Helpdesk / Bug tracking software - opinions?

[mexicanjewlizrd]

Dear LazyWeb,
  I need a free, easy to use bug tracking program/software, specifically for a small helpdesk environment. Must be able to take email input and have easy to read/present reports (per tech).

After some sorting, reading and pondering, I have potentially narrowed down my choices to the following:

• Redmine - http://www.redmine.org
• Bugzilla

Comments

[justadecoy]

I'll start by saying I've never played with any of those 3 so I don't know how they compare to anything else.

Did you look at RequestTracker (http://bestpractical.com) ?

I installed and administer RT for JCY.
We don't do terribly in depth reports but the search builder in it is very logical so I am positive it would scale within the bounds of "small helpdesk environment"
Takes email input, allows for customization of queues and any kind of search you might be interested in can be turned into a queue or report.

[mexicanjewlizrd]

hmm, this one slipped by me. Seems to tick all the boxes for everything I need (email input, GPL, etc). Ideally, the system picked will also support mobile browsing too..

*reads more*

I have to admit, the more I read, the more I like this.

Mentioned on the FB cross-post of this, was JIRA [ http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/ ] which seems quite good too.

[ext_5356]

JIRA is exceedingly good, but as you mentioned on FB, not free.

Of your list, Bugzilla is very powerful but has the unwieldiness of a powerful thing (tricky to set up, confusing for noob users, etc). I was never a fan of BugTracker.NET but that may just be an uninformed bias.

I do like Trac (http://trac.edgewall.org/) but I'm not sure how well it meets your email and reporting requirements -- there are plugins, but not fantastic ones.

[mexicanjewlizrd]

Trac: from what I've read, people like Trac, but it seems to always come in second to BugTracker.NET

Bugzilla: yep yep, looking like that's an accurate review.

[mexicanjewlizrd]

I'm looking at either JIRA or BugTracker.NET - instead of setting up a second linux server, will just run everything on a single Win2k3 server, and both seem to be the easiest to setup. Will try BugTracker.NET first, then JIRA (though JIRA does seem to be easier to set up...)

The only teasing thing about JIRA is like an iPhone - all the awesome apps cost money :-P

[thisisthehabit]

I'd assumed you'd examined and rejected RT for some reason, because it's the default go-to tool for this sort of task. I've actually been using Mantis until recently, but am becoming irritated by its mainly web-based UI and the fact that I can't really expose an idiot-proofed interface for users to submit issues, so I've gone over to RT.

If your host system is a Linux box you'll probably find RequestTracker packages an apt-get install (or yum install) away.

As for JIRA - I've never been a huge fan of the implementations I've used around the Sun and Java communities. It's better than BugZilla, but so's kicking yourself repeatedly in the face. That said, I think Sun run a custom UI for it for public trackers, and I've heard very good things about the full-featured version.

[mexicanjewlizrd]

looks like I might be passing on BT for now, but only because of the linux back-end requirement. I'm putting together a Win2k3 server + Exchange anyway, so instead of two boxxen, just the one. [Admittedly, when/if I can ditch Exchange, then I can go all over to linux]

This means... JIRA or BugTracker.NET it seems.

[justadecoy]

Re: two boxen:
Stick a CentOS box on VirtualBox or something similar?

What's keeping you on Exchange?
Business momentum?

I'm running Zarafa as a mail server with Outlook on the desktops and they don't know the difference. The only thing I don't currently have is single sign on but that's a "not had the time yet" not a "can't be done"

Also running an XP *koff* "server" *koff* in KVM on CentOS for my only real unavoidable Windows need which is an AutoCAD floating license server application.

Current project is investigation a migration of virtual servers from Virtuozzo to OpenVZ and maybe from there to Proxmox runing OpenVZ and KVM.

Yes, I'm using three different kinds of virtualisation suite for different needs... what of it? ;)

VirtualBox: not for heavy server use (my opinion), wiki / ticket tracking = fine, desktop virtualisation = pretty good. FreeBSD whinges at me for some reason but I don't care that much.
KVM / (OpenVZ / Virtuozzo): Server virtuals with their own good and bad points.

[mexicanjewlizrd]

Exchange: it's one of a couple projects I want to trial... they're using =pop3= for email for two sites (7+20(?) employees). We need a shared server-side mailbox (at least 2 or three, IMHO), and Exchange just seemed the easiest/most obvious way to do it. [Though, to be honest, I'm thinking IMAP may suffice]

*googling/reading about Zarafa*
Oooh, I am liking this too. Z-Push like.

The other two projects are ticketing (yes, a helpdesk without a ticketing system, or any monitoring, or reporting... and weekly reports are requested from the head office) and an instant messenger service (I'm looking at either ejabberd or Openfire - and almost certainly going with Openfire at this point).

hmm...

maybe I should go linux all the way, but it _would_ take significantly longer to get up and running... hmm. Still, that would solve other issues (software cost).

Thanks for the tips :)