3.2. Linux¶

Some Linux distributions include Bugzilla and its dependencies in their package management systems. If you have root access, installing Bugzilla on any Linux system could be as simple as finding the Bugzilla package in the package management application and installing it. There may be a small bit of additional configuration required.

If you are installing your machine from scratch, Quick Start (Ubuntu Linux 14.04) may be the best instructions for you.

3.2.1. Install Packages¶

Use your distribution’s package manager to install Perl, your preferred database engine (MySQL if in doubt), and a webserver (Apache if in doubt). Some distributions even have a Bugzilla package, although that will vary in age.

The commands below will install those things and some of Bugzilla’s other prerequisites as well. If you find a package doesn’t install or the name is not found, just remove it from the list and reissue the command. If you want to use a different database or webserver, substitute the package names as appropriate.

3.2.1.1. Fedora and Red Hat¶

The following command will install Red Hat’s packaged version of Bugzilla:

yum install bugzilla httpd mysql-server

Then, you can skip to configuring your database. It may be useful to know that Fedora stores the Bugzilla files in /usr/share/bugzilla, so that’s where you’ll run checksetup.pl.

If you want to install a version of Bugzilla from the Bugzilla project, you will instead need:

yum install httpd mysql-server mod_perl mod_perl-devel httpd-devel gd-devel mysql-devel graphviz patchutils gcc 'perl(Apache2::SizeLimit)' 'perl(Authen::Radius)' 'perl(Authen::SASL)' 'perl(Cache::Memcached)' 'perl(CGI)' 'perl(Chart::Lines)' 'perl(Daemon::Generic)' 'perl(Date::Format)' 'perl(DateTime)' 'perl(DateTime::TimeZone)' 'perl(DBI)' 'perl(Digest::SHA)' 'perl(Email::MIME)' 'perl(Email::Reply)' 'perl(Email::Sender)' 'perl(Encode)' 'perl(Encode::Detect)' 'perl(File::MimeInfo::Magic)' 'perl(GD)' 'perl(GD::Graph)' 'perl(GD::Text)' 'perl(HTML::FormatText::WithLinks)' 'perl(HTML::Parser)' 'perl(HTML::Scrubber)' 'perl(IO::Scalar)' 'perl(JSON::RPC)' 'perl(JSON::XS)' 'perl(List::MoreUtils)' 'perl(LWP::UserAgent)' 'perl(Math::Random::ISAAC)' 'perl(MIME::Parser)' 'perl(mod_perl2)' 'perl(Net::LDAP)' 'perl(Net::SMTP::SSL)' 'perl(PatchReader)' 'perl(SOAP::Lite)' 'perl(Template)' 'perl(Template::Plugin::GD::Image)' 'perl(Test::Taint)' 'perl(TheSchwartz)' 'perl(URI)' 'perl(XMLRPC::Lite)' 'perl(XML::Twig)'

If you are running RHEL6, you will have to enable the “RHEL Server Optional” channel in RHN to get some of those packages.

If you plan to use a database other than MySQL, you will need to also install the appropriate packages for that.

3.2.1.2. Ubuntu and Debian¶

apt-get install git nano

apt-get install apache2 mysql-server libappconfig-perl libdate-calc-perl libtemplate-perl libmime-perl build-essential libdatetime-timezone-perl libdatetime-perl libemail-sender-perl libemail-mime-perl libemail-mime-modifier-perl libdbi-perl libdbd-mysql-perl libcgi-pm-perl libmath-random-isaac-perl libmath-random-isaac-xs-perl apache2-mpm-prefork libapache2-mod-perl2 libapache2-mod-perl2-dev libchart-perl libxml-perl libxml-twig-perl perlmagick libgd-graph-perl libtemplate-plugin-gd-perl libsoap-lite-perl libhtml-scrubber-perl libjson-rpc-perl libdaemon-generic-perl libtheschwartz-perl libtest-taint-perl libauthen-radius-perl libfile-slurp-perl libencode-detect-perl libmodule-build-perl libnet-ldap-perl libauthen-sasl-perl libtemplate-perl-doc libfile-mimeinfo-perl libhtml-formattext-withlinks-perl libgd-dev libmysqlclient-dev lynx-cur graphviz python-sphinx

If you plan to use a database other than MySQL, you will need to also install the appropriate packages for that.

3.2.1.3. Gentoo¶

emerge -av bugzilla

will install Bugzilla and all its dependencies. If you don’t have the vhosts USE flag enabled, Bugzilla will end up in /var/www/localhost/bugzilla.

Then, you can skip to configuring your database.

3.2.2. Perl¶

Test which version of Perl you have installed with:

$ perl -v

Bugzilla requires at least Perl 5.10.1.

3.2.3. Bugzilla¶

The best way to get Bugzilla is to check it out from git:

git clone --branch release-X.X-stable https://github.com/bugzilla/bugzilla

Run the above command in your home directory, replacing “X.X” with the 2-digit version number of the stable release of Bugzilla that you want - e.g. “4.4”.

If that’s not possible, you can download a tarball of Bugzilla.

Place Bugzilla in a suitable directory, accessible by the default web server user (probably apache or www-data). Good locations are either directly in the web server’s document directory (often /var/www/html) or in /usr/local, either with a symbolic link to the web server’s document directory or an alias in the web server’s configuration.

Warning

The default Bugzilla distribution is NOT designed to be placed in a cgi-bin directory. This includes any directory which is configured using the ScriptAlias directive of Apache.

3.2.4. Perl Modules¶

Bugzilla requires a number of Perl modules. You can install these globally using your system’s package manager, or install Bugzilla-only copies. At times, Bugzilla may require a version of a Perl module newer than the one your distribution packages, in which case you will need to install a Bugzilla-only copy of the newer version.

At this point you probably need to become root, e.g. by using su. You should remain as root until the end of the install. This can be avoided in some circumstances if you are a member of your webserver’s group, but being root is easier and will always work.

To check whether you have all the required modules, run:

./checksetup.pl --check-modules

You can run this command as many times as necessary.

If you have not already installed the necessary modules, and want to do it system-wide, invoke your package manager appropriately at this point. Alternatively, you can install all missing modules locally (i.e. just for Bugzilla) like this:

./install-module.pl --all

Or, you can pass an individual module name:

./install-module.pl <modulename>

3.2.5. Web Server¶

Any web server that is capable of running CGI scripts can be made to work. We have specific configuration instructions for the following:

Apache

3.2.6. Database Engine¶

Bugzilla supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle and SQLite as database servers. You only require one of these systems to make use of Bugzilla. MySQL is most commonly used. SQLite is good for trial installations as it requires no setup. Configure your server according to the instructions below:

3.2.7. localconfig¶

You should now change into the Bugzilla directory and run checksetup.pl, without any parameters:

./checksetup.pl

checksetup.pl will write out a file called localconfig. This file contains the default settings for a number of Bugzilla parameters, the most important of which are the group your web server runs as, and information on how to connect to your database.

Load this file in your editor. You will need to check/change $db_driver and $db_pass, which are respectively the type of the database you are using and the password for the bugs database user you have created. $db_driver can be either mysql, Pg (PostgreSQL), Oracle or Sqlite. All values are case sensitive.

Set the value of $webservergroup to the group your web server runs as.

Fedora/Red Hat: apache
Debian/Ubuntu: www-data
Mac OS X: _www
Windows: ignore this setting; it does nothing

The other options in the localconfig file are documented by their accompanying comments. If you have a non-standard database setup, you may need to change one or more of the other $db_* parameters.

Note

If you are using Oracle, $db_name should be set to the SID name of your database (e.g. XE if you are using Oracle XE).

3.2.8. checksetup.pl¶

Next, run checksetup.pl an additional time:

./checksetup.pl

It reconfirms that all the modules are present, and notices the altered localconfig file, which it assumes you have edited to your satisfaction. It compiles the UI templates, connects to the database using the bugs user you created and the password you defined, and creates the bugs database and the tables therein.

After that, it asks for details of an administrator account. Bugzilla can have multiple administrators - you can create more later - but it needs one to start off with. Enter the email address of an administrator, his or her full name, and a suitable Bugzilla password.

checksetup.pl will then finish. You may rerun checksetup.pl at any time if you wish.

3.2.9. Success¶

Your Bugzilla should now be working. Check by running:

./testserver.pl http://<your-bugzilla-server>/

If that passes, access http://<your-bugzilla-server>/ in your browser - you should see the Bugzilla front page. Of course, if you installed Bugzilla in a subdirectory, make sure that’s in the URL.

Next, do the Essential Post-Installation Configuration.

This documentation undoubtedly has bugs; if you find some, please file them here.