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How to upgrade osTicket to v1.15.4

osTicket v1.15.4

osTicket v1.15.4 is released on October 7, 2021, its open-source ticket system. You can find full release notes at https://github.com/osTicket/osTicket/releases. For osTicket version v1.15.4 PHP version PHP 7.2-7.4 the process is the same as before just make sure you have a good backup of the database and osTicket files. There are many Enhancements, Improvements, and Security from 1.15.1 to 1.15.4.

In this post: upgrade osTicket to v1.15.4:

How to backup osTicket files on Ubuntu

How to backup osTicket database

How to upload osTicket installation files to the server from Windows 10 via PowerShell

The Upgrade process is very simple, I am doing 1.15.1 to 1.15.4

  • Make sure you have a good backup of the Database and files of osTicket
  • Then put the system in the offline mode: by going to the URL of your osTicket support ticket /scp/settings.php
  • Download the new version from https://osticket.com/download/ and choose the osTicket Core, v1.15.4 (Latest Release) don’t download any Languages or plugins, you can add them after to void issues with the upgrade process.
  • Upload to your server v. 1.15.4 and replace current files/folders from the Upload folder from your downloaded, and exclude the script folder/files. Also, Maintain the directory hierarchy any changes could cause an issue with the upgrade process or something might not work well.
    • Optional: Script folder only needed if you are using remote piping, so if you are not using remote piping you don’t need to upload.
  • Make sure NOT to replace your \include\ost-config.php which does not include in the download.

official Plugins can be downloaded and installed after the upgrade

official Documentions can be accessed, which will give you more details

Upgrade Process starts

Here is my current version: v.1.15.1:

Put the system in offline mode:

So, no one accessing the system or making any changes

Download the new version from https://osticket.com/download/

Select the osTicket Core, v1.15.4, then click Next Step

Click Next Step

Language packs, don’t add any at this time, just click Next Step

The Plugins, don’t add at this time, just click Next Step

Then you should see Subscribe to osTicket Mailing Lists, if you already subscribed, you can click on No Thanks and it will start downloading. If you have not subscribed, do filling, so you will get notification of any upgrades and security patches.

Now that you have downloaded, you can upload the installation files the best way you know of and override those that are on the server. If everything goes well you will not see anything, since this version doesn’t have any database changes.

If you look at your Dashboard Information, it should show Up to date

You can look at the system logs to see if there are any errors reported or your web server or PHP logs. You will need to update any customization you may have, test it, then once all is good you can put the system back online. Also, remove the write permission to \include\ost-config.php to secure your config. If you have customized PHP core files, those need to be re-applied after the upgrade. Also, make sure your plugins are good, if a needed upgrade to do so, make sure it supported version. if you don’t see some functions, make sure to check the permissions under Agents>Roles>PermissionsGood luck

There are many ways to backup, upload an osTicket, here is one I used that may help you, otherwise, you are all good to go, enjoy your osTicket system, Thank you to osTIcket Team for making it open source and keeping up to date.

How to backup osTicket files on Ubuntu:

Login to your server and run the following command use -r (copy recursively), and specify a current location and backup location. Note: this command is just doing backup of current osTicket files and dumping to another directory within the same server.

command: sudo cp -r /path/to/directory /path/to/backup-Location/NameOfBackup

How to backup osTicket database:

Login to your server and run the following command, Note: this is doing backup of database and dumping on the same server.

command: mysqldump NameOfosTicketDataBase > backupNameOfosTicket10.11.2021.sql -u SQLuserName -p

When you hit Enter, it will ask to enter a password, once done if you do ls command, you will see backupNameOfosTicket10.11.2021.sql or whatever you named your backup file

How to upload osTicket installation files to the server from Windows 10 via PowerShell:

This is the quickest way to upload and replace files. Please make sure the path is correct, before running the command, when you hit enter, it will ask for a password for your server.

Command: scp -r C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\osTicket-v1.15.4\osTicket-v1.15.4\upload\* userName@IPorFQDN:/var/www/osTicketDirectory

Note: the \* after the upload, if you don’t put * it will create a new directory called upload

After the upgrade, if you don’t see some functions, make sure to check the permissions under Agents>Roles>Permissions


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How to fix an Adobe reader broken by Windows update

Windows update KB5005565 breaks Adobe Reader on some computers. You can check your Windows updates to see if any pending updates, if you see it, install it and it may fix your Adobe reader issue. If that does not, try the following options.

Some computers show Save as blank

Save as blank

Option 1: Repair Adobe Reader

Open Apps & features and select Adobe Reader, then choose Change>Repair installation … Then click Next to start the repair process.

Tip: you can open Programs and Features older style by Start>Run>type appwiz.cpl then hit Enter

Repair Adobe Reader

Option 2: Unselecting online save option

Open Adobe Reader, then go to Edit>Preferences… or press Ctrl+K

Uncheck both of these options: if you are not using online storage for saving or sharing
Show online storage when opening files
Show online storage when saving files

You can find some more info on the Adobe community:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-reader-discussions/adobe-reader-not-opening/m-p/12394922/page/2

Hope this fix your Adobe issue that caused by Windows update.


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How to check if your computer is ready for Windows 11

Windows 11

Windows 11 system requirements are much higher than Windows 10, which means it will not support older hardware. Here are some lists and links in this post to help you find out if your current system is able to upgrade to Windows 11.

List of all minimum system requirements for Windows 11

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC).
Memory: 4 GB RAM.
Storage: 64 GB or larger storage device.
System firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable.
TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0.
Graphics card: Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver.
Display Resolution: High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel.
Internet connection: Microsoft account and internet connectivity required for setup for Windows 11 Home.

Your device must be running Windows 10, version 2004 or later, to upgrade. Free updates are available through Windows Update in Settings>Update and Security.

for more details on Windows 11 system requirements: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications

You can download this Check for compatibility

Once you have downloaded compatibility, open it and click on Check now

If your system hardware is newer you should see This PC meets Windows 11 requirements

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If your system hardware is newer you should see "<strong>This PC meets Windows 11 requirements</strong>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->

If you want to see details click on See all results, something like this, your specs will be different

If you have older hardware, you will see something like this: example of this PC does not have Secure Boot enable and Processor does not meet the requirement, most important TPM 2.0, which this PC does not even have.

This PC doesn't currently meet Windows 11 System requirements

You can find more info on Windows 11 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/get-windows-11 and Frequently asked questions at the bottom of the page

Download Windows 11 ISO: https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11


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How to fix boot partition free space in Ubuntu

/boot full

Here is how to free up space in the boot partition in Ubuntu, which may cause issues when trying to update or install a new application. Make sure you have a good backup and be careful running some commands, just double check typo before executing it.

To see If you are running out of boot partition space, run the following command:

command: sudo df -h

You will see how much space is in use, in this screenshot, its /boot is 100% used

/boot 100 used

You can try the following command which may clean automatically for you some unused packages.

command: sudo apt autoremove

If the above command gives you an error, then continue do following steps

find your currently active boot image by running the following command:

Command:  sudo uname -r

Output may look something like this: 4.15.0-143-generic

To list all images except for active:

Command: sudo dpkg –list ‘linux-image*’|awk ‘{ if ($1==”ii”) print $2}’|grep -v `uname -r`

Output:

linux-image-4.15.0-151-generic
linux-image-4.15.0-156-generic
linux-image-4.15.0-158-generic

To list of images:

sudo dpkg -l | grep linux-image

To remove unused images:

The numbers are based on the output command above, so if your version numbers are different, make sure you change them to match your output.

Command: sudo rm -rf /boot/*-4.15.0-{151,156,158}-*

If you run df -h command to see how much space is in use, you will it went down from 100% to 31%:

Now that you have some free space, let’s do some clean-up. If you try to clean up using apt autoremove, you may still get errors like these:

fix broken packages
some packages are broken

To Fix broken packages

You will need to fix the broken packages before you can do any other clean up, run the following command:

Command: sudo apt –fix-broken install

fixing broken packages

Now that broken packages are fixed, then re-run the autoremove command you will be able to free up disk space:

free disk space from unused packages
Freeing up disk space from unused packages

Update your system

Then re-check for any updates and install it to secure your system:

Command: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

You want to see: All packages are up to date

That’s it, hope this helped you out


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How to fix outlook error opening attachments

Cannot create file

Getting errors when trying to open an attachment from Outlook something like “cannot save the attachment.  Cannot create file: FileName.pdf. Right-click the folder you want to create the file in, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu to check your permissions for the folder.” This may be due to permission or a corrupted temp directory. Here is how to fix it, one thing you could try without doing anything is to restart the computer, if that does not fix try the following options.

Error message:

Option 1: rename temp folder

The temp folder of outlook is located at the following location: “YourUserName” which would be your own user name, anything after Content.Outlook\ would be randomly created folder name by an Outlook

Make sure your Outlook is closed, then rename to old or anything you want or simply delete it. Then re-open the outlook, it should recreate the temp folder and your attachment should be fixed

C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook\T9U9A03U\

Option 2: Regedit

Please be very careful of changes in the registry, your computer could be non-functional if you make wrong changes, so do it at your own risk. Make sure the outlook is closed

First, open the registry by going to RUN>type regedit

then search for “OutlookSecureTempFolder”

Based on your version of outlook location will be slightly different

  • Office 365 Outlook:
  • Computer\HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1014573083-3332314220-1222384373-8206\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Security
  • Outlook 2013:
  • Computer\HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1014573083-3332314220-1222384373-8311\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Security
  • Outlook 2010:
  • Computer\HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1014573083-3332314220-1222384373-8311\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security

Then change the OutlookSecureTempFolder location to somewhere you have access. Remember this is the default location, if you do change the custom, and when an update applies it may revert. When you open the outlook it should work now, you should see new random folder after your default location.

That’s it, hope this helps others out there