SYSADMINMAN

The Sysadminman Elastix VPS template has been updated to version 1.6

See here for more details – http://sysadminman.net/distro-elastix.html

I was about to write a blog post about setting up Skype for Asterisk on Elastix but after searching round on the web I found this great blog post by ‘Bob’ on the Elastix website.

It gives a good walkthrough and screenshots for getting Skype for Asterisk from Digium up and running.

If you do want to install this on your Sysadminman Elastix VPS just open a support ticket first asking for an éth0′device to be setup as you’ll need this for the Digium registration process

The version of A2Billing has been updated to the latest release on the Sysadminman VPS template.

This template now includes -

• Asterisk v1.6
• FreePBX v2.5
• A2Billing v1.4.2.1

More details can be found here – http://sysadminman.net/uk-voip-vps.html

It is now possible to run “Skype for Asterisk” (SFA) from Digium on a Sysadminman VPS.  This allows calls to/from Skype users from your Asterisk server.

SFA can be installed on any of the VPS templates including Trixbox, Elastix, PBX-in-a-Flash (PIAF) and Sysadminman. Please note though that installing it on PBX-in-a-Flash requires upgrading the version of Asterisk to what PIAF considers an ‘unsafe’ release.

SFA licenses are $66 per channel from Digium and can be purchased here. You will need to purchase the number of licenses you require before SFA can be installed.

If you are an existing Sysadminman customer and wish to install SFA please raise a support ticket asking for a dummy eth0 device to be created for your VPS. This is required to license SFA.

Sysadminman can install and configure SFA on your VPS for a charge of £20.

I have made available a demo VPS so you can have a look and play with FreePBX 2.5 and A2Billing 1.4.1

Please note the following -

• Do not enter any personal/account information in to this VPS – it is viewable by everyone!
• The VPS may be reset back to it’s default state at any time
• You may be asked to accept a security certificate when you first connect. This is because connections to the server are secure over https but using a locally signed certificate
• There are resource limits placed on the VPS so it may be slower than a regular purchased sysadminman VPS
• Please do not change the passwords / Please play nice!

Continue reading ‘Live demo FreePBX 2.5 and A2Billing 1.4 VPS’ »

The version of A2Billing installed on the Sysadminman VPS template has been upgraded to version 1.4.1. It also has Asterisk 1.6 and FreePBX 2.5 installed.

Click here for more details

A2Billing 1.4 includes new features such as -

* Agent/Reseller module
* Redesigned web GUI
* New ticket system
* Dashboard
* All configuration settings moved to database

and here are some screen shots of A2Billing 1.4 -

THIS TEST SERVER HAS NOW BEEN TAKEN OFF-LINE

I downloaded the Skype For Asterisk beta today from Digium. I think tomorrow (7/8/09) is the last day to sign up for the beta but the license you receive is valid until 31/8/09.

So far I’ve just been testing inbound calls, that is calls from a Skype user in to an Asterisk system

Please, give it a go yourself – my Skype user ID is *** and the call goes to an IVR

It was pretty easy to install the software, there are detailed instructions that come with it.

If you use FreePBX and put the Skype calls through to the correct context you can create inbound routes based on the Skype user ID and route the calls as you would normally.

Once the calls are fed into Asterisk they can be treated just as any other incoming call.

My test system routes the calls through to a FreePBX IVR with 4 options -

• Press 1 for the Skype For Asterisk test conference
• Press 2 for music on hold
• Press 3 for echo test
• Press 4 for the speaking clock

You need to make the dial pad visible in Skype so the you can select the options -

The first option is a conference room and the Skype for Asterisk beta license allows up to 10 concurrent calls so if you’ve got some friends on Skype please give it a go and let me know in the comments below how it works!

The Asterisk server is running on a VPS based in the UK so the quality may vary depending where you are calling from.

The music-on-hold are MP3’s and came from here – http://www.onhold2go.co.uk/

You can now pay for Sysadminman hosted Asterisk systems with regular PayPal payments as well as PayPal subscriptions.

Click here for more details – http://sysadminman.net/uk-voip-vps.html

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)

Continue reading ‘Installing Digium g.729 codec for Asterisk on an OpenVZ VPS’ »

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.

Continue reading ‘iptables for Asterisk and FreePBX’ »