Wednesday, July 12, 2006

TrixBox v1.0 Quickie HOW-TO!

A Working How-To - Updated 9/27/2006!
Current for trixbox-update v1.0.0.8

TrixBox v1.0 was released 5/31/2006 & updated to v1.1.1 in August, 2006 for the review and testing of the Asterisk@Home community. As to be expected, Andrew has done an amazing job of making all our lives easier no matter what may crop up in TrixBox. However, as with all initial releases there is a growing list of issues to be addressed.

This short guide is simply a "how to" to side-step a couple of basic landmines in TrixBox v1.x installation and FreePBX v2.1.1 (included in TrixBox) to get the base system operational with a Digium card as we have become accustomed to with previous release of the old Asterisk@Home v2.x series.

Let's Get to It!

1) If upgrading from an older Asterisk@Home installation, run backups from AMP and manually download the compression, as well as backing up "/tftpboot" for you Cisco handset users, get your custom voice prompts, hold music, etc.

2) Install TrixBox v1.0 or v1.1 from the ISO/CD

3) Login to the command prompt


Workaround bug in CentOS that can cause echo with Digium/Zaptel hardware & causes an error in trixbox-update.sh ...

4) Type, "cd /usr/src/kernels/2.6.9-34.0.2.EL-i686/include/linux" (note the portion in the middle with the numbers may be different on your machine depending on what kind of CPU you have!)

5) Either edit your spinlock.h file by finding the line referencing "rw_lock_t" and changing it to "rwlock_t" (around line 500 in the file) or you can download a copy of the file already edited (albeit it may be older than you current install - beware!) ... wget http://www.kennonsoft.org/projects/trixbox/spinlock.h

6) cd /usr/src

Warning(s): Zaptel 1.2.8, 1.2.9 & 1.2.9.1 all seem to have a jitterbuffer launching issue that can lead to echo on Digium cards. v1.2.7 seems to be stable/proper.

7) wget http://ftp.digium.com/pub/zaptel/releases/zaptel-1.2.7.tar.gz

8) tar -zxvf zaptel-1.2.7.tar.gz

9) mv zaptel-1.2.7 zaptel

10) cd /usr/src/zaptel

11) make clean

11a) make linux26 (OPTIONAL step, only if echo persists if tried without it already!)

12) make install

13) modprobe wctdm

14) modprobe zaptel

15) genzaptelconf


Workaround bug in auto-detection of Digium hardware for reboots...

15) Type, "nano /etc/sysconfig/zaptel"

16) Uncomment the line that references your Digium board (e.g. remove the "#" at the "wctdm" line, also mentioned as "TDM400P") if not already uncommented!

17) Save changes & exit Nano


Continue a usual installation...

18) Type, "netconfig" and change your IP as needed

19) Type, "help-trixbox" to get a list of commands you can use

20) Run the commands listed to change your passwords as desired

21) Type, "setup-mail" if you wish to have email support for voicemail messages, etc.


Update TrixBox!

22) Type, "trixbox-update.sh update" (it will download a newer version of itself)

23) Type, "trixbox-update.sh update" (again, to run the newly downloaded version)

24) Type, "Reboot" (when it is done it will prompt you to do this)


Fix the MeetMe Conference bug that is still there as of trixbox-update v1.0.0.7 ...

25) mkdir /var/spool/asterisk/meetme

26) chown asterisk.asterisk /var/spool/asterisk/meetme

27) chmod 775 /var/spool/asterisk/meetme


Add HTTPS support if you think you may be accessing the web interface from the web...

28) Type, "yum -y install mod_ssl"

29) Type, "reboot"


Test the online web interface ...

30) With a browser go to your TrixBox IP address, then navigate to System Administration and eventually FreePBX

31) Click on the Tools section and Module Admin

32) Click on the "Connect to online repository..."

33) If it works, great! If it doesn't do the following steps (34-37) ...


If you can't connect to the online module repository, then there is an issue with your firewall more than likely (since FreePBX moved their module repository to a more reliable server recently). In the case of *** SonicWall *** firewalls with more recent firmware, the following will solve your problem!!

34) Login to your SonicWall via web browser

35) Navigate your browser to, http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/diag.html (insert your firewall IP address or DNS name in the xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx)

36) Scroll down & uncheck "Enforce Host Tag Search with for CFS"

37) Click "Apply" at the top of the page, and voila!

OPTIONAL: Change default for "Call Waiting" on handsets/extensions...
By default FreePBX creates new extensions with "call waiting" disabled, meaning when you are on the phone a second call will get a busy message and get sent immediately to voicemail. If you wish the option for your handset to beep and display on your LCD the second inbound call giving you the option to answer it or ignore it, then you need to dial *70 on each handset -OR- change the default for new extensions created ...

38) Click, "System Administration" then "Config Edit"

39) Click, "/etc" at the top/middle then "amportal.conf"

40) Scroll down in the window until you find "ENABLECW=no", change it to "yes"

41) Click, "update" button at the bottom

FreePBX v2.1.1 initial config order of events to reduce confusion for the first timer ...

42) Open your web browser and point it to your TrixBox IP address

43) Click, "System Administration" then "FreePBX"

44) Click, "Tools" then "Module Admin"

45) Click, "Connect to online module repository" (gets list of latest modules from our temporary workaround file)

46a) For the full experience select everything except maybe Gabcast, Asterisk API, & VoicePulse (as you will have to have mode advanced needs to use these).

46b) For the streamlined experience select what you wish but be sure to include "core" as it is necessary, and we might recommend you choose "voicemail" as well otherwise you're callers/users are in for a surprise!


FreePBX v2.1.1 example setup to reduce confusion for the first timer (i.e. things appear/disappear based on whether they have been configured in the first place!)...

47) Click, "Setup" (get into the main web admin for FreePBX)

48) Click, "Trunks" (update & create your settings as needed, e.g. make sure you set "Max Channels" on your Zap/g0 trunk)

49) Click, "Outbound Routes" (get your dialplan set here & pointing at the correct trunks)

50) Click, "Extensions" (set them up & be sure after saving each to go back and update the "Mailbox" field on each to reference "...@default" rather than the incorrect "...@device" or your Message Waiting Indicators won't light up when voicemail is left!)

51) Click, "General Settings" (do what you wish here)

52) NOTE: If you haven't already, this is a good time to setup your handsets (e.g. for Cisco junkies, copy back or setup your TFTPBOOT folder) as the next steps involve recording prompts, etc.

53) Click, "System Recordings" (and record your Digital Receptionist, Queue, etc. prompts -- or copy backup recordings from your previous AAH install to the "/var/lib/asterisk/sounds/custom" folder)

54) Click, "Ring Groups" (and do what you need)

55) Click, "Queues" (and do what you need)

56) Click, "Digital Receptionist" (and setup your IVR prompts)

57) Click, "Time Conditions" (and create at least one if you need it)

58) Click, "Inbound Route" (and at least setup a catchall default, maybe pointing to your 'Time Condition' you created!)

59) Click, "On Hold Music" (and upload your files, or copy them by hand to the "/var/lib/asterisk/mohmp3" folder)


For those upgrading from an old Asterisk@Home v2.x installation...

60) Click, "Tools" then "Backup and Restore"

61) Create a backup job and run it once to create the disk folder (e.g. named 'Weekly' maybe but have it run "Now" then reset it after to "Weekly (on Sunday)")

62) Copy your old AAH backup file by hand to the "/var/lib/asterisk/backups/Weekly" folder, the final folder name being whatever you named your scheduled backup)

63) Click, "Restore from Backup" then "Weekly" (or whatever you called it)

64) Select your OLD backup from the list

65) When prompted DO NOT restore the "Restore Entire Backup Set" -- INSTEAD, restore just your users "Voicemail Files" and maybe "Call Detail Report" (to keep your call history and reports!)


That's it! Of course you will have to handle your handset configurations as needed. However, if you are migrating from an old AAH install to TrixBox and you backed up your handset configuration files (e.g. Cisco users need only copy/paste the "/tftpboot" directory between installations) you won't even have to touch that except to maybe reboot the handsets to ensure they properly register with the new Asterisk/TrixBox machine.

Good Luck & we would like to direct ALL HELP REQUESTS to TrixBox.org Help Forums!!
posted by Kennon Software at 9:15 AM | 29 comments
































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