Frequently Asked Questions

It's a self-hosted ITSM platform — eight modules in one system: Help Desk, Problem Management, Post-Incident Review, Change Management, Project Management, Systems / CMDB, Knowledge Base and Service Catalogue. Everything shares the same data, so there's no jumping between tools or duplicating records. It runs on your own server, and you pay once a year. That's it.

£1,000 billed once a year. No monthly instalments, no per-user charges, no add-ons. If you want to cancel, you can — though we'd love to know why.

Unlimited — and we mean it. No seat limits, no tiers, no awkward conversation with finance every time someone new joins the team. Add as many agents, admins and end users as your server can handle.

OperonITSM has 9 roles assigned per-module, so a user can be an HD Agent but a CAB Member with no PMO access, for example.

A user can hold multiple roles simultaneously — for example, an IT manager might be an HD Admin, CAB Admin and PMO Admin all at once.

When something serious hits — a server down, a critical service failing — you don't want to be fiddling with ticket settings. One click declares a Major Incident, flags it visibly across the queue, and lets you assign an MI manager to own the response. When it's resolved, a Post-Incident Review is created automatically so the follow-up actually happens.

A structured write-up of what went wrong, why, and what you're doing about it. When a Major Incident is cleared, the PIR is auto-created and linked — so you're not starting from scratch. It covers the full timeline, root cause, business impact, lessons learned, and action items. Each one gets a reference number and moves through Open → In Review → Completed. You can also raise one manually if something significant happened without hitting the MI threshold.

Yes. There's a public-facing portal your users can access without logging in. They can browse the service catalogue, submit a request, or check the status of an existing ticket using their reference number. It's a proper front door for your help desk — not just a form bolted on as an afterthought.

Yes. If you only need the Help Desk to start, just switch everything else off. Super Admins can toggle modules on or off from Global Admin — Help Desk, Change Management, PMO, CMDB, Knowledge Base, Problem Management and PIR are all independent. Hidden modules disappear from navigation entirely, so your team isn't wading through things they don't use.

Not currently. Operon is self-hosted by design — your data stays on your infrastructure, not ours. A lot of our customers specifically want that: no third-party SaaS, no data leaving the building, no dependency on someone else's uptime. Most setups are running within an hour.

Stripe handles the payment, then redirects you straight to a download page — no waiting for an email. You'll get the platform files, the database script, and your licence. Follow the install guide and most people are up and running within 30 minutes. If you hit a snag, drop us an email at support@operonitsm.co.uk and we'll sort it.

Yes — everything. New features, bug fixes, security patches, major releases. Your subscription always gets you the latest version at no extra cost.

Required PHP extensions: PDO, PDO_MySQL, JSON, mbstring. The imap extension is optional but required for email-to-ticket intake.

OperonITSM runs on any OS that supports the LAMP/LEMP stack. Tested and supported platforms:

• Linux: Ubuntu 20.04 / 22.04 / 24.04, Debian 10+, AlmaLinux / Rocky Linux 8+, CentOS Stream 8+
• Windows (XAMPP): Windows 10/11, Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 - simplest Windows setup
• Windows (IIS): Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 with IIS 10+, PHP via FastCGI, URL Rewrite module required

An internal server — a VM, a spare physical box, or a Windows Server — that your team can reach on your network or VPN. It's not built for public shared hosting. Most organisations just spin up a small VM and point it at their internal DNS. Nothing exotic required.

Yes. Apache is the easiest path, but Nginx and IIS 10+ both work fine. Nginx needs a try_files block instead of mod_rewrite. IIS needs PHP via FastCGI, the URL Rewrite module, and a web.config instead of .htaccess — the full config is included with your purchase.

If you can create a MySQL database, upload files over FTP/SFTP, and edit a config file — you're good. The install guide (included with your purchase) walks through both Linux and Windows step by step. Most setups take under 30 minutes. If you get stuck, just email us — that's what support is for.

Yes. Users can log in with their existing domain credentials — AD/LDAP is built in, not a paid add-on. You can map AD groups to roles so access is managed automatically. Local accounts work fine too, and serve as a fallback if AD is ever unreachable.

Both directions. Outbound SMTP sends notifications when tickets are updated, assigned, or breached. Inbound IMAP monitors a mailbox and turns emails into tickets automatically — replies with the ticket reference thread back into the right ticket. You'll need the PHP imap extension and a cron job for the inbound side, both covered in the install guide.

Everything lives in a standard MySQL database, so backing up is just a mysqldump — or use phpMyAdmin's export if you prefer a UI. Uploaded files sit in the filesystem and can be copied or rsynced like anything else. Since it's your server, you decide how often backups run and how long they're kept.

Security was a priority from day one, not something bolted on later. Passwords are bcrypt hashed, all database queries use PDO prepared statements (no raw SQL concatenation anywhere), sessions time out and regenerate on login, and there's a full CSP/HSTS/X-Frame header suite in place. Every action across the platform is logged with the user, timestamp and IP. We'd recommend running over HTTPS — Let's Encrypt makes that free and straightforward.

You get the full source — PHP 8, vanilla JS, MySQL, no framework dependencies. You can modify it for your own internal use. The codebase is deliberately straightforward: there's a clean separation between the API layer, auth, and each module's JS file, so it's not a nightmare to navigate.

One caveat: if you modify the source and something breaks, we can't always help debug those changes. Keep a clean copy of the originals before you start. And the usual licence terms apply — you can customise for internal use but can't redistribute or resell.

Email support is included — installation help, configuration questions, bug reports. We typically reply within one business day. Drop us a line at support@operonitsm.co.uk.

If you can't get it running within 14 days and we haven't been able to fix it through support, we'll refund you — no argument. Renewals aren't refundable. Email hello@operonitsm.co.uk with your order details.

No free trial, but there's a live demo you can log into right now. All eight modules, real data, no time limit. Have a proper look around before you commit.