openproject/docs/installation-and-operations/operation/faq

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[{title FAQ} {priority 4}]

Frequently asked questions - FAQ

I lost access to my admin account, how to I reset my password?

You can reset your admin account through the Rails console. Please see this separate page on how to start the console.

Assuming you have started the rails console, perform these steps:

# Find the admin user
user = User.find_by! login: 'admin'

# Ensure the user is set to active
user.activate

# Reset any failed login attempts
user.failed_login_count = 0

# Update the password
user.password = user.password_confirmation = "YOUR NEW SAFE PASSWORD 1234!"

# Save the resource, observe if any errors are returned here
user.save!

Afterwards, you can navigate to your OpenProject instance and login with admin and your chosen password again.

How to migrate from Bitnami to the official OpenProject installation packages?

Please follow the following steps:

1. Make a dump of your bitnami database to export your data. You can refer to the Bitnami documentation.
2. Make a dump of files your might have uploaded. You can refer to the Bitnami documentation to perform a full dump.
3. Copy both dumps to the server you want to install OpenProject on.
4. Install OpenProject using the packaged installation.
5. By default, this will allow you to install a PostgreSQL database, which we recommend. You can migrate your data from MySQL using https://pgloader.io
6. Import the dump into your new database. You can get your configuration by running sudo openproject config:get DATABASE_URL
7. Extract the bitnami backup, and copy your file assets into the relevant directory (e.g. in /var/db/openproject/files for uploaded files)
8. Restart OpenProject

Can I use MySQL instead of PostgreSQL?

OpenProject has traditionally supported both MySQL and PostgreSQL, but in order to optimize for performance and SQL functionality, it is unfeasible to support both DBMS that are becoming more and more disjunct when trying to use more modern SQL features. This shift has started some years ago when full-text search was added for PostgreSQL, but at the time MySQL did not yet support it - and as of yet many distributions still do not support MySQL 8 natively.

This led us to the path of removing support in the upcoming stable releases of OpenProject in order to focus on these goals. Please see our blog post on the matter for additional notes.

How can I migrate my existing MySQL database to PostgreSQL ?

Older installations of OpenProject are likely installed with a MySQL installation because the installer shipped with an option to auto-install it. With pgloader, it is trivially easy to convert a dump between MySQL and PostgreSQL installation. We have prepared a guide on how to migrate to a PostgreSQL database if you previously used MySQL.

My favorite linux distribution is not listed. What can I do?

You can either try the manual installation, or ask in the forum whether this could be added to the list of supported distributions. We try to support recent major distributions, but due to maintenance and operations cost cannot freely add to that list.

What is the better option to run OpenProject in production environments: docker or linux packages?

We recommend the Linux packages if you have a compatible distribution and a separate machine for OpenProject, since it will allow for the easiest and most flexible setup. Use a docker-based image either for quickly spinning up an environment or if you have knowledge in setting up and maintaining docker-based installations.

Do you provide different release channels?

Yes! We release OpenProject in separate release channels that you can try out. For production environments, always use the stable/MAJOR (e.g., stable/9) package source that will receive stable and release updates. Every major upgrade will result in a source switch (from stable/9 to stable/10 for example).

A closer look at the available branches:

• stable/11: Latest stable releases, starting with 11.0.0 until the last minor and patch releases of 11.X.Y are released, this will receive updates.
• release/11.0: Regular (usually daily) release builds for the current next patch release (or for the first release in this version, such as 11.0.0). This will contain early bugfixes before they are being release into stable. Do not use in production. But, for upgrading to the next major version, this can be regarded as a release candidate channel that you can use to test your upgrade on a copy of your production environment.
• dev: Daily builds of the current development build of OpenProject. While we try to keep this operable, this may result in broken code and/or migrations from time to time. Use when you're interested what the next release of OpenProject will look like. Do not use in production!

What skills should I have for the installation?

If you use the packaged installation, you should have a basic knowledge of Linux and the command-line terminal.

If you use the docker images, you need to be familiar with Docker and Docker volumes.

Why don't you support Windows?

Ruby support on Windows is notoriously difficult, however you might be able to run the Docker image, or use the unofficial Windows stack provided by Bitnami. We would welcome feedback and reported experiences on running OpenProject on Windows, please reach out to us if you can contribute some information.

How to backup and restore my OpenProject installation?

Please refer to the backup documentation for the packaged installation.