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KeyHelp Installation

To install KeyHelp, it is enough to call a single command. After that, the wizard will guide you through the installation. During the installation, all the necessary services will be installed and configured, so you don't have to worry about anything else. After the installation is complete, you can immediately start administering your server.


System requirements

  • Operating system: Ubuntu LTS or Debian
  • Memory: At least 1 GB RAM
  • Architecture: 64-bit operating system (amd64 or arm64)
  • Installation must be performed on a clean system (minimal image), free of installed / configured software. All required services are installed and configured by KeyHelp.
  • The installation must be performed as root user.


Installing KeyHelp

  1. Connect to your server via SSH as root user.
  2. Run the following command from the command line.

    wget https://install.keyhelp.de/get_keyhelp.php -O install_keyhelp.sh ;
bash install_keyhelp.sh ;
  3. The installation is now being prepared and the installation wizard is started.
    The wizard allows you to adjust various installation parameters.
  4. Confirm the start of the installation via the Start installation menu item.
  5. After the installation is finished, your system will be restarted.

Now all the work has been completed and you can start administrating your KeyHelp server.

The login credentials for your primary administrator and database account can be found in the /root/keyhelp_login_data_* file.

If you receive the message ERROR: The certificate of 'install.keyhelp.de' is not trusted. you have several options to solve the problem:

- Add the --no-check-certificate parameter to the wget command.
- Install the ca-certificates package with the apt install ca-certificates command.
- Run the apt update && apt upgrade command.

KeyHelp does not provide an uninstaller.
If you want to remove KeyHelp and the services configured during the installation, you must manually reset your server.


Automate the installation of KeyHelp

For non-interactive control of the installation via scripts, KeyHelp installation provides the following parameters.

Parameter Description
--non-interactive Performs the installation without prompting or user interaction.
--no-reboot   Prevents the reboot at the end of the installation.
--notification=<EMAIL ADDRESS> Sends an email to the specified email address after the installation is complete.
--language=<LANGUAGE_CODE> Sets the default language of KeyHelp and its components.
--extended-log  Logs everything, including sensitive data such as passwords etc.
--preferred-protocol=<PROTOCOL>

Sets the preferred protocol when communicating with the install servers.

[ipv4 / ipv6 / none]
--hostname-fqdn=<SERVER_DOMAIN>

The fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

Example: 'keyhelp.example.com'
--server-fqdn=<SERVER_DOMAIN> Alias for --hostname-fqdn [Deprecated]
--admin-username=<USERNAME>

Login name for the KeyHelp administrator account.
--admin-password=<PASSWORD> 

Password for the KeyHelp administrator account.

At least 6 characters.
--admin-email=<EMAIL_ADDRESS> Email address for the KeyHelp administrator account.

The following command installs KeyHelp without user interaction. An administrator account is created with the name my-admin and the password my-password-123. After the installation, an email is sent to info@example.com to inform about the completion of the installation.

wget https://install.keyhelp.de/get_keyhelp.php -O install_keyhelp.sh ;
bash install_keyhelp.sh --non-interactive --admin-username="my-admin" --admin-password="my-password-123" --notification="info@example.com";


Installation log

All operations during the installation are logged in the installation log under /var/log/keyhelp/install.log.
If any errors occur during the installation, the error-causing command and its causes can be determined from this log. To do this, search the above file for the ERROR DETECTED keyword. 

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