Newbie confusion

I’ve got RT running and I’m trying to figure out how it works. Is
there any kind of tutorial? Is there a searchable archive of mailing
list? My primary confusion at the moment has to do with rights and
ownership. E.g., I create a ticket while logged into RT as myself, in
a queue that I have full rights to, and I can’t see the ticket–but
root can.

-Dave

Dave,

One thing that tripped me up early on in RT was making sure that I didn’t
have excess search criteria listed on the search page. I would always end up
making my searches so restrictive that no tickets showed up. Once I learned
to delete some of those, a lot more tickets started showing up. Also, note
that if you requested a ticket, at the very least, it should always show up
on your home page under “25 highest priority tickets I requested”, assuming
it’s among the 25 highest priority tickets you’ve requested. :slight_smile:

–Verlin-----Original Message-----
From: rt-users-admin@lists.fsck.com
[mailto:rt-users-admin@lists.fsck.com]On Behalf Of Dave Sill
Sent: Friday, November 22, 2002 2:13 PM
To: rt-users@lists.fsck.com
Subject: [rt-users] Newbie confusion

I’ve got RT running and I’m trying to figure out how it works. Is
there any kind of tutorial? Is there a searchable archive of mailing
list? My primary confusion at the moment has to do with rights and
ownership. E.g., I create a ticket while logged into RT as myself, in
a queue that I have full rights to, and I can’t see the ticket–but
root can.

Dave Sill wrote:

I’ve got RT running and I’m trying to figure out how it works. Is
there any kind of tutorial?

http://fsck.com/rtfm/

Is there a searchable archive of mailing
list?

Phil Homewood, Systems Janitor, www.SnapGear.com
pdh@snapgear.com Ph: +61 7 3435 2810 Fx: +61 7 3891 3630
SnapGear - Custom Embedded Solutions and Security Appliances

Dave Sill wrote:

I’ve got RT running and I’m trying to figure out how it works. Is
there any kind of tutorial?

http://fsck.com/rtfm/

That’s a manual, not a tutorial. I was looking for more of a
step-by-step click-this, type-that procedure to set up a queue, queue
owner, and a couple users. The information is probably all there in
the manual, but to a newbie trying to get started, there’s a lot of
set-up that has to be done once RT is installed and it’s not obvious
what needs to be done and how things should work.

I’m still having trouble not seeing messages in a queue to which I
have full rights. I’m using rt-mailgate to send messages to my queue,
but I can’t see them logged in as myself. Root sees them fine, and, if
I change ownership to me, I can see them as myself.

Is there a searchable archive of [the] mailing list?

Resources — Best Practical Solutions

Thanks, missed the search link.

-Dave

I’m not an RT expert, but I think trying to accomplish these tasks will
get you well on your way.

  1. create a user.
  2. create a queue.
  3. setup the mailgate to process email to the queue (I use qmail, so my
    way
    is probably different than yours)
  4. add the user to the queue using the user rights.
  5. groups work quite similarly.
  6. make the user a Watcher of said queue (Admin is good, because it
    Bcc’s)
  7. add queue scrips: OnCorrespond NotifyAdminCCs with template
    Transaction and OnCorrespond NotifyRequestors with template
    Correspondence.
  8. send an email to the queue.
  9. login as the user and manipulate the ticket. take it, open it,
    comment, reply. Note the difference between comments and replies.

all of these things are in the manual.

The key (I think) to managing RT is the queues. You need to have the
right queues with the right members and permissions for it to be useful
to your ‘customers’. Spend some time playing with RT. Spend more time
thinking about what divisions will benefit everyone. Remember that
queue changes, while possible, create pain.

I haven’t really played with keywords at all.

rickOn Mon, 25 Nov 2002, Dave Sill wrote:

Phil Homewood pdh@snapgear.com wrote:

Dave Sill wrote:

I’ve got RT running and I’m trying to figure out how it works. Is
there any kind of tutorial?

http://fsck.com/rtfm/

That’s a manual, not a tutorial. I was looking for more of a
step-by-step click-this, type-that procedure to set up a queue, queue
owner, and a couple users. The information is probably all there in
the manual, but to a newbie trying to get started, there’s a lot of
set-up that has to be done once RT is installed and it’s not obvious
what needs to be done and how things should work.

I’m still having trouble not seeing messages in a queue to which I
have full rights. I’m using rt-mailgate to send messages to my queue,
but I can’t see them logged in as myself. Root sees them fine, and, if
I change ownership to me, I can see them as myself.

Is there a searchable archive of [the] mailing list?

Resources — Best Practical Solutions

Thanks, missed the search link.

-Dave


rt-users mailing list
rt-users@lists.fsck.com
http://lists.fsck.com/mailman/listinfo/rt-users

Have you read the FAQ? The RT FAQ Manager lives at http://fsck.com/rtfm

Rick Rezinas 503-889-7091
Unix Systems Administrator
Qsent, Inc.

When Gladstone was British Prime Minister he visited Michael Faraday’s
laboratory and asked if some esoteric substance called `Electricity’
would ever have practical significance.
“One day, sir, you will tax it,” was the answer.
– Science, 1994

I’m not an RT expert, but I think trying to accomplish these tasks will
get you well on your way.

  1. create a user.
  2. create a queue.

Done. User “de5”, queue “de5-todo”.

  1. setup the mailgate to process email to the queue (I use qmail, so my
    way is probably different than yours)

I use qmail too. Here’s what I used:

|preline /usr/local/rt2/bin/rt-mailgate --queue de5-todo --action correspond

Not sure what actions are available, what each does, and which is
right, though.

  1. add the user to the queue using the user rights.

I gave de5 all rights to de5-todo. Not sure, aqain, what each does,
and which I really need. I believe these are documented in the guide.

  1. groups work quite similarly.
  2. make the user a Watcher of said queue (Admin is good, because it
    Bcc’s)

What does that accomplish? It works without it, and I get two e-mails
for each new ticket to the correcspondence address.

  1. add queue scrips: OnCorrespond NotifyAdminCCs with template
    Transaction and OnCorrespond NotifyRequestors with template
    Correspondence.

OK.

  1. send an email to the queue.

That works.

  1. login as the user and manipulate the ticket.

That’s working today, too, though when I tried this Friday, the new
tickets were created, but de5 couldn’t see them until root made him
the owner.

take it, open it,
comment, reply. Note the difference between comments and replies.

Got it.

all of these things are in the manual.

I realize that. I just think there’s room for a quick-start
guide. (Yes, if stick with RT long enough, I’ll contribute one.)

The key (I think) to managing RT is the queues. You need to have the
right queues with the right members and permissions for it to be useful
to your ‘customers’. Spend some time playing with RT.

That’s exactly what I’m doing.

Spend more time thinking about what divisions will benefit everyone.
Remember that queue changes, while possible, create pain.

I haven’t really played with keywords at all.

Thanks for the advice, Rick.

-Dave

Dave Sill wrote:

I’ve got RT running and I’m trying to figure out how it works. Is
there any kind of tutorial?

http://fsck.com/rtfm/

That’s a manual, not a tutorial. I was looking for more of a
step-by-step click-this, type-that procedure to set up a queue, queue
owner, and a couple users.

http://fsck.com/rtfm/article.html?id=2#50

Phil Homewood, Systems Janitor, www.SnapGear.com
pdh@snapgear.com Ph: +61 7 3435 2810 Fx: +61 7 3891 3630
SnapGear - Custom Embedded Solutions and Security Appliances

At 10:00 25.11.2002 -0500, Dave Sill wrote:

Dave Sill wrote:

I’ve got RT running and I’m trying to figure out how it works. Is
there any kind of tutorial?

http://fsck.com/rtfm/

That’s a manual, not a tutorial. I was looking for more of a
step-by-step click-this, type-that procedure to set up a queue, queue
owner, and a couple users. The information is probably all there in

I think there shouldn’t be. Administration is not tutorial “click here,
type that” stuff. Its “understand here, thinkabout that” stuff. :wink:

the manual, but to a newbie trying to get started, there’s a lot of
set-up that has to be done once RT is installed and it’s not obvious
what needs to be done and how things should work.

When I installed it first (wasn’t long ago) I did it the trial and error
way. And it worked out fine.

Best regards,
Nils

Dave Sill wrote:

I’ve got RT running and I’m trying to figure out how it works. Is
there any kind of tutorial?

http://fsck.com/rtfm/

That’s a manual, not a tutorial. I was looking for more of a
step-by-step click-this, type-that procedure to set up a queue, queue
owner, and a couple users.

http://fsck.com/rtfm/article.html?id=2#50

Yeah, I followed that when I installed RT, and it was a help. I was
looking for something a little more detailed, and including some usage
examples.

If it doesn’t exist–which is apparently the case–that’s OK, I’ll
muddle along like everyone else.

-Dave

[snip]

http://fsck.com/rtfm/article.html?id=2#50

Yeah, I followed that when I installed RT, and it was a help. I was
looking for something a little more detailed, and including some usage
examples.

If it doesn’t exist–which is apparently the case–that’s OK, I’ll
muddle along like everyone else.

Hello Dave,
I think it’s near impossible to do a ‘basic setup scenario’ for RT.
I’ve installed RT for a number of locations, and from company to
company, there seem to be very different expectations regarding RT,
most of which are fulfilled. RT is a very generic, malleable piece of
software - that’s what makes it so great. There is almost no need to
change Your way of working when introducing RT, except if You want it
that way. At our office for example, RT is more of a documenation and
centralized communication convenience, whereas in other places it is
used to manage administration and support task on a very formal level,
including analyses of worked time per ticket and so on.

Normally, You should first sit down and write up what You want to
achieve with RT, then look up in the archives if someone has done
something similar. If yes, try to understand what needed to be done to
achieve his goals. If no, You might have gotten an idea about how RT
works nonetheless by perusing the archives. If You have an interesting
problem or a setup that has not been discussed before, feel free to ask
the list. More often than not, the bright minds on this list will be
able to give You the right hints to do the Right Thing™.

If all else fails, it’s quite easy to hire someone, even Jesse the man
himself, to help You out. It’s not that expensive.

Regards,
Harald

PS: I could try to do this in an even more inflated manner for the
manual ‘how to get along with RT…’ if anybody thinks that is a good
idea.

Harald Wagener * FCB/Wilkens * An der Alster 42 * 20099 Hamburg