Click here if you want to upgrade to a newer version of ActivDesk for upgrade instructions.
Step 1. UNZIP THE .ZIP ARCHIVE IN WHICH ActivDesk CAME
Unzip the .zip archive in which ActivDesk came.
Step 2 - CREATE A DATA DIRECTORY
Create a directory called 'support_data' or whatever you would like to name it. Place it somewhere where the web server cannot access it's contents. Another way of saying this would be to say that you need to create a 'support_data' directory where it cannot be accessed from a web browser when users are browsing your web site.
Do not create this directory in your public HTML folder because it can create security risks. Also do not create this directory in your cgi-bin directory. If you are unsure about where to place this directory, contact your host and ask them where you can place data files used by your cgi scripts so that the public cannot view it's contents.
Fictional Examples where you can create it:
Create it in for example:
/home/yourdomain.com/support_data
Let's say that your cgi-bin directory is situated under: /home/yourdomain.com/cgi-bin
Let's also say your public HTML directory is situated under: /home/yourdomain.com/www
Step 3 - COPY/FTP DATA FILES AND ASSIGN PERMISSIONS
When you unzipped the .zip archive of ActivDesk, a 'data' directory should have been extracted. Transfer it's contents to the 'support_data' directory you have just created in the previous step.
Now, assign permissions of 777 to the 'support_data' directory. Also assign permissions of 777 to the files that you just transferred to the 'support_data' directory.
How do I set/assign permissions to directories and files?
Step 4 - COPY/FTP CGI SCRIPTS
When you unzipped the .zip archive of ActivDesk, a 'cgi' directory should have been extracted. Copy/Ftp all the files in the cgi directory to your cgi-bin directory on your host. Please note that the cgi directory that was unzipped contains a subdirectory for the 'admin' files. This directory is called 'admin'. Also create this sub directory in your cgi-bin directory and copy/ftp the 'admin' cgi scripts to this directory.
You can also for example place the files inside your cgi-bin directory like this:
You can for example place the general program script files here:
/cgi-bin/support
and the admin script files here:
/cgi-bin/support/admin
Step 5 - SET PERMISSIONS OF .cgi AND .pm FILES TO 755
Set the permissions of all the .cgi and .pm files that you transferred to your cgi-bin directory to 755 except config.cgi
How do I set/assign permissions to directories and files?
Step 6 - ASSIGN PERMISSIONS OF 777 TO config.cgi
Assign the permission setting of 777 to config.cgi which you just copied/ftp'ed with the rest of the .cgi and .pm files.
Step 7 - CREATE A DIRECTORY TO STORE IMAGE FILES
Create a directory called 'html' or whatever you want to call it in your public HTML document tree. Your public HTML document tree would be where you store the public HTML files of your web site. Do not create this directory under your cgi-bin directory.
Create it for example in your public HTML directory as follows:
http://www.yourdomain.com/support_images/
or
http://www.yourdomain.com/helpdesk/
Step 8 - COPY/FTP IMAGE FILES OF THE 'HTML' DIRECTORY
When you unzipped the zip archive in which ActivDesk came, there were 3 directories. Ftp/copy the contents of the 'html' directory to the directory you have created in the above step.
Step 9 - SET UP THE SYSTEM FROM THE WEB
Run setup.cgi from your web browser. setup.cgi is located in the admin directory where you copied the admin cgi scripts.
You should type something like the example below to execute setup.cgi in your browsers:
http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/admin/setup.cgi
Installation of ActivDesk should be very easy if you follow the installation instructions exactly as described in the installation steps.
In a lot of cases, simply going over the steps of the installation instructions might solve the problem.
Is the permissions of the 'data' directory set to 777 ?
To set the permissions of the 'data' directory, do the following:
Step 1
Ftp or Telnet or SSH into your hosting account.
Step 2
Set permissions of the 'data' directory to 777
How do I set/assign permissions to directories and files?
Is the permissions of the files in the 'data' directory set to 777 ?
Step 1
Ftp or Telnet or SSH into your hosting account.
Step 2
Set all the files that you transferred to the 'data' directory
to the permission setting of 777
How do I set/assign permissions to directories and files?
Is the path to the perl interpreter in the .cgi files correct?
If you are not sure where your perl interpreter is located, telnet/ssh into your hosting account/server and type the following at the prompt: which perl
This command will display the location of perl.
You may also contact your host and ask them what the path to your Perl program is. Most virtual hosting accounts comes with extensive documentation that should provide you with the path to Perl.
If the path to Perl is not correct do the following to correct it:
Open all cgi scripts with a text editor and ensure that the first line which reads
#/usr/bin/perl is set to the correct path where your perl interpreter resides.
If it is not set to the correct path of perl, please change the path to the correct location of your perl interpreter. You will have to open all scripts to set the path of perl if the current path is not correct.
Does all the .cgi and .pm files have the correct permissions?
Ensure that all the .cgi and .pm script files have permissions set to 755 - Also ensure that config.cgi has the permission setting of 777
The upgrade should take minutes and is a very simple process.
To upgrade your existing copy of ActivDesk, do the following:
1. Download the latest version and unzip the files that comes with the .zip archive.
2. Replace all your existing ActivDesk .cgi and .pm files with the new ones that came with the .zip archive. Do not replace config.cgi - Note that it is very important that you don't replace this file with the one that comes with the .zip archive. If you replace config.cgi you will need to supply paths via setup.cgi again as config.cgi contains all the configuration paths.
3. Ensure that all .cgi and .pm files you transferred has the permission setting of 755 on your host.
1. Inside the .zip archive there is 3 directories named 'cgi', 'data' and 'html'. Transfer all the files located inside the 'html' directory to the 'html' directory you created to place ActivDesk image files when it was first installed. Replace any existing files. You where instructed to create this directory in Step 7 of the installation instructions when ActivDesk was installed for the first time.
2. Go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Now click on 'Registration Form (register.html) Preview'
Add the following HTML code to the template between the <form> tags:
!!letterboxes!!<br>
Please type the letters as they are listed above:<br>
<input type="text" name="letterboxes" size="41">
3. Go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Now click on 'Registration with Quick Post Form (regpost.html) Preview'
Add the following HTML code to the template between the <form> tags:
!!letterboxes!!<br>
Please type the letters as they are listed above:<br>
<input type="text" name="letterboxes" size="41">
4. Go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Now click on 'Registration with Quick Post Form Individual Categories (regpost2.html)'
Add the following HTML code to the template between the <form> tags:
!!letterboxes!!<br>
Please type the letters as they are listed above:<br>
<input type="text" name="letterboxes" size="41">
5. Go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Now click on 'Post a New Support Ticket (newmsg.html)'
Add the following HTML code to the template between the <form> tags:
!!letterboxes!!<br>
Please type the letters as they are listed above:<br>
<input type="text" name="letterboxes" size="41">
6. Go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Now click on 'Reply Fill-in-Box (replybox.html)'
Add the following HTML code to the template between the <form> tags:
!!letterboxes!!<br>
Please type the letters as they are listed above:<br>
<input type="text" name="letterboxes" size="41">
7. Go to the Control Panel >> Template Manager >> Now click on 'KB Entry Page (kb_epage.html)'
Add the following HTML code to the template between the <form> tags:
!!letterboxes!!<br>
Please type the letters as they are listed above:<br>
<input type="text" name="letterboxes" size="41">
