FreeScout - Open Source, Self Hosted Team and Client Communication based on Team Email Access

[@rajatcn]

Awesome tutorial! Covered so many gotchas that a new installation might run into

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Glad it helped!

[@rajatcn]

​@@AwesomeOpenSource Today I tried to follow your instructions and set it up, but been stuck for a couple hours. freescout-app log keeps repeating '[WARN] ** [freescout] MySQL/MariaDB Server 'freescout-db' is not accessible, retrying..' every 5 seconds. freescout-db log (which I don't think ever completes loading) is stuck at: 2023-02-02.18:08:43 [NOTICE] ** [monitoring] Container configured for monitoring with 'zabbix classic' 2023-02-02.18:08:43 [NOTICE] ** [scheduling] Disabling Scheduling sed: /etc/logrotate.d/mariadb: No such file or directory 2023-02-02.18:08:44 [WARN] ** [mariadb] MariaDB directory already present, skipping database creation 2023-02-02.18:08:44 [NOTICE] ** [mariadb-backup] Disabling scheduled backups 2023-02-02.18:08:44 [STARTING] ** [mariadb] [1] Starting MariaDB 10.6.7 2023-02-02.18:08:44 [STARTING] ** [monitoring] [1] Starting Zabbix Agent (classic) 6.0.0 Could you PLEASE help?

[@kasoma70]

as always another awesome open source tutorial, hat off Brain

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Glad you liked it!

[@tambow44]

Great! Worth mentioning that you can use wget on the URL of that docker “raw” file, and this will save a copy of that file directly; saves a bit of time & might teach some newbies, but most importantly it removes any PIBKAC.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Indeed, wget is a great technique. I just use the Raw page because I'm already there talking about the project anyway. Great tip.

[@henslyyung6221]

Great Video consice esplanation. Note: I create the .yml file in notepad++ so its easier to select the variable which highlights it in the full file. easy to see where needs to be updated then once done copy paste to location.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Great tip! Thanks for watching!

[@AaronMcElwee]

We started using this last month. It’s been worth the time and money. The modules do cost some money. With google kicking all the business off of workspace we decided to bring some things in house.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Excellent! Love it when viewers are using something I cover...and especially when they like it!

[@AjSaini]

Hi AaronMcElwee, can you please share if possible where you are hosting the freescout application is it in house local server -if yes which OS are you using if VPS - which provider - i tried few and did not have any good luck but i really like the application overall Thank You

[@LeonGames]

We use this for halve a year now and it's awesome! We have 9 email addresses that are connected with the software and everything goes to the right location and the right people can answer the correct mail. We do use some of the modules, the workflow one is incredibly useful and mentions is a must if you work with a team! 10/10 would recommend if you want to self host the software and save a few bucks down the road.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

That is awesome. I always love to hear that others have used it and like it when I do a video on a piece of software! Thanks for that.

[@AjSaini]

Hi Leon, can you please share if possible where you are hosting the freescout application is it in house local server -if yes which OS are you using if VPS - which provider - i tried few and did not have any good luck but i really like the application overall Thank You

[@AjSaini]

Hi Leon, can you please share if possible where you are hosting the freescout application is it in house local server -if yes which OS are you using if VPS - which provider - i tried few and did not have any good luck but i really like the application overall Thank You

[@abhaynav]

how to install this for Windows , can you please make video for that

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

This runs in docker, so it's the same setup. You'll want to install docker for Windows. Or you can use WSL and put docker in there.

[@arneddil]

Fantastic walkthrough. I love how you have not edited out the mistakes, so that we can learn from them. And the detailed walkthrough of the system is very much appreciated! 10/10! 🤩🙏

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

If you can learn from my mistakes, then it's a win for us both. Thanks my friend.

[@aml4057]

How to setup nginx proxy manager

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

This one is a little older, and the compose file is a bit simpler now, but follow the video, and use their newer compose file in the same manner (the database isn't needed anymore), and it should come up and running for you. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHO5lKGuic58gpIsi=02CKRH3nrcbMEFo2

[@SifuLukasWingTsun]

Thank for the great tutorial. I installed freescout on my shared hosting and it works nice as well. Email Responses are being forwarded from the customer and pulled in the database. However, if I respond to the notification email as admin, the email is not beeing proccesed. As a supporter I can only respond in the system. Is this expected behaviour?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I'm not sure. You might ask the Freescount folks. But doesn't seem like it would be expected to work that way.

[@SifuLukasWingTsun]

@@AwesomeOpenSource thanks

[@munroegarrett]

It looks very very similar to Help Scout. Is there any relation or is there a risk that Help Scout will shut it down?

[@alka4711]

It is a self hosted clone of HelpScout.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

The only relation is that they made a aclone that is open source, and that you can self host.

[@MeseretChilotaw]

I don't know how I can open the docker folder.as your docker folder is already opened, I still can't know how I can open it. please tell me the steps?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

To jump into the docker container (think of it like ssh to another machine), you can use the command "docker -it exec /bin/bash", sometimes, you need to use "/bin/sh" instead of "/bin/bash", just FYI.

[@prodism5235]

Anybody also not able to invite new user via "Send invite e-mail" ? It says error sending e-mail please check logs. When I check logs it says under Status "Send error." Thanks for another great video Brian!

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I'm sorry you're having issues. Does it send and receive as you expect from the tickets area?

[@EthanDavids]

19:46 Error when I click on the domain name it shows we're having trouble finding this site

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I would have to know more about what you're trying to do with the URL, how is it setup, etc.

[@felixyoutuber]

Can you create sub task on every ticket? Say a ticket requires another person’s action so we want to create another task. A ticket can’t be closed until tasks has been resolved or closed

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Not sure of all the fine details, and the add-on modules may provide more capability, but check out their documentation to see if you find what you're looking for.

[@bobanmarjanovic974]

Sent you a message on rocketchat, your site! Anyways great video!

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Thank you.

[@sidneyking11]

Question, if I have server at home that is behind a unify security gateway, should I setup a proxy too? when should a proxy be used?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

So, yes. The proxy is behind your firewall. You forward ports 80 and 443 to your proxy, and then let that direct traffic around your local network as needed. This can help mitigate random requests for non-existent sites, as the proxy will have an entry for each site you run, and should give a generic response for any requests for a domain / url that you don't have setup or served.

[@ImAManMann]

A proxy between any and everything that touches the internet. I do it security for a dod contractor.

[@djastars5909]

TNice tutorials is really well done Mike, thanks for putting the ti and energy into tNice tutorials.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Glad you like them!

[@loky]

Is there any way to install FreeScout via CyberPanel?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I don't know if cyberpanel gives you the ability to do thee tings, but here is their manual installation guide. github.com/freescout-helpdesk/freescout/wiki/Installation-Guide

[@loky]

@@AwesomeOpenSource I lack the knowledge to do it right, maybe you can? I am willing to pay for instructions on how to install freescout via cyberpanel or at least on the same VPS server where cyberpanel + wordpress.

[@mfonobongisine4902]

Hello, I'm following this exact tutorial, using the no proxy docker compose file and I used the ip address of my laptop as my site url variable, I used port 8252 as well. But I get, "'this site cant be reached"" when accessing trying to access the login page. Please I need your guidance, thank you.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Definitely check the logs for docker and see if you see any other issues. for docker-compose you can check the logs with docker-compose logs -f.

[@Secretly-Based]

Clients want to text us for support and honestly i'm happy with it but need a centralized system for it.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Interesting. Haven't seen one for SMS that's self hosted...but I'll look around.

[@SteveDICAY]

Have you tried systems using automation like iftt ? Or maybe chat systems that support sms ?

[@enochleffingwell6624]

I don't understand any of this. How would I go about paying someone to install free scout for me? This is all going way over my head.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Definitely contact FreeScout first. This is likely a service they offer, along with a support option, which it sounds like would be beneficial for you at this point. Once you are more comfortable with the system, and managing it, you can cancel support if you don't feel it's necessary anymore.

[@iowawizkid1]

Shout out to Apache project - Openfire server with Pade client

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Nice!

[@LONEWARRIORR]

Hi brother, where i get my customer side page for fresscout

[@MeseretChilotaw]

is installing nginx,docker desktop and other prerequisite is a must?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Not the Reverse Proxy, NginX Proxy Manager, no. You can use any reverse proxy you want, or just point he DNS A-Record to your public IP address for the server you run FreeScout on. It highly depends on your networking setup.

[@samuelhulme8347]

You don’t need Docker Desktop, you can use plain restriction-less Docker Engine.

[@zaPp0]

hey i have a few questions. is the server exposed to the internet and have you set an a record on your DNS provider in order to be able to get the LE certificate? i dont want to expose our server to the internet and dont want to give it a internet DNS name. is there a way to get nginx to give the server a HTTPS certificate without exposing? or am i missing something here?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

You can still get LetsEncrypt certificates by using the DNSchallenge. Essentially, you put a special TXT record in your Registarr (or DNS providers) DNS settings for your domain, and then you can get certificates issued based on that challege instead of LetsEncrypt being able to reach your server.

[@zaPp0]

@@AwesomeOpenSource our DNS provider is not beeing listed there. (Domain Factory)

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

You may have to ask over on the NPM github or reddit for that one. It may not be hard, but may take a bit more work. It also may depend on whether they have an API available, but I don't know fully what's involved in setting up a DNS challenge.

[@aloisconterio3273]

I'm trying setting this up, but UFW blocks NPM for some reason, i allowed port 80 81 and 443 but with UFW enabled i just get a 504 error. Anyone had a similar problem? should i setup other rules? (I'm running this on a cloud VPS)

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Not sure how your VPS is setup, but in Digital Ocean, I can run my server with no firewall on it, and instead put a firewall in front of it wheere I allow or block ports as needed. A separate appliance firewall essentially. That said, UFW shouldn't be blocking it if you are telling it to allow traffic on those ports. Now, freescout does depend on email to work, so may depend on where you're running the email server as well.

[@aloisconterio3273]

Hello and thanks for the video and for the reply. The email server is on a different machine, but i haven't configured it yet since I first want to make sure that everything works. if i disable UFW NPM works as it should and serves me the freescout login page if i go to the domain, as soon as UFW get's enabled NPM is unable to serve me the page so i'm confident it has something to do with the firewall. I'll try doublechecking my configuration with the article on the wiki @@AwesomeOpenSource

[@aloisconterio3273]

@@AwesomeOpenSource I have an update, if i add to UFW a rule allowing the port i set freescout on (8252 like in the wiki) NPM is able to serve freescout on port 80. but allowing that port defeats the purpose of using NPM. maybe i'm using the wrong ip address for the proxy host destination?

[@yourpcmd]

Anyway to do an updated video on Mail-In-A-Box? And perhaps any way to do it using Docker?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

It's in my plan for our Building a Business series... so it's coming!

[@kevtun4981]

I’d love some help in setup here 🙏🏻

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

If you want to jump over to discuss.opensourceisawesome.com, and post questions in the "help-me-please" channel, I'll see if I can help, or if anyone else can.

[@seyonrajagopal]

the reason you were getting the wierd issue with the text editor and theme changing was you dark reader extension.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I'm sure that's it.

[@MostafaAlboushi]

thanks for all your great videos ,i followed your instructions to deploy and run free scout it worked on private network as desired but when i used our domain and https i am stuck with 502/504 errors all the time even i repeated the whole installation many times with the same errors i think something is missing in the configuration ANY suggestion guys :D

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Not sure why adding the host name (URL) would cause any issues. You may jump over and post on their forums to see if they can help. Also, are you proxying through Cloudflare? Sometimes that can cause issues, and configuration changes are needed.

[@SteveDICAY]

The free version is rather limited. Without paying, it doesn't much more than a webmail. The only thing you can do is to assign a user to a mail. The calendar is a free module. But even assigning a customer to a mail is paying.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Indeed, they support the open source side, and continued development through their modules, but again, many of the modules are not overly expensive.

[@SteveDICAY]

@@AwesomeOpenSource indeed, it's not expensive. But I just wanted to test a new installation with the functionality to choose a customer. I thought it was too basic to be paying.

[@SteveDICAY]

@@AwesomeOpenSource I installed the freemius module from the community modules and it crashed. I had to go in the database and delete the line. Renaming the folder didn't work. Just to let you know. Maybe because I didn't have freemius installed and it searched for a file. I was wondering if you knew an alternative to freescout. There are many support app, but freescout is the only one I know that connect directly on imap. It can work as a support solution, but it can also work as a shared email system.

[@nilukapriyadarshani2779]

Just make one for soft soft mobile

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Is this a request for an install video?

[@TechySpeaking]

First

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

indeed.