django-helpdesk/docs/install.rst

Installation
============

django-helpdesk installation isn't difficult, but it requires you have a bit of existing know-how about Django.


Getting The Code
----------------

Installing using PIP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Try using ``pip install django-helpdesk``. Go and have a beer to celebrate Python packaging.

GIT Checkout (Cutting Edge)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you're planning on editing the code or just want to get whatever is the latest and greatest, you can clone the official Git repository with ``git clone git://github.com/django-helpdesk/django-helpdesk.git``

Copy the ``helpdesk`` folder into your ``PYTHONPATH``.

I just want a .tar.gz!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can download the latest PyPi package from http://pypi.python.org/pypi/django-helpdesk/

Download, extract, and drop ``helpdesk`` into your ``PYTHONPATH``

Adding To Your Django Project
-----------------------------

1. Edit your ``settings.py`` file and add ``helpdesk`` to the ``INSTALLED_APPS`` setting. You also need ``django.contrib.admin`` in ``INSTALLED_APPS`` if you haven't already added it. eg::

    INSTALLED_APPS = (
        'django.contrib.auth',
        'django.contrib.contenttypes',
        'django.contrib.sessions',
        'django.contrib.sites',  # Required for determing domain url for use in emails
        'django.contrib.admin',  # Required for helpdesk admin/maintenance
        'django.contrib.humanize',  # Required for elapsed time formatting
        'markdown_deux',  # Required for Knowledgebase item formatting
        'bootstrapform', # Required for nicer formatting of forms with the default templates
        'helpdesk',  # This is us!
    )

2. Make sure django-helpdesk is accessible via ``urls.py``. Add the following line to ``urls.py``::

     url(r'helpdesk/', include('helpdesk.urls')),

   Note that you can change 'helpdesk/' to anything you like, such as 'support/' or 'help/'. If you want django-helpdesk to be available at the root of your site (for example at http://support.mysite.tld/) then the line will be as follows::

     url(r'', include('helpdesk.urls', namespace='helpdesk')),

   This line will have to come *after* any other lines in your urls.py such as those used by the Django admin.

   Note that the `helpdesk` namespace is no longer required for Django 1.9 and you can use a different namespace.
   However, it is recommended to use the default namespace name for clarity.

3. Create the required database tables.

   Migrate using Django migrations::

     ./manage.py migrate helpdesk

4. Include your static files in your public web path::

      python manage.py collectstatic

5. Inside your ``MEDIA_ROOT`` folder, inside the ``helpdesk`` folder, is a folder called ``attachments``. Ensure your web server software can write to this folder - something like this should do the trick::

      chown www-data:www-data attachments/
      chmod 700 attachments

   (substitute www-data for the user / group that your web server runs as, eg 'apache' or 'httpd')

   If all else fails ensure all users can write to it::

      chmod 777 attachments/

   This is NOT recommended, especially if you're on a shared server.

6. Ensure that your ``attachments`` folder has directory listings turned off, to ensure users don't download files that they are not specifically linked to from their tickets.

   If you are using Apache, put a ``.htaccess`` file in the ``attachments`` folder with the following content::

      Options -Indexes

   You will also have to make sure that ``.htaccess`` files aren't being ignored.

   Ideally, accessing http://MEDIA_URL/helpdesk/attachments/ will give you a 403 access denied error.

7. If it's not already installed, install ``django-markdown-deux`` and ensure it's in your ``INSTALLED_APPS``::

      pip install django-markdown-deux

8. If you already have a view handling your logins, then great! If not, add the following to ``settings.py`` to get your Django installation to use the login view included in ``django-helpdesk``::

      LOGIN_URL = '/helpdesk/login/'

   Alter the URL to suit your installation path.

9. Load initial e-mail templates, otherwise you will not be able to send e-mail::

   python manage.py loaddata emailtemplate.json

10. If you intend on using local mail directories for processing email into tickets, be sure to create the mail directory before adding it to the queue in the Django administrator interface. The default mail directory is ``/var/lib/mail/helpdesk/``. Ensure that the directory has appropriate permissions so that your Django/web server instance may read and write files from this directory.

   Note that by default, any mail files placed in your local directory will be permanently deleted after being successfully processed. It is strongly recommended that you take further steps to save emails if you wish to retain backups.

   Also, be aware that if a disk error occurs and the local file is not deleted, the mail may be processed multiple times and generate duplicate tickets until the file is removed. It is recommended to monitor log files for ERRORS when a file is unable to be deleted.