/sbin/rt-setup-database --action init --dba postgres

• rt-server

• Test and make sure that you can access rt using the built-in webserver first.
  • Tools -> Config -> Users -> Create
  • Username: Support-lists, Email: support-lists@example.com, etc -> Create
  • Tools -> Config -> Groups -> Create
  • Name: Support Users, etc -> Create
  • Tools -> Configuration -> Queues -> Create... Give it a name like 'support', and set support-list@example.com to be both reply and comment addresses. Remember the name 'support' which you'll use in the next sections (including the email address)

Modify Postfix Configuration for RT4 and mlmmj

• adduser mlmmj
• mkdir /var/spool/mlmmj
• mlmmj-make-ml.sh -L support-list
• Support sending bcc to list
  • touch /var/spool/mlmmj/support-list/control/tocc
• Allow support@example.com to send to list without being subscribed to it
  • mlmmj-sub -L /var/spool/mlmmj/support-list -a support@example.com -n
• Add to /etc/postfix/master.cf:

rt4    unix  -       n       n       -       -       pipe flags=DORhu user=lighttpd argv=/usr/bin/rt-mailgate --queue $nexthop --action correspond --url http://fqdn.in.example.com/
mlmmj  unix  -       n       n       -       -       pipe flags=DORhu user=mlmmj argv=/usr/bin/mlmmj-recieve -F -L /var/spool/mlmmj/$nexthop

• Add to /etc/postfix/main.cf:

myhostname = mx1.example.com
mydomain = mx1.example.com
relay_domains = example.com
recipient_delimiter = +
transport_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/transport

• Create /etc/postfix/transport (and run "postmap transport" after editing):

support@example.com        rt4:support
support-list@example.com   mlmmj:support-list
postmaster@example.com     local:
example.com                error:No such mailbox.

• Edit /etc/postfix/aliases for the postmaster alias (and run "newaliases")
• Allow users to create tickets by email by checking all General Rights for group Everyone in Tools -> Configuration -> Global -> Group Rights

Lighttpd configuration

• Stop rt-server
• /etc/lightttpd/lighttpd.conf:

include "rt4.conf"

• /etc/lighttpd/rt4.conf:

server.modules += ("mod_fastcgi")

$HTTP["host"] == "fqdn.in.example.com" {
        server.document-root = "/usr/share/rt4/html"
        index.file-names = ( "index.html" ) 

        fastcgi.server = ( "/" =>
             ((
                "bin-path"      => "/usr/sbin/rt-server.fcgi",
                "socket"        => "/var/run/lighttpd/rt4.socket",
                "check-local"   => "disable",
                "fix-root-scriptname" => "enable"
              )),
          )
}

• /etc/init.d/lighttpd start

Final RT4 configuration

• Login to http://fqdn.in.example.com (your RT server)
  • Add AdminCC for Support Users to support queue
  • New template called 'Support Users Correspondence' (anyone you add to Support Users group will have their outbound email rewritten to 'Support Team' instead of their realname

{ 
  my $output = undef;
  my $groups = $Transaction->CreatorObj->OwnGroups();
  while( my $group = $groups->Next ) {
    my $queue = $Ticket->QueueObj;
    my $realname = $queue->Description;
    my $email = $queue->CorrespondAddress || RT->Config->Get('CorrespondAddress');
    $output = 'From: "' . $realname . '" <' . $email . '>' if $group->Name eq 'Support Team';
  }
  $output;
}
RT-Attach-Message: yes 

{$Transaction->Content()} 

• • Edit Resolved template and add the following to the end:

{
 my $old_user = $Ticket->CurrentUser;
 $Ticket->CurrentUser( $RT::SystemUser );
 my $batch = $Ticket->TransactionBatch;
 my $comment;
 if( !$batch || !ref($batch) ) {
   $RT::Logger->info("TransactionBatch stage is disabled,
                     fallback to last comment.
                     Turn on TransactionBatch stages for acurate results.");
   my $transactions = $Ticket->Transactions;
   $transactions->Limit( FIELD => 'Type', VALUE => 'Comment' );
   $transactions->OrderByCols( { FIELD => 'Created',
                                 ORDER => 'DESC' },
                                 { FIELD => 'id',
                                   ORDER => 'DESC' } );
   $transactions->RowsPerPage(1);
   $comment = $transactions->First;
 } else {
   $comment = (grep { ($_->Type eq 'Comment')? 1: 0;} @$batch)[0];
 }
 $OUT = " ";
 if ( $comment ) {
   $OUT = "Resolution:\n";
   $OUT .= ("-"x76) ."\n";
   $OUT .= $comment->Content;
 }
 $Ticket->CurrentUser( $old_user );
} 

• Test that inbound and outbound emails, creating tickets by email and replying to ticket emails works as expected:
  • Emails from end-users should be sent to support@example.com
  • Those emails are either created as a new ticket in RT, or if the subject line contains a ticket ID, then it's inserted into the appropriate ticket
  • Ticket comments and correspondence will be sent on to support-list@example.com, which is an mlmmj list, which can be subscribed to using support-list+subscribe@example.com
  • The RT4 web interface is available at http://fqdn.in.example.com

Upgrading RT

Upgrading the web interfaces should be easy as upgrading any Alpine package

apk add -u rt4

Now upgrade the database:

rt-setup-database --dba postgres --datadir /etc/rt4/upgrade --action upgrade

Answers to the questions asked.