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"

Enter name of role to add: 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
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