Getting Started - Ubuntu

Requirements

Ticaga requires the latest version of PHP, this is because we pride ourselves on being up-to date with security updates, functions and cool new features.

Minimum requirements:

Environment:

We recommend Ubuntu 22.04 on a Virtual Private server with at least 2GB RAM.

Update the server and install Apache

So let's update the server and ensure everything is ready for us to continue.

sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y

Now let's install Apache:

sudo apt install apache2 -y

Let's start and enable Apache on boot:

sudo systemctl start apache2 && sudo systemctl enable apache2

 

Install PHP

Let's install PHP:

sudo apt install php8.3 php8.3-cli php8.3-{bz2,curl,mbstring,intl,fpm,gd,mysqlnd,opcache,zip,intl,common,bcmath,readline,mbstring,apcu,xml,dom} -y

We need to install the Apache mod for PHP too:

sudo apt install libapache2-mod-php8.3 -y

 

Install Database

To use Ticaga we need a database, we recommend MYSQL, to install MySQL just run the following:

sudo apt install mysql-server -y

Now we need to start and enable the MySQL service just like Apache:

sudo systemctl start mysql && sudo systemctl enable mysql

Now you can run the MySQL installation set-up:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

This loads the installation for MySQL, find out more and the questions here.

Time to create the database and user for Ticaga:

mysql -u root -p

Enter your root password, or the new password you created in the last step.

CREATE DATABASE ticaga;
CREATE USER 'ticaga_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'p@s3w0r$2024!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON ticaga.* TO 'ticaga_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit;

ticaga = MySQL Database Name

ticaga_user = MySQL Username

p@s3w0r$2024! = MySQL Password (Please don't use this)

ticaga.* = Database name and wildcard. (You need the .*)

ticaga_user = MySQL Username

Congratulations you've now got the database ready.

Virtual Host

Now we need to create the virtual host file to show Ticaga to the world.

Let's create the ticaga configuration file, in our example we're installing on https://ubuntu.ticaga.com for testing:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/ubuntu.ticaga.com.conf

Paste and edit the following for your needs:

<VirtualHost *:80>
     ServerName ubuntu.ticaga.com
     DocumentRoot /var/www/ticaga/public
     <Directory /var/www/ticaga/public>
          Options FollowSymlinks
          AllowOverride All
          Require all granted
          <Files .env>
                Order allow,deny
                Deny from all
          </Files>
     </Directory>
     ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/ubuntu.ticaga.com_error.log
     CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/ubuntu.ticaga.com.log combined
</VirtualHost>

You need to keep the /public folder because if you don't you'll expose all the Laravel files in the Ticaga installation.

Now we need to activate our new config:

sudo a2ensite ubuntu.ticaga.com.conf

And disable the default one:

sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

Now restart Apache:

systemctl reload apache2

Let's Encrypt SSL

Now we need to install Let's Encrypt, this is a way to get a free SSL Certificate for our Ticaga installation.

This allows you to use https://ubuntu.ticaga.com instead of http://ubuntu.ticaga.com.

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y
certbot --apache

If you're using Nginx you will need to change --apache to --nginx. We recommend Apache as it's easier to maintain.

Ioncube loaders

Firstly we need to install unzip:

sudo apt-get install unzip -y

We'll need that for Ticaga later too.

Let's grab the Ioncube files:

cd /tmp;
wget -N https://downloads.ioncube.com/loader_downloads/ioncube_loaders_lin_x86-64.zip
unzip ioncube_loaders_lin_x86-64.zip

Let's move it to PHP 8.3 loaders to the correct location:

We need to find out where the loader files are stored on Ubuntu, so let's run:

php -i | grep extension_dir

ours outputs: /usr/lib/php/20230831
Now let's move the files:

sudo cp /tmp/ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_8.3.so /usr/lib/php/20230831

or if you're running PHP 8.4:

sudo cp /tmp/ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_8.4.so /usr/lib/php/20230831

Now we need to load them in the PHP.ini:

sudo nano /etc/php/8.3/apache2/php.ini

or PHP 8.4:

sudo nano /etc/php/8.4/apache2/php.ini

You'll also need to edit the CLI.ini as-well eg:

sudo nano /etc/php/8.3/cli/php.ini

 Else you won't see the ioncube loaders working.

Paste this under the [PHP] section:

zend_extension = /usr/lib/php/20230831/ioncube_loader_lin_8.3.so

Add new user for SSH

Laravel doesn't like it when you run it in root, this is for security purposes. We agree with them it's safer, however you can use root.

adduser ticaga

This creates a user called "ticaga". You should have created a password whilst you added a user.

usermod -aG sudo ticaga

This allows you to add the user "ticaga" to the sudo group, this allows you to use sudo.

Install Composer

Let's install Composer, this allows us to install all the amazing vendor files to use Ticaga:

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o /tmp/composer-setup.php

Let's run the installer:

sudo php /tmp/composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

 

Install Ticaga

Let's log into the new user we created earlier:

su ticaga

Let's give our www folder the correct permissions:

sudo chown -R $USER /var/www/

Let's go to the www folder:

cd /var/www/

Let's create the Laravel project which we will use for Ticaga:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel ticaga

Provide permissions to the ticaga folder:

sudo chown -R $USER /var/www/ticaga

Now let's go into the ticaga folder:

cd ticaga

Let's remove all the default files from Laravel:

rm -rf ./* ./.env ./.env.example

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT STEP AND DANGEROUS, ENSURE THE ./ IS BEFORE THE *, ELSE YOU WILL DELETE THE WHOLE SERVER!

If you are worried about breaking your server, please contact our support team or open a sales ticket if you have a trial license.

Let's get the latest version of Ticaga:

wget -N https://ticaga.com/latest.zip

Unzip the files:

unzip latest.zip

Let's install NodeJS for Ticaga:

sudo apt install nodejs -y
sudo apt install npm -y

Now we've done everything we need, it's time to edit the .env file for Ticaga.

sudo mv .env.example .env

and let's edit the newly created .env:

nano .env

or you can use vi to edit:

vi .env

You can now edit the main settings:

APP_NAME="Ticaga Demo"

This is your company name.

APP_URL=https://demo.ticaga.com

This is your URL to your Ticaga, sub-domain or main domain if you prefer.

DEFAULT_DEPARTMENT=support

This is your default department for tickets if the customer selects "Create ticket".

If you leave this blank it will disable the "Create ticket" button.

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=ticaga
DB_USERNAME=ticaga_user
DB_PASSWORD=p@s3w0r$2024!

These are the database name, username and password you created when doing the Database.

Let's provide the permissions for the bootstrap and storage folders:

sudo chmod -R ugo+rw bootstrap storage

Now we need to run the composer command to create the vendors folder for Ticaga, without this Ticaga won't work. We don't ship the vendors folder as it is huge:

composer install

Now we need to generate a secure App Key: 

sudo php artisan key:generate

Let's sort the storage link out so you can upload avatars:

sudo php artisan storage:link

Let's create the database tables for Ticaga:

sudo php artisan migrate

Now let's install Vite (this ensures nothing goes wrong during set-up):

sudo npm install
sudo npm install -g vite

If you see this:

added 153 packages, and audited 154 packages in 8s

37 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details

6 vulnerabilities (3 moderate, 3 high)

To address all issues, run:
  npm audit fix

Run `npm audit` for details.

Run the following:

sudo dnf module install nodejs:22 -y
sudo npm install -g npm@11.2.0
sudo npm audit fix

Lets now build Ticaga:

sudo npm run build

Reboot the server to kick Ioncube into action:

sudo reboot

Log back into the server and go to Ticaga:

cd /var/www/ticaga

Log into the username:

su ticaga

Need to replace the license management page:

sudo mv ./hot_fix/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Compilers/BladeCompiler.php ./vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Compilers/BladeCompiler.php

Load up Ticaga:

php artisan up

That's it now you have a fully working Ticaga.

Create an Agent

Now you've got your Ticaga up and running go to your installation:

eg: https://demo.ticaga.com

index.png

Now click on Register

Fill in the form, click Register.

register.png

Voila! You're the super admin of your Ticaga installation.