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<h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <p>RT is written in <a href="/facts/Perl/fx31kjlT">Perl</a> and runs on the <a href="/facts/Apache_web_server/tcmWYYUq">Apache</a> and <a href="/facts/Lighttpd/NTJLA4H6">lighttpd</a> web servers using <a href="/facts/Mod_perl/Vs9AG4tU">mod_perl</a> or <a href="/facts/FastCGI/hy2It6dA">FastCGI</a> with data stored in either <a href="/facts/MySQL/QEEDNBDP">MySQL</a>, <a href="/facts/PostgreSQL/LHdXuHfl">PostgreSQL</a>, <a href="/facts/Oracle_Database/FHv5g732">Oracle</a> or <a href="/facts/SQLite/1PwYzIft">SQLite</a>. It is possible to extend the RT interface using plug-ins written in Perl.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>Jesse Vincent, while enrolled at <a href="/facts/Wesleyan_University/4SmdILJS">Wesleyan University</a> in 1994, worked for Wesleyan's computing <a href="/facts/Help_desk/cjLlydTJ">help desk</a> and was responsible for improving the help desk and residential networking software infrastructure. This task included setting up a ticketing system for the help desk. Initially he set up a <a href="/facts/Linux/9FvCKSTq">Linux</a> server to run "req",<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> but later he identified that the command line interface was limiting usage. Over the next two years he created and maintained WebReq, a web based interface for req written in <a href="/facts/Perl/fx31kjlT">Perl</a>. Eventually the req portions were removed and what was left became RT version 1.0. A complete rewrite occurred for RT version 2.0 when Jesse started to work on RT full-time in 2001 and founded Best Practical Solutions. RT was used by Perl's <a href="/facts/CPAN/MB7Iv662">CPAN</a>, but because of declining use, a sunset date of March 1, 2021, was announced at the Perl NOC on December 4, 2020. <a href="https://log.perl.org/2020/12/rtcpanorg-sunset.html">rt.cpan.org will sunset on March 1st, 2021</a>. Following a pushback from the developer community, a company was contracted to take over the hosting. <a href="https://news.perlfoundation.org/post/rt-cpan-org-future">rt.cpan.org to remain online</a>. </p> <h2 id="interface">Interface</h2> <p>Organizations of all sizes use Request Tracker to track and manage workflows, customer requests, and internal project tasks of all sorts. Among other things, RT offers custom ticket lifecycles, seamless email integration, configurable automation, and detailed permissions and roles. </p><p>RT has many ways to highly customize creating and updating tickets, owners, dependencies, custom everything, and workflows. A web interface is available for both logged in users and guest/customer/end users. Template callbacks allow the modification of the software's web pages without requiring extensive knowledge. </p><p>Seamless email integration is another primary interface to RT and is often the only interface many guest users see. The email system includes support for auto-responses, attachments, and full customization of all the rules which govern email. Emails are stored in RT as correspondence on a ticket, and the software can make a distinction between public replies and private comments to show them as appropriate. </p><p>A basic <a href="/facts/REST/Q58zfr5h">REST</a>-like <a href="/facts/API/GMlN4vUr">API</a> and a command-line tool are also provided as another way to interact with RT. </p> <h2 id="features">Features</h2> <ul><li>RT integrates with Best Practical's <a href="/facts/Knowledge_base/zKXdqQjH">knowledge base</a> application, the RT FAQ Manager ("RTFM").<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> As of RT 4.0.0, RTFM's functionality was integrated into RT itself as Articles, RT's now built-in knowledgebase.</li> <li>Robust charting capacity, a workflow builder, drag-and-drop Dashboard editors, and automation capabilities are all standard.</li> <li>Request Tracker receives and manages all email sent to any of your key email addresses: support@, sales@, helpdesk@, security@, etc. Staff can manage ticket replies via email or by using RT’s full web interface.</li> <li>RT has a powerful transaction query builder allowing searches like "show me all the replies I sent this week" or "show me all of the changes to this custom field on this ticket" or even "show me how many replies were sent by everyone on the Support queue last week".</li> <li>For developers familiar with Bootstrap, it is easy to customize RT's UI or even create new themes using the Bootstrap toolkit as a base.</li> <li>SuperUsers can now take advantage of hundreds of RT’s configuration options by making changes right in the browser as of RT 5.</li> <li>RT also integrates with Best Practical's <a href="/facts/IT_asset_management/T4XmWP6n">IT asset management</a> application, "Assets." As of RT 4.4.0, this functionality was integrated into RT itself. Assets makes it easy to track and manage all of the equipment or intangible assets from within RT.</li> <li>RT supports the <a href="/facts/Networked_Help_Desk/QR0aBDz0">Networked Help Desk</a> API.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul> <li>Free Software portal</li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Comparison_of_help_desk_issue_tracking_software/KmqKcTlQ">Comparison of help desk issue tracking software</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Comparison_of_issue-tracking_systems/cwsvJcFr">Comparison of issue-tracking systems</a></li></ul> <ul><li>"RT Essentials", O'Reilly, 2005, 224 pages <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-596-00668-3</li></ul> <h3>Notes</h3> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://bestpractical.com/request-tracker">Official website</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Rich, Amy (June 2003). "RT: Request Tracker, Part 1". Sun Microsystems. Archived from the original on 2009-11-15. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091115131232/http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/features/articles/req_track_1.jsp" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20091115131232/http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/features/articles/req_track_1.jsp</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"RT FAQ: What is RT?". Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2015-08-10. Request Tracker (RT) [...] is available under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160410230621/http://requesttracker.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#General" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160410230621/http://requesttracker.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#General</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"RTIR: RT for Incident Response". Retrieved 2015-08-10. ready out of the box for your CERT or CSIRT to use <a href="https://bestpractical.com/rtir/comparison.html" target="_blank">https://bestpractical.com/rtir/comparison.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"REQUEST TRACKER INCIDENT RESPONSE (RTIR) SOFTWARE TO BE UPGRADED AND EXPANDED" (PDF). TERENA. 2005-10-05. Retrieved 2015-08-10. <a href="https://www.terena.org/news/archive/2005/news-rtir.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.terena.org/news/archive/2005/news-rtir.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Rich, Amy (June 2003). "RT: Request Tracker, Part 1". Sun Microsystems. Archived from the original on 2009-11-15. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091115131232/http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/features/articles/req_track_1.jsp" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20091115131232/http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/features/articles/req_track_1.jsp</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Evard, Rémy (September 1994). "Managing the Ever-Growing To Do List". USENIX. Retrieved 2015-08-10. <a href="https://www.usenix.org/conference/lisa-viii/managing-ever-growing-do-list" target="_blank">https://www.usenix.org/conference/lisa-viii/managing-ever-growing-do-list</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"RTFM: The RT FAQ Manager". Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2015-08-10. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150906074958/https://bestpractical.com/rtfm/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20150906074958/https://bestpractical.com/rtfm/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"GitHub - bestpractical/rt-extension-nhd". GitHub. 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2016-05-06. <a href="https://github.com/bestpractical/rt-extension-nhd" target="_blank">https://github.com/bestpractical/rt-extension-nhd</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>