Django-Helpdesk Standalone Installation

Installation

  1. Clone the django-helpdesk repository:

    git clone git@github.com:django-helpdesk/django-helpdesk.git

  2. Go to the standalone helpdesk installation directory:

    cd django-helpdesk/standalone

  3. Execute the installation script:

    ./setup.sh

  4. Start the services:

    docker-compose up

Creating an Admin User

  1. List the running containers:

    docker ps

  2. Execute into the standalone-django-helpdesk-1 container:

    docker exec -it standalone-django-helpdesk-1 bash

  3. Change directory to the application’s root:

    cd /opt/django-helpdesk/standalone

  4. Create a superuser:

    python3 manage.py createsuperuser

  5. Visit localhost:80 in your browser to access the server. Navigate to the /admin URL to set up new users. Ensure to configure the “Site” in the admin section for ticket email URLs to function correctly.

Configuration for Production Use

  1. Update the Caddyfile to replace the localhost URL with your desired production URL.

  2. Modify the docker-compose file to adjust the paths. By default, files are stored in /tmp.

  3. For custom configurations, bindmount a local_settings.py into /opt/django-helpdesk/standalone/config/local_settings.py.

  4. To customize the logo in the top-left corner of the helpdesk:

    <style>
.navbar-brand {
    background: url("https://www.libertyaces.com/files/liberty-logo.png") no-repeat;
    background-size: auto;
    width: 320px;
    background-size: contain;
    height: 40px;
    text-align: right;
}
</style>

AWS SES Email Configuration

An example local_settings configuration for utilizing AWS SES for email:

import os

DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL = "support@bitswan.space"
SERVER_EMAIL = "support@bitswan.space"
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID = os.environ.get("AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID")
EMAIL_BACKEND = "django_ses.SESBackend"
AWS_SES_REGION_NAME = "eu-west-1"
AWS_SES_REGION_ENDPOINT = "email.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com"
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = os.environ.get("AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY")

To integrate django-ses, bindmount a file to /opt/extra-dependencies.txt containing:

django-ses

Ensure to update the docker.env file with your necessary secrets.