Freescout

Stack

FreeScout is the super lightweight free open source help desk and shared inbox written in PHP (Laravel framework) – self hosted clone of HelpScout.

Configuration

Type

Compose

Platform

linux

Source

Repo

Template by xneo1·Source

Services

freescout-db

Configuration

Image

mariadb

Volumes

/var/lib/mysql : /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/db

Env vars

MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=rootpassMYSQL_USER=freescoutuserMYSQL_PASSWORD=freescoutpassMYSQL_DATABASE=freescout

Restart

on-failure:5

Image details

Pulls: 3.2B

User: stackbrew

Created: Nov 25, 2014

Updated: 2 days ago

Status: active

freescout

Configuration

Image

tiredofit/freescout:latest

Ports

5135:80

Volumes

/data : /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/data/www/logs : /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/logs/

Env vars

ADMIN_EMAIL=yourownemailADMIN_PASS=mariushostingSITE_URL=https://freescout.yourdomain.comENABLE_SSL_PROXY=trueDB_HOST=freescout-dbDB_NAME=freescoutDB_USER=freescoutuserDB_PASS=freescoutpass

Restart

on-failure:5

Image details

Pulls: 1.3M

User: tiredofit

Created: Nov 04, 2018

Updated: 3 months ago

Status: active

Standalone Install

Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying Freescout

Installation method

Docker Run

Docker Compose

Install on Portainer

Import all app templates into your Portainer instance, for easy 1-click deploys

Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
Log into your Portainer web UI
Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
Select Freescout, fill in any config options, and hit Deploy

Template Import URL

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json

Show Me

Original stackfile

The compose file this template deploys, straight from its repo:

services:
  freescout-db:
    image: mariadb
    container_name: Freescout-DB
    hostname: freescout-db
    mem_limit: 1g
    cpu_shares: 768
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "mysqladmin ping -P 3306 -prootpass | grep 'mysqld is alive' || exit 1"]
    volumes:
      - /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/db:/var/lib/mysql:rw
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: rootpass
      MYSQL_USER: freescoutuser
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: freescoutpass
      MYSQL_DATABASE: freescout
    restart: on-failure:5

  freescout:
    image: tiredofit/freescout:latest
    container_name: Freescout
    hostname: freescout
    mem_limit: 1g
    cpu_shares: 768
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    healthcheck:
      test: curl -f http://localhost:80/ || exit 1
    ports:
      - 5135:80
    volumes:
      - /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/data:/data:rw
      - /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/logs/:/www/logs:rw
    environment:
      ADMIN_EMAIL: yourownemail
      ADMIN_PASS: mariushosting
      SITE_URL: https://freescout.yourdomain.com
      ENABLE_SSL_PROXY: true
      DB_HOST: freescout-db
      DB_NAME: freescout
      DB_USER: freescoutuser
      DB_PASS: freescoutpass
    restart: on-failure:5
    depends_on:
      freescout-db:
        condition: service_healthy

Or deploy it directly from the source:

git clone https://github.com/xneo1/portainer_templates
cd portainer_templates
docker compose -f Template/Stack/freescout.yml up -d

More install options in our documentation.

Container Documentation

freescout-db Documentation

MariaDB Server is a high performing open source relational database, forked from MySQL.

freescout Documentation

Dockerized Freescout Helpdesk

Serve Freescout on your own domain behind Caddy, Nginx or Traefik. Fill in your domain and copy the result. It's a starting point, some apps need their own base URL or extra headers set too.

Proxy Domain App port Upstream

Proxying freescout.example.com to http://freescout:80

Add this to your Caddyfile

freescout.example.com {
	reverse_proxy http://freescout:80
}

Check the logs first

Nine times out of ten the logs tell you exactly what went wrong.

In Portainer, go to Containers, click the container, then Logs. Or run docker logs <container>
Exit codes help too: 137 means killed, usually out of memory. 126 or 127 means the command inside the image is broken.

Port already in use

If deployment fails with "Bind for 0.0.0.0:5135 failed: port is already allocated", something else on your server is using that port.

Find what's using it: sudo ss -tlnp | grep :5135
Stop the other service, or pick a different host port. In 5135:80 only the left number is yours to change, the right one belongs to the app.

Running but the page won't load

The container is up but nothing appears in your browser.

Use your server's real IP: http://your-server-ip:5135. The 0.0.0.0 link Portainer shows isn't a real address.
Give it a minute after first deploy, freescout can take a while to initialise.
Make sure your firewall allows the port, e.g. sudo ufw allow 5135

Permission denied on volumes

If the logs show "permission denied", the app can't write to its data folder on the host.

Fix the ownership: sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/db (and the same for the other mapped folders)

Image won't pull

Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull mariadb

"manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists. This template uses latest, so try pinning a specific version instead.
"toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with docker login to raise it.
"no space left on device" means a full disk. Reclaim space with docker system prune

"exec format error"

This means the image was built for a different CPU architecture than your server.

Check yours with uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.

Stack won't deploy

Compose stacks fail fast on small mistakes, and Portainer shows the reason just above the editor.

YAML only accepts spaces for indentation, a single tab breaks the whole file.

Raise an issue

Found something which isn't working as it should? Here's how to report it.

Bug within the app: Open an issue within freescout's repo
Template not working: Open an issue on xneo1/portainer_templates
This website not working: Open an issue on lissy93/portainer-templates

A Compose stack

Freescout is a Compose stack, a set of containers (2 of them) defined in one file and brought up together by Portainer, then started and stopped as a single app.

The services

This stack is built from 2 containers that run side by side. Here's each one, with the image it runs and anything it waits for first:

freescout-db runs mariadb
freescout runs tiredofit/freescout:latest, starts after freescout-db

Ports

A port is the door the app answers on. A mapping like 5135:80 means it's reachable on port 5135 of your server, where the left number is yours to change and the right one belongs to the app. Once it's running, open http://your-server-ip:5135 in a browser. It opens:

5135:80, likely the web interface

Volumes

A volume is where Freescout keeps its files so they survive an update or a restart. Without one, anything it saves would sit inside the container and vanish the moment it's recreated. This template mounts:

/var/lib/mysql from /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/db on the host
/data from /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/data on the host
/www/logs from /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/freescout/logs/ on the host

Environment variables

Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. Freescout takes 12 of them, all with defaults you can leave alone or tweak:

MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD, defaults to rootpass
MYSQL_USER, defaults to freescoutuser
MYSQL_PASSWORD, defaults to freescoutpass
MYSQL_DATABASE, defaults to freescout
ADMIN_EMAIL, defaults to yourownemail
ADMIN_PASS, defaults to mariushosting
SITE_URL, defaults to https://freescout.yourdomain.com
ENABLE_SSL_PROXY, defaults to true
DB_HOST, defaults to freescout-db
DB_NAME, defaults to freescout
DB_USER, defaults to freescoutuser
DB_PASS, defaults to freescoutpass

Restart policy

The restart policy here is on-failure:5, so Freescout won't come back on its own after a crash or reboot. You bring it up again whenever you're ready. You can change this on the deploy screen. The choices are no (never restart), on-failure (only after a crash), unless-stopped (restart unless you stop it), and always (bring it back no matter what).

Networking

Portainer puts these services on one shared private network, so they can find each other by name (like freescout-db) while only the ports above are open to you.

Platform

The platform is linux, the kind of system the container is built to run on. Docker and Portainer handle this on a normal Linux server.

Portainer app templates

Zooming out, this whole page comes from a Portainer app template: a short recipe telling Portainer how to set Freescout up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying Freescout is a click rather than a wall of config.

Freescout

Configuration

Services

freescout-db

Configuration

Image details

freescout

Configuration

Image details

Standalone Install

Install on Portainer

Template Import URL

Container Documentation

freescout-db Documentation

freescout Documentation

Proxy configurator

Troubleshooting

Check the logs first

Port already in use

Running but the page won't load

Permission denied on volumes

Image won't pull

"exec format error"

Stack won't deploy

Raise an issue

Config glossary

A Compose stack

The services

Ports

Volumes

Environment variables

Restart policy

Networking

Platform

Portainer app templates