CentOS7Install

RT 4.4.2 installation on CentOS 7.4.1708

NOTE: Original Document was for CentOS 7.2 and RT 4.4.1 with MySQL. Updated for CentOS 7.4, RT 4.4.2 with PostgreSQL.

This document provides a quick methodology for installing RT 4.4.2 on CentOS/RHEL 7.4 for an internet-connected server. There is a separate CentOS 6.9 install at https://rt-wiki.bestpractical.com/wiki/CentOS6Install.

1. Assumptions

* Access to the internet and CentOS OS and update repositories is available.
* Installation testing was completed using CentOS 7.4.1708 minimal boot ISO.
* httpd (Apache) 2.4 and mod_fcgid Apache modules were used as the host environment.
* Testing was conducted in both KVM and vSphere environments.
* Note that the EPEL repository is not required for installation on CentOS 7.

1. OS Installation and Initial Configuration

* (!) It is possible to automate the majority of this section using kickstart files.

1. 1. Install OS.

* Install the OS from ISO or PXE boot using your normal methodology.

1. 1. Install prerequisites for RT from OS repository.

yum install expat gd graphviz openssl expat-devel gd-devel graphviz-devel  openssl-devel perl perl-CPAN wget screen mod_fcgid postgresql-server postgresql-devel
yum groupinstall "Development Tools" "Web Server"

* NOTE: We use PostgreSQL as the DB which allows us to enable full text search. (This is a change from the previous version of the document which used MySQL/MariaDB.)

1. 1. Patch OS

yum update

1. 1. Disable selinux, by editing /etc/sysconfig/selinux:

SELINUX=disabled

* reboot the OS

1. 1. Initialize the database:

postgresql-setup initdb

1. 1. Adjust local services:

systemctl enable postgresql.service
systemctl enable httpd.service
systemctl start postgresql.service
systemctl stop httpd.service

* NOTE:  httpd service needs to be stopped to allow RT web based configuration later.

1. Configure Supporting Software
   1. Configure postgres user password for postgresql, where 'xxx' is the 'password':

sudo -u postgres psql
  ALTER USER postgres PASSWORD 'xxx';
  \q

* NOTE:  This step configures the internal DB postgres password for the local instance of postgresql

1. 1. Reconfigure postgres local user access

Configure PostgreSQL to use md5 passwords (needed for RT). Edit /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf and modify the following line from peer to md5:

# "local" is for Unix domain socket connections only
#local   all         all                               ident
local   all         all                               md5

1. 1. Install CPAN minus.

curl -L http://cpanmin.us | perl - --sudo App::cpanminus

1. RT Dependencies and Installation
   1. Get RT

mkdir rt
cd rt
wget https://download.bestpractical.com/pub/rt/release/rt-4.4.2.tar.gz
wget https://download.bestpractical.com/pub/rt/release/rt-4.4.2.tar.gz.asc

1. 1. Verify downloads

* NOTE: Release notes are found at https://bestpractical.com/release-notes/rt/4.4.2
* extract the sha256sums from the release notes online and add them to a new sha256sum.txt file.

b2e366e18c8cb1dfd5bc6c46c116fd28cfa690a368b13fbf3131b21a0b9bbe68  rt-4.4.2.tar.gz
2185c2be31b352ad0a7605f9a4e4720b2c3607df75aae1c0cbace9eb9e6fcef8  rt-4.4.2.tar.gz.asc

* confirm the files:

sha256sum -c sha256sum.txt

1. 1. Extract the files

tar xvzf rt-4.4.2.tar.gz -C /tmp
cd /tmp/rt-4.4.2

1. 1. Configure RT:

./configure --enable-graphviz --enable-gd --with-web-user=apache --with-web-group=apache --with-db-type=Pg

1. 1. Configure RT to use cpanm for fixdeps:

export RT_FIX_DEPS_CMD=/usr/local/bin/cpanm

1. 1. Test the dependencies:

make testdeps

1. 1. Install the dependencies:

make fixdeps

* NOTE:  You may need to run the command more than once.  On RHEL/CentOS 6.9, you may need to manually force the addition of the GD perl module via cpanm GD --force, as there is a known issue with one of the built in tests for GD.

1. 1. Confirm dependencies:

make testdeps

1. 1. Install RT (default install is to the /opt/rt4 directory):

 make install

1. RT Configuration using Web Interface

* (!) It is possible to complete this step by editing the RT files directly, and creating the database.  Refer to the RT documentation for manual steps.

1. 1. Start the first run installation instance:

/opt/rt4/sbin/rt-server

1. 1. Configure using the web interface.

* Access the server using a web browser to access the http port.
* Configure the RT instance using the web interface.  Refer to the RT documentation.

1. 1. Shutdown the rt-server instance.

* When completed Ctrl-C the rt-server instance started above.

1. Configure RT:

* Modify RT to allow web access using a trailing /rt
* (!) This is a personal preference.  The web server example in the next section assumes /rt is used.

1. 1. Modify /opt/rt4/etc/RT_SiteConfig.pm. Add the following line:

Set( $WebPath, '/rt' );

1. Configure web server
   1. Modify /etc/httpd/conf.d/fcgid.conf. Add:

FcgidMaxRequestLen 1073741824

1. 1. Create /etc/httpd/conf.d/rt.conf:

# RT4 configuration for Apache
### Optional apache logs for RT
# Ensure that your log rotation scripts know about these files
# ErrorLog /opt/rt4/var/log/apache2.error
# TransferLog /opt/rt4/var/log/apache2.access
# LogLevel debug

AddDefaultCharset UTF-8

Alias /rt/NoAuth/images /opt/rt4/share/html/NoAuth/images/

ScriptAlias /rt /opt/rt4/sbin/rt-server.fcgi/

DocumentRoot "/opt/rt4/share/html"

<Location /rt>
  # For Centos7/Apache 2.4 this line:
  Require all granted
  # For Centos6/Apache 2.2 these two lines:
  # Order allow,deny
  # Allow from all
  Options +ExecCGI
  AddHandler fcgid-script fcgi
</Location>

1. 1. Start apache:

systemctl start httpd.service

1. 1. Modify firewalld

* Complete your firewalld configuration to suite your local requirements.
* (!) NOTE:  Depending on install method, firewalld may not be installed.  You can also stop it for testing with the systemctl stop firewalld command.

1. Installation Complete
   1. Access RT

* Connect to RT using your web browser and start your site customization.