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1.2. Installing HelpSpot

Completing the HelpSpot installation shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Before starting, make sure you download HelpSpot and have your customer ID and license file available.

Note, if you are using the HelpSpot Windows Installer you can proceed to directly running the installer and following the on screen instructions. All steps below will be completed for you automatically by the installer.

1. Install the Zend Optimizer

If on a shared hosting machine Zend Optimizer will most likely already be installed. However, contact your hosting provider to verify or run the test file as outlined below. If you host your machine, you may need to install the optimizer.

You can check to verify Zend Optimizer is installed by creating a test php file on your server with the following lines in it:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

In the browser, go to the test page and you should see reference to the Zend Optimizer in the first blue box you see on the page. It should look something like the image below. Note that it says Zend about 4 times in the box but only the last line indicates that the Zend Optimizer is installed.

If it's not installed you should download and install the optimizer now. Installation is easy and is covered in the guide which comes with the free download of the optimizer.

Optimizer Downloads

2. Create your database

The HelpSpot installer will not create your database. This must be done prior to moving on to the installer. Make sure to note the database name, username, password, and database host (often localhost) for the database.

Make sure the database user has the proper permissions to create tables within the database.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 note: Be sure to check "Use full text indexing" when creating the database

3. Upload to the server

FTP or SFTP the HelpSpot archive file (helpspot.tar.gz or helpspot.zip) to your server. Once there, decompress the archive file, on *nix machines the following command should work: tar -xzvf helpspot.tar.gz . If you're on a Windows machine extract the archive with WinZip or a similar program. Move the files to the web root you intend to use for HelpSpot.

Note: you may install HelpSpot at the root of a domain (support.example.com) or in a folder below the root (i.e. www.example.com/myproduct/support/)

4. Configuration file

In the base directory of your installation you'll find a file called config-empty.php. Open this file and fill in the required database and host variables:

  • cDBTYPE - This should be one of the following: mysql, mssql, postgres_helpspot
  • cDBHOSTNAME - The host domain/IP of the database (ex: db1.myco.com, localhost)
  • cDBUSERNAME - Database username
  • cDBPASSWORD - Database users password
  • cDBNAME - Name of the database
  • cHOST - The full URL to your HelpSpot installation with no trailing slash. (ex: http://www.myco.com/support, http://help.myco.com)

After the details are filled in you must rename the file config.php before continuing.

Microsoft SQL Server note: The database user must be a SQL Server user and must use SQL authentication

5. Run the installer script

The installer script is located in the root of your HelpSpot directory (support.myco.com/installer.php). Run the installer via your browser and follow the instructions on screen. Delete the installer script when installation is complete.

Note that there are still more steps below

Common issues to be aware of:

  • You get a "file corrupted" error or "fatal error". This occurs when you decompress the HelpSpot download on your own machine and try to upload the files to your server individually. Some FTP/SFTP software will corrupt the files because they are encoded. You can either try again, telling the FTP/SFTP software to upload .php files as binary or simply upload the entire HelpSpot archive file and decompress it on the server as described above.
  • You get a message from Zend. This means the optimizer is not installed. Follow the directions above.
  • On Windows you may need to uncomment the appropriate lines in your PHP.ini file to enable the extensions for MS SQL, GD, IMAP. These lines should be in your ini file without the leading semicolon similar to this: 
    extension=php_imap.dll
extension=php_gd2.dll
extension=php_mssql.dll

    All 3 extensions are included with the latest version of PHP from php.net. If you're running an older version of PHP you may also need to download the .dll file from php.net. You will need to restart your web server after making the PHP.ini changes.
  • You get a blank white screen in the installer. This is usually because the HelpSpot PHP files do not have proper execute permissions. It may also be because you are running a version of PHP too old for HelpSpot. It's recommended that you run at least 4.3.10. PHP 5 is also supported and recommended.

 

5.a Microsoft SQL Server

If you're using SQL Server you need to manually create your full text indexes. Please follow these instructions for creating the indexes.

MS SQL Server 2000
MS SQL Server 2005

6. Final Step - Automation

After successfully running the installer your HelpSpot installation is ready for use. However, to integrate with your email accounts, perform automation rules, and use reminders you'll need to setup two scheduled tasks to run the scripts below. Both scripts are located in the root of your HelpSpot installation (i.e. support.example.com/tasks.php).

File Description Run It
tasks.php Email integration, trash removal, and reminders Every 1-5 minutes
tasks2.php Automation rules Once a day (more if needed)

Linux/Unix systems should setup a cron job and Windows users can setup a scheduled task (see vbs script link below). If you are unsure how to setup the scheduling, please check with your system administrator as this varies from system to system.

It's recommended that you limit the IP's which can call these scripts. This can be done in Admin->Settings->System.

It's also useful to note that the scripts can be run via your browser by going to the URL above if you need to manually check it or if your hosting company runs scheduled tasks via HTTP. When you go there via your browser you should only see a blank white page, this is intentional.

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