If deciding to run IIS with php, this section provides some pointers to get started. There is lot of information online to get you started with a LAMP environment for your choice of a *nix variant. IDesk comes tested on PHP 53, 5.4 and 5.5. Support for 5.6 and 5.7 will be available soon.

PHP / MySQL

To get started here, it is expected that core OS and a web server has already been installed. This section provides some info on getting started with PHP 5.3.29, MySQL 5.x for a Windows environment.

Once completed, installing iDesk is just a matter of running the installer (your-server-address/install) which will guide you through the setup process.

Some references:

http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.php

download the windows binaries from http://windows.php.net/download/ or go to 

http://php.iis.net/ and read further on http://www.iis.net/learn/application-frameworks/install-and-configure-php-on-iis to setup MySQL if required.

If installing PHP yourself, make sure to enable database libraries in php.ini file. Pls refer to the section Configuring PHP for more information on setting up the right PHP environment.

Note: XAMPP is an easier webserver setup tool. Read more here: http://www.apachefriends.org

Once the server (VM) is running

Windows Tasks (if using Windows VM)

• Provide License
• Setup Server’s Date & Timezone
• Setup scheduled task*
• Setup Networking

 (*NOT required to set this up if using one of the pre-built VMs. Is pre-configured.)

Done!

Windows Tasks (if setting up your own)

Remember to setup Windows “Scheduled task” to run the following file every 2 minutes or whatever is acceptable in your environment.

/utils/kickron.php

(Note: running every 2 minutes means all automation tasks in the system like escalating tickets and stamping breach or due time calculations are run every 2 minutes. Change it to 5 minutes if that is enough or to 1 minute if you wish to have finer grained control.)

Refer section Schedule Tasks and Cron for more information.

Linux Tasks (if using Linux flavour)

The linux VM runs in “headless mode” which means it boots into text only mode without loading GUI files.

Once server boots, follow instructions on screen

• Setup Date
• Setup Networking
• Setup cron*

(*NOT required to setup cron if using one of the prebuilt VMs. Cron has already been setup!)

Done!!

If installing Idesk with your own webserver and php/database

You can also get idesk as a zip file. Unzip it to your web folder and run the installer from your-server-address/install

[Do remember to remove or rename the install folder later]

Follow instructions to complete the process. Note: You should have db credentials available before you start the installation.

Please do make sure you are installing on the right OS depending on your choice of database connection. Installing on a *nix host will not be able to provide connections to a Microsoft SQL server instance (unless you are from the brave band wagon of administrators who like to get your hands dirty with FreeTDS or similar!). In this case, you should install on a Windows OS.