Installing Digium g.729 codec for Asterisk on an OpenVZ VPS

Installing Digium’s g.729 codec for Asterisk on an OpenVZ VPS requires an Asterisk friendly VPS provider. This is because the installation routine relies on there being an ‘eth0′ device on the server. This is not normally the case with OpenVZ where the network device is called venet0.

An ‘eth0′ device can be created on the VPS by running the following command (this is done on the OpenVZ server) -
(see here for more information – http://wiki.openvz.org/Asterisk_G729)

vzctl set $VEID --netif_add eth0 --save

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iptables for Asterisk and FreePBX

If you’ve installed Asterisk and FreePBX, or you’re using one of the preconfigured distributions such as Trixbox or Elastix, a good idea is to have the linux firewall, iptables, running on your system. Here’s an example of how you could set this up.

First thing to note is that it’s pretty easy to lock your self out of your server when playing around with iptables! It’s best to take a couple of simple precautions in case this happens.

These instructions should apply to CentOS/Redhat/Fedora.

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Trixbox 2.8 CE – Sysadminman VPS template updated

The Sysadminman Trixbox CE server template has been updated and is now running version 2.8. All new Trixbox servers will be built with version 2.8 unless otherwise requested.

Trixbox CE 2.8 uses Asterisk 1.6 (rather than Asterisk 1.4)

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Trixbox 2.6 passwords – Changing on a Sysadminman VPS

It’s definitely a good idea to change the default passwords you get with your Sysadminman hosted Asterisk server.

Here’s how to do it if you’re using Trixbox 2.6.

Changing the passwords should be pretty much the same as it would be on a regular Trixbox server.

First you need to SSH (a secure command line connection) to the server. If you use Windows on your desktop a good program for making SSH connections is Putty. It’s free and you can find it here – http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

For changing the server root password -

Use Putty, or another SSH client, to log into the server as the user root

Run the passwd command -

# passwd
Changing password for user root.
New UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

For changing the Trixbox ‘maint’ password -

Use Putty, or another SSH client, to log into the server as the user root

Run the passwd-maint command -

# passwd-maint
------------------------------------------------
Set password for Admin section of trixbox CE GUI
User: maint
------------------------------------------------

New password:
Re-type new password:
Updating password for user maint

For changing the Voicemail ‘admin’ password -

Use Putty, or another SSH client, to log into the server as the user root

(Unfortunately there is no command for changing this password and you need to manually edit a file)

nano /var/www/html/recordings/includes/main.conf.php

Now find the line that contains (line 73) -

$ARI_ADMIN_PASSWORD ="old-password";

and change $ARI_ADMIN_PASSWORD to equal your required password. Now save the file.

For changing the WebMeetMe passwords -

WebMeetMe passwords can be changed through the WebMeetMe interface

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Routing a call based on time of day with FreePBX

There are several steps involved with routing a call based on time-of-day in FreePBX but it’s quite flexible.

The first thing you need to do is install the “Time Conditions” module.  To do this click on the “Tools” tab in FreePBX and then click “Module Admin”. Select the Time Conditions module, click “Download and Install” and then scroll down and click Process.

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Blacklist a caller with FreePBX

One simple thing you can do to stop unwanted callers with FreePBX is install the “Blacklist” module. Obviously this will only work if the Caller ID number is presented to your system when the caller rings.

To install the module click on the Tools tab in FreePBX and then the Module Admin menu option. Then click “Check for updates online” and you should see all the available modules. Select the “Blacklist” module and select “Download and install”

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Using a callwithus DID with FreePBX/Asterisk

Using a callwithus DID with FreePBX/Asterisk is very straight forward.

First you need to purchase the DID through your callwithus account. I am buying a number located in the UK.

buying a DID from callwithus

Once you have purchased the DID you can click on the DID menu option again to check where the DID is being forwarded to. To make things easier on the FreePBX side we want to change this from the default.

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A2Billing 1.4 live demo

A2billing are getting close to releasing version 1.4 of their Asterisk PBX billing application, it is currently in beta.

If you’re interested in seeing what the new version offers there’s a demo system that you can try here – http://demo.asterisk2billing.org/a2b/

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FreePBX security update

A security update has been released for FreePBX versions 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6. Details of the update can be found here – http://freepbx.org/trac/ticket/366

While the updates are classified as low risk it is probably worth ensuring that your system is up to date.

Updates can be applied to FreePBX by going to Tools – Module Admin – Check for updates online – Upgrade All – Process

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Conferences with Asterisk and FreePBX

Conference calls are used a lot by businesses and are a built-in feature of Asterisk and FreePBX (and therefore the distributions that rely on these – Trixbox, Elastix, PBX-in-a-flash …)

They are very easy to setup -

FreePBX conferences

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