Thanks Rory (and Nathan and all the others) - well the decision makers here have lost patience with me and got it into their heads that they can import the 2.2.5 live database into the 2.4.4 install on our Windows test machine. So I have been given instructions to try and import the tables from the database dump from the live server into our test machine and that is what I will be doing over the next few days. Do you think this can work? But I still intend to work on the 2.2.5 install on my home PC just in case we need to fall back on it as I suspect we might. One question I have is - what is the feasibility of doing this operation on a Mac? Does the Linux architecture of the Mac OS make it easier than the Windows architecture - in fact is it simply (or not so simply!) a matter of installing OTRS 2.2.5 on a Linux like platform and then importing the database? Getting back to the "problem at hand" - are you suggesting I install 2.4.4, empty out the otrs diectory and then extract the 2.2.5 tar.gz file into the otrs directory? How exactly does that differ in substance from what I did before (namely, install 2..4.4 and replace everything in the otrs directory with everything in the otrs directory of 2.2.5)? Many thanks for your continued support Lev ________________________________ From: Rory To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Sent: Friday, 18 September, 2009 17:16:20 Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine Hi Lev, I'd agree with Nathan that the windows implementation on IIS6 isn't difficult, (and not easy either!) but at the same time you're close to completing the OTRS/MYSQL/Apache configuration. The only real trouble you're having is switchin gto the older version. Again, the reasoning behind the suggestions I made before was; 1. You'd have a similar test system compared to your live system. The only difference being OS 2. You'd have a platform from which you can test upgrade procedures 3. You'd have a platform you can backup your database to where you will not have to modify the database backup. If you were to implement on IIS6 you would lose the first 2 points above. Nathan's suggestion is a good one and if it suits your needs then it an option for you. It would require a rethink of how to go about it but don't let that put you off. Getting back to the problem at hand. I think it would be worth a try to download the 2.2.5 tar.gz file from the ftp server and extract that to your OTRS directory (the tar files don't contain the apache, perl, cron or mysql installers. Its just the OTRS application). Once that's in place try to bring up your apache web server. If it works then copy over your config.pm file and see if you can start the webserver again. Take it easy, Rory Support my 365 Challenge in aid of the Irish Cancer Society www.365challenge.ie 2009/9/18 Nathan Campbell :

It might be better to say that OTRS setup on Windows with MSSQL / IIS isn’t difficult – “easy” would be too generous. There are some extra steps that you must perform to get it up and running but it isn’t too bad.

However, seeing what it is that you want to do, what about this configuration:

Windows XP

OTRS | MySQL & IIS6

The reasons I would opt for MySQL in this case: cost, easier integration as a backup solution, consistency with live environment.

If you went with MSSQL on the Windows box, then you would have to deal with restoring MySQL database into MSSQL and who needs that hassle?

Once you have your Windows OTRS working, your failure-over process should be a snap. Granted, I am not a MySQL person; but I would expect that your process could be to take automatic backups of your live database and save them to a file share or some other location not on the live server. Could take the backup every 15 minutes, hour, whatever is best for your needs. If a failure occurs, simply take the backup and restore it to the Windows MySQL instance and you’ll be all set. It’s all about the database – once it’s all setup, you shouldn’t have to deal with modifying anything on the web server side when restoring a backup.

Nathan Campbell Dallas Symphony Orchestra

From: otrs-bounces@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-bounces@otrs.org] On Behalf Of Lev Davidovich Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 3:27 AM To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine

Thank you Nathan - I appreciate your input - sometimes a late intervention can be the most decisive one! ;-)

You have raised an issue that I must admit I had not considered until now.. Thinking about it, the only possible reason would be because our live version runs on Apache (on a Linux platform). However, all we really want to do is have a backup of our tickets on the Windows (or, as I have now realised, a Mac OS) machine and if that can be achieved with IIS rather than Apache I would certainly look into it.

In your opinion, how easy would it be to set up OTRS on a Windows machine which would then be able to import the database dumped from our live version 2..2.5 running on Apache/Linux?

Many thanks again

________________________________

From: Nathan Campbell To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Sent: Thursday, 17 September, 2009 22:31:27 Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2..5 on Windows XP machine

I’m kind of coming into the conversation a bit late in the game, but if you are running on XP, is there any particular reason to be married to Apache? You could try IIS and see how that works.

If you need some documentation to setup OTRS on Windows (I am run two instances of OTRS on W2K3 / MSSQL 2005 / IIS6) let me know.

Nathan Campbell Dallas Symphony Orchestra

From: otrs-bounces@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-bounces@otrs.org] On Behalf Of Lev Davidovich Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 4:27 PM To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine

Hi Michiel I have tried what you suggested but I am getting errors starting up Apache when I replace the files in the otrs/otrs directory with the 2.2.5 files of the same directory. As I explained in my most recent email I am unable to restart Apache 2.2 whenever I replace any of these directories:

Kernel\System

Kernel\Modules

Kernel\ cpan-lib

I thought it might be easier with if I downloaded 2.3 (the earliest windows installer) rather than the latest version but the same problem cropped up.

Is there any way of finding out which files I need to change within these directories in order to be able to restart Apache after replacing the otrs\otrs contents?

A more general question I have is - would it be easier to install on a Unix machine (or a Windows machine running VMWare)? And would the same apply to a Mac OS machine (which is a platform with IT support in our workplace)?

Thanks

________________________________

From: Michiel Beijen To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Sent: Wednesday, 9 September, 2009 11:12:31 Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine

Lev,

Yes, there are no longer windows INSTALLERS of 2.2 otrs available, because of issues with one of the bundled components. On the download servers you can download every source version back to 0.5 beta! [http://ftp.otrs.org/pub/otrs/]

What you could do is download the latest version of the Windows installer of OTRS, drop the mysql database, and load your backup database from live, clean the /otrs/otrs directory and unzip the 2.2 version you would like to use there. Copy Config.pm from the server to your Windows box but make sure you add the following line to it:

$Self->{'SendmailModule'} = 'Kernel::System::Email::DoNotSendEmail';

this because your copy system will not be sending escalations out for tickets that are long closed on live ;-) (available since otrs 2.2.6)

and you should probably also look into how OTRS fetches mails from the server on your live system. If you use pop or imap as defined in the Admin web user interface, you might want to edit crontab to NOT run PostMasterMailbox.pl

Regards,

MIchiel

On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 11:59 AM, Lev Davidovich wrote:

...

Thanks Michael. I am inclined to go down the VMWare route that both you and Rory and others suggest but I am not having much luck convincing the decision makers here!

The consensus seems to be that it is OK as a long term project but that in the short term what we need is a quick database dump followed by import into a copy of OTRS running on Windows.

Just to be clear about what you are saying -

are you saying it is no longer possible to download versions of OTRS earlier than 2.3 x and install them on Windows? Or is it only AUTOMATIC installers that it is no longer possible to download?

Where can I find an automatic installer for version 2.3 x?

I could still download version 2.2.5 from ftp://ftp.otrs..org/pub/otrs/ and install it manually (using the instructions that Afshar Mohebbi has posted ) - is that correct?

Thank you ________________________________ From: Michiel Beijen To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Sent: Wednesday, 9 September, 2009 10:36:46 Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine

Hi Lev,

Due to licensing issues there are no longer old Windows installers earlier than 2.3..x available for download.

Afshar Mohebbi has posted instructions for setting up OTRS on Windows;

http://afsharm.blogspot.com/2009/03/installing-otrs-active-perl-on-windows.h... (but this is with Microsoft SQL Server, you should just install MySQL instead)

I guess it would be good to also have instructions for manual installation on Windows...

Depending on your situation you could also install VMWare on your XP workstation with linux, just as on your server.. Then you would have a real test environment; which you can also use to test out upgrades or so. VMWare Server is available at no charge. VMWare workstation costs a little more but has lots of good features. Myself, I use VMWare server ;-)

Regards,

Michiel.

On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Lev Davidovich wrote:

...

Hi I want to install OTRS 2.2.5 on a Windows XP test machine as that is the version we have on the live server.

The automatic installer on the following page

http://www.otrs.org/download/

is only for the latest version.

Is there an automatic installer I can find for installing 2.2 on Windows?

Rory was kind enough to point out the following page with downloads of earlier versions

ftp://ftp.otrs.org/pub/otrs/

but downloading 2..2.5 from here would require a manual install on Windows.

I can't seem to find instructions to manually install version 2.2 on Windows.

I have, however, found instructions to manually install version 1.3 on Windows on the following page.

http://doc.otrs.org/1.3/en/html/install-win32.html

Is there a page with similar instructions for version 2.2 or will the instructions for 1.3 be able to do the job for me?

Thanks for your help

Lev

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Yes, that is what we do, except we are using MSSQL and I’m running OTRS in a VM. Nathan Campbell Systems Administrator Dallas Symphony Orchestra Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center Schlegel Administrative Suites 2301 Flora Street Dallas, Texas 75201 214-871-4026 - phone 214-953-1218 - fax n.campbell@DalSym.com mailto:n.campbell@DalSym.com www.dallassymphony.com http://www.dallassymphony.com "To entertain, inspire and change lives through musical excellence" Click Here To Buy Tickets http://dallassymphony.com/Buy_Tickets.aspx From: otrs-bounces@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-bounces@otrs.org] On Behalf Of Lev Davidovich Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 3:52 PM To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine Ha ha - sorry "easy" was definitely the wrong word to use in this context! ;-) Your advocacy of MySQL is convincing. The kind of automated backups you are describing is certainly what we would be aiming for. Is that how you back up OTRS data in your organisation? _____ From: Nathan Campbell To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Sent: Friday, 18 September, 2009 16:17:34 Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2..2.5 on Windows XP machine It might be better to say that OTRS setup on Windows with MSSQL / IIS isn’t difficult – “easy” would be too generous. There are some extra steps that you must perform to get it up and running but it isn’t too bad. However, seeing what it is that you want to do, what about this configuration: Windows XP OTRS | MySQL & IIS6 The reasons I would opt for MySQL in this case: cost, easier integration as a backup solution, consistency with live environment. If you went with MSSQL on the Windows box, then you would have to deal with restoring MySQL database into MSSQL and who needs that hassle? Once you have your Windows OTRS working, your failure-over process should be a snap. Granted, I am not a MySQL person; but I would expect that your process could be to take automatic backups of your live database and save them to a file share or some other location not on the live server. Could take the backup every 15 minutes, hour, whatever is best for your needs. If a failure occurs, simply take the backup and restore it to the Windows MySQL instance and you’ll be all set. It’s all about the database – once it’s all setup, you shouldn’t have to deal with modifying anything on the web server side when restoring a backup. Nathan Campbell Dallas Symphony Orchestra From: otrs-bounces@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-bounces@otrs.org] On Behalf Of Lev Davidovich Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 3:27 AM To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine Thank you Nathan - I appreciate your input - sometimes a late intervention can be the most decisive one! ;-) You have raised an issue that I must admit I had not considered until now.. Thinking about it, the only possible reason would be because our live version runs on Apache (on a Linux platform). However, all we really want to do is have a backup of our tickets on the Windows (or, as I have now realised, a Mac OS) machine and if that can be achieved with IIS rather than Apache I would certainly look into it. In your opinion, how easy would it be to set up OTRS on a Windows machine which would then be able to import the database dumped from our live version 2..2.5 running on Apache/Linux? Many thanks again _____ From: Nathan Campbell To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Sent: Thursday, 17 September, 2009 22:31:27 Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2..5 on Windows XP machine I’m kind of coming into the conversation a bit late in the game, but if you are running on XP, is there any particular reason to be married to Apache? You could try IIS and see how that works. If you need some documentation to setup OTRS on Windows (I am run two instances of OTRS on W2K3 / MSSQL 2005 / IIS6) let me know. Nathan Campbell Dallas Symphony Orchestra From: otrs-bounces@otrs.org [mailto:otrs-bounces@otrs.org] On Behalf Of Lev Davidovich Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 4:27 PM To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine Hi Michiel I have tried what you suggested but I am getting errors starting up Apache when I replace the files in the otrs/otrs directory with the 2.2.5 files of the same directory. As I explained in my most recent email I am unable to restart Apache 2.2 whenever I replace any of these directories: Kernel\System Kernel\Modules Kernel\ cpan-lib I thought it might be easier with if I downloaded 2.3 (the earliest windows installer) rather than the latest version but the same problem cropped up. Is there any way of finding out which files I need to change within these directories in order to be able to restart Apache after replacing the otrs\otrs contents? A more general question I have is - would it be easier to install on a Unix machine (or a Windows machine running VMWare)? And would the same apply to a Mac OS machine (which is a platform with IT support in our workplace)? Thanks _____ From: Michiel Beijen To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Sent: Wednesday, 9 September, 2009 11:12:31 Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine Lev, Yes, there are no longer windows INSTALLERS of 2..2 otrs available, because of issues with one of the bundled components. On the download servers you can download every source version back to 0.5 beta! [http://ftp.otrs.org/pub/otrs/ http://ftp.otrs..org/pub/otrs/ ] What you could do is download the latest version of the Windows installer of OTRS, drop the mysql database, and load your backup database from live, clean the /otrs/otrs directory and unzip the 2.2 version you would like to use there. Copy Config.pm from the server to your Windows box but make sure you add the following line to it: $Self->{'SendmailModule'} = 'Kernel::System::Email::DoNotSendEmail'; this because your copy system will not be sending escalations out for tickets that are long closed on live ;-) (available since otrs 2.2.6) and you should probably also look into how OTRS fetches mails from the server on your live system. If you use pop or imap as defined in the Admin web user interface, you might want to edit crontab to NOT run PostMasterMailbox.pl Regards, MIchiel On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 11:59 AM, Lev Davidovich wrote:

Thanks Michael. I am inclined to go down the VMWare route that both you and Rory and others suggest but I am not having much luck convincing the decision makers here!

The consensus seems to be that it is OK as a long term project but that in the short term what we need is a quick database dump followed by import into a copy of OTRS running on Windows.

Just to be clear about what you are saying -

are you saying it is no longer possible to download versions of OTRS earlier than 2.3 x and install them on Windows? Or is it only AUTOMATIC installers that it is no longer possible to download?

Where can I find an automatic installer for version 2.3 x?

I could still download version 2.2.5 from ftp://ftp.otrs.org/pub/otrs/ and ftp://ftp.otrs.org/pub/otrs/%C2%A0and install it manually (using the instructions that Afshar Mohebbi has posted ) - is that correct?

Thank you ________________________________ From: Michiel Beijen To: User questions and discussions about OTRS. Sent: Wednesday, 9 September, 2009 10:36:46 Subject: Re: [otrs] Install OTRS 2.2.5 on Windows XP machine

Hi Lev,

Due to licensing issues there are no longer old Windows installers earlier than 2.3..x available for download.

Afshar Mohebbi has posted instructions for setting up OTRS on Windows; http://afsharm.blogspot.com/2009/03/installing-otrs-active-perl-on-windows.h... (but this is with Microsoft SQL Server, you should just install MySQL instead)

I guess it would be good to also have instructions for manual installation on Windows...

Depending on your situation you could also install VMWare on your XP workstation with linux, just as on your server. Then you would have a real test environment; which you can also use to test out upgrades or so. VMWare Server is available at no charge. VMWare workstation costs a little more but has lots of good features. Myself, I use VMWare server ;-)

Regards,

Michiel.

On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Lev Davidovich wrote:

...

Hi I want to install OTRS 2.2.5 on a Windows XP test machine as that is the version we have on the live server.

The automatic installer on the following page

http://www.otrs.org/download/

is only for the latest version.

Is there an automatic installer I can find for installing 2.2 on Windows?

Rory was kind enough to point out the following page with downloads of earlier versions

ftp://ftp.otrs.org/pub/otrs/

but downloading 2..2.5 from here would require a manual install on Windows.

I can't seem to find instructions to manually install version 2.2 on Windows.

I have, however, found instructions to manually install version 1.3 on Windows on the following page.

http://doc.otrs.org/1.3/en/html/install-win32.html

Is there a page with similar instructions for version 2.2 or will the instructions for 1.3 be able to do the job for me?

Thanks for your help

Lev

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