Asterisk OR Trixbox?

@chriswlan2:

And I'll assume I just could not install the preconfigured image from:

http://nerdvittles.com/index.php?p=153
You could install the image over the network but for security reasons you can only run the kernels supplied by Linode and no modules can be installed.

@PBX-in-a Flash HOW-TO:

Then watch while TrixBox loads CentOS/4.4 (with an older Linux kernel that doesn't break voice applications!)
You need to check which kernel version you need.

Linode currently supports 2.4.29 and 2.6.19 under UML. They get updated as needed - older versions are dropped after upgrades.

@pclissold:

@chriswlan2:

And I'll assume I just could not install the preconfigured image from:

http://nerdvittles.com/index.php?p=153
You could install the image over the network but for security reasons you can only run the kernels supplied by Linode and no modules can be installed.

Thanks, Peter!

As I said I'm quite new to all of this… so what do you mean? It IS still possible to install that n-v image? On top of linode's CentOS? And everything will take care of itself? Or my linode would just ignore OK the part of the n-v image that is not needed? Or the other way around?

And my ONLY concern is to check that one of the kernels that linode offers is the one needed by my imported image?

If I could start quickly with a pre-config'ed image, of course that would be nice! And only then start digging under the hood…

Tks agn

Christian

@chriswlan2:

It IS still possible to install that n-v image? TrixBox 1.2.3 ISO image - yes - but you need to check whether or not the result will work - see below.

@chriswlan2:

On top of linode's CentOS? No, instead of.

@chriswlan2:

And everything will take care of itself? Not quite - you need to twiddle a few settings to make them 'Linodey' - not a problem if you decide to go ahead.

@chriswlan2:

Or my linode would just ignore OK the part of the n-v image that is not needed? Linode will ignore the kernel from your install and any kernel modules (and anything relating to unavailable hardware). This may well NOT be OK.

@chriswlan2:

And my ONLY concern is to check that one of the kernels that linode offers is the one needed by my imported image? No. If the software on the iso image or anything else you need to install relies on installing kernel modules, it won't work. Linode employs monolithic kernels (with lots of useful, usually module-provided functionality compiled into the kernel itself) and disallows kernel modules (if users were allowed to add their own modules to their instance of the UML kernel, they could subvert the host).

Normally, I'd download the iso and have a look at what it does. However, my Easter vacation finds me on the end of a very slow link so I can't help there.

@pclissold:

Linode currently supports 2.4.29 and 2.6.19 under UML. They get updated as needed - older versions are dropped after upgrades.

Well, support for them probably drops, yes, but the kernels themselves aren't. While there are only 2.4.29 and 2.4.29-rc1 kernels available in the 2.4.x series, a number of 2.6.x kernels are available - the ones that aren't marked [experimental] or [testing] are:

• 2.6.17.4-linode23

• 2.6.18-linode24

• 2.6.19-linode26

• 2.6.20-linode27

• 2.6.20-linode28

The latest 2.6 kernel is therefore a 2.6.20 kernel, not 2.6.19. There are earlier kernels too, all the way back to 2.6.9-linode9, but they're all experimental or marked "testing".

@chriswlan2:

Hello everybody!

Pre-sales questions…

I understand that rainkid is running Asterisk on a Linode: how does that work out? Is the audio quality top-notch?

Did you manage to have ztdummy installed for you on the host side? How is your MOH?

Also: I'm new to running servers, but is it possible to install the Trixbox package that is Asterisk bundled with a slim distro, if I understand correctly?

And I'll assume I just could not install the preconfigured image from:

http://nerdvittles.com/index.php?p=153

I have a feeling I'll have to install Asterisk the long slow way. Which distro would people recommend in that case?

Thanks for advice

Christian

Wow… I got mentioned by name.

Well.. to start - I use CentOS, but that's because I'm from the old days, and old habits are hard to die. (Anyone remember RH 4? I feel as if I should have a big beard and mangly hair, but I do not).

I used to run Asterisk out of the Houston DC. That worked, and never failed but 'could have been better'. There were a couple of very minor issues as well -

1.) MOH did not work on my Polycom phones. It works for every other hard phone and soft phone I use. I worked on this for DAYS and couldn't figure it out.

2.) One service provider I am using is Stanaphone. I couldn't get audio at all using Stanaphone. The funny thing is, I am pretty sure it worked when I set it up a year ago, but it no longer worked. I made no changed to my setup. NO amount of futzing around fixed the problem. I was baffled and according to the sniffed traffic, everything should have worked - except it did not.

And then I migrated to Atlanta. Magically, everything work without any changes to my config.

The ONLY thing that I could not get working is ztdummy. THe linodes do not have 'virtual usb' ports, and I couldn't get it to compile. But I didn't try to hard. I'm sure if you took the time to figure it out, it'll work. It's just not that important for me.

Someone asked in another topic who I get my VoIP service from. My Asterisk setup is a mashup of three service providers - VoicePulse Connect, Stanaphone, and InternetCalls. VoicePulse is get the majority of my money every month, and their service sounds GREAT (make sure you use the right codecs).

I won't go much more into detail about the providers, but if you are interested, you can let me know.

Here's what you need to do:

1. pick a VoIP provider that is the least amount of hops from your DC

2. make sure you use good phones.

The other thing I guess I should mention is that sometimes when I was in the Houston DC, my voicesmails would stutter - and I figured out that happened when disk I/O wsa really slow on my host. If this is a problem on your host, you may want to move to a different host first.

@rainkid:

The ONLY thing that I could not get working is ztdummy.

You won't get ztdummy to work. The Linode kernels are monolithic, and do not allow modules to be loaded. This is necessary for security reasons.

@rainkid:

Wow… I got mentioned by name. Well, what can I say… 'Spending lots of time digging around the forums b4 posting… :)

> 1.) MOH did not work on my Polycom phones. It works for every other hard phone and soft phone I use. I worked on this for DAYS and couldn't figure it out. Soooo, if I understand you correctly, everything works perfectly without ztdummy!!! Except the odd time…. When there is usually some way around it…

Rainkid: do you have any experience with * and the Fremont DC? I'd like to get as close as possible to my target, the western Pacific…

I'm trying to get Chris Acker to get ztdummy installed on request on his host side: if lylix.com can do it, why not the folks at linode?

I sort of prefer linode, but am still hesitant re audio timing…

Thanks again, guys

Christian

If you use the CentOS 5 configuration/image, you can add the elastix yum repository and simply "yum install elastix". It's a much nicer alternative to trixbox and uses the same freepbx+asterisk+fop+etc… tools, with lots more like openfire (xmpp/jabber) and email server integration, as well as sugarcrm/vtigercrm.

Instructions are here:

http://www.elastix.org/index.php?option … om_centos5">http://www.elastix.org/index.php?option=comopenwiki&Itemid=27&id=howtoinatallelastixfrom_centos5