Enterprise Help Desk Lab – osTicket on Microsoft Azure

Overview

This project simulates a real-world enterprise IT Service Desk environment built entirely in Microsoft Azure. I deployed and configured osTicket on an Ubuntu Linux virtual machine, secured the environment with HTTPS, and modeled structured IT operations including triage, SLA management, escalation handling, and ticket lifecycle documentation. The goal was not just installation — it was operating the system like a production help desk.

Infrastructure & Deployment

Provisioned an Ubuntu 24.04 VM in Microsoft Azure.
Configured Apache, MySQL, and PHP to host osTicket.
Secured server access using SSH key authentication.
Implemented HTTPS using Let’s Encrypt (Certbot).
Configured Azure networking, public IP, and DNS.

This mirrors how a small-to-mid enterprise might deploy a cloud-hosted internal service desk.

Service Desk Architecture

Departments & Ticket Routing

Created structured departments to simulate enterprise support operations:

Identity & Access
Networking
Help Desk
Onboarding / Tier 2 Escalation

Help Topics were configured to automatically route tickets to the appropriate department and priority level.

SLA Configuration (ITIL-Style)

Implemented priority-based SLA tiers:

P1 (Critical) – 4-hour resolution target
P2 (High) – 8-hour resolution target
P3 (Normal) – 48-hour resolution target
P4 (Low) – 120-hour resolution target

Each ticket tracks:

Time to first response
Time to resolution
Due date and escalation triggers

This models real incident management processes used in enterprise IT.

Ticket Simulation & Lifecycle

Simulated 40+ enterprise tickets, including:

MFA / Authenticator issues
VPN connection failures
Outlook & shared mailbox errors
Account lockouts
New hire onboarding
Hardware & printer issues
Wi-Fi connectivity problems

For each ticket, I documented:

Triage notes
Root cause analysis
Resolution steps
Internal communication
Customer-facing response
SLA validation

This created a realistic, end-to-end ticket lifecycle workflow.

Operational Reporting

Using structured ticket data, I analyzed:

Total tickets processed
Priority distribution
Category breakdown
Average response times
Average resolution times
Recurring issue trends

This simulates help desk KPI reporting and continuous process improvement.

Technologies Used

Cloud & Infrastructure

Microsoft Azure
Ubuntu Linux
Azure Networking & DNS

Server Stack

Apache
MySQL
PHP
osTicket

Security

SSH key authentication
Let’s Encrypt SSL (Certbot)

Operations

ITIL-style SLA modeling
Triage documentation
Ticket lifecycle management

Outcome

Fully functional cloud-hosted help desk system.
HTTPS-secured Linux deployment.
Structured SLA and department-based routing.
40+ simulated enterprise support tickets.
Documented ticket triage and resolution workflows.
Public GitHub repository with setup documentation.

This lab bridges cloud infrastructure, Linux administration, and structured IT service management, simulating the responsibilities of a Tier 1 / Tier 2 enterprise support environment.

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