Archive:FreePBX Distribution

Asterisk VoIP server is a fully fledged VoIP server allowing complete customisation to your needs and works with most setups. It has a web GUI that is slowly being developed to make implementation even easier for people.

On the server, we have implemented AsteriskNOW! 6.12.65-26 distribution and Asterisk 13.x series. This is the latest version of Asterisk and is a LTS release so will be supported well into the future with fixes (slated to be supported until 2018). This is a complete distribution and so needs to be installed on a machine. We will be using Linux tools to install the distribution as a virtual machine.

Preparing the host machine

1. With this method we need Intel VT-d extensions enabled so we can add the physical network card to the virtual machine
   • Enable Intel VT-d in the system BIOS. It may be called Intel Virtaulization Extensions or something similar. We must enabled both Intel VT-x and Intel VT-d. Intel VT-d is a later version of Intel VT-x and allows physical hardware to be taken over and used by a virtual machine and there other memory and performance enhancements also. Intel VT-d may only be available if you have a recent machine.
   • The extensions need to be enabled in the system kernel on the host machine as by default they are not enabled.
     • Login and open YaST. Type your root password if needed.
     • Under 'System', open 'Boot Loader'
     • Change to the 'Kernel Parameters' tab
     • After the last option on 'Optional Kernel Command Line Parameter', add intel_iommu=on.
     • Click 'Accept'
     • Reboot the machine
2. Install Virtual Machine components.
   • Login and open YaST. Type your root password if needed.
   • Under 'Virtualization', click 'Install Hypervisor and Tools'
   • Under 'KVM Hypervisor', tick both 'KVM server' and 'KVM tools'
   • Click 'Accept'. The components will install.
   • When finished, reboot the machine as kernel components will have been changed.

Preparing the Virtual Machine

1. On the Kickstart Menu, type 'virt'. When displayed, open 'Virtual Machine Manager'

Installing AsteriskNOW! on the virtual machine

1. On the host machine, download the latest 64-bit DVD image of AsteriskNOW! (http://www.asterisk.org/downloads/asterisknow}
2. Attached the DVD images to a free optical drive on the virtual machine.
3. Change the boot order so that the optical drive is at the top of the boot list.
4. Start the virtual machine.
5. When the boot menu appears, Under 'FreePBX 6.12.65 with Asterisk 13 - EXPERIMENTAL' header, select 'Full Install -- No RAID'.
   • Disregard the experimental header. When this version was released, Asterisk 13 was new and considered experimental. Once updated, Asterisk 13 is pretty mature and not considered experimental anymore.
   • There is no need to choose RAID if using a virtual machine unless you are using a virtual machine or have an exotic setup to make the hard drives on 2 different physical hard drives.
6. Once the system is booted, you will be presented with options to configure your network
   • Make sure 'Enable IPv4 support' and 'Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP} are both selected.
   • Unselect 'Enable IPv6 support'
   • Hit 'OK'
7. On the next option, select the correct time zone
   • As this virtual machine is installed on a Linux host, select 'System clock uses UTC'
   • Select Europe/London (tip: press 'E' on the keyboard to jump down to 'E' on the list.)
   • Hit 'OK'
8. On the next option, type in a password to use for the system.
9. After you hit 'OK', the system will start to install. This may take a long while. The installer may look as though it has frozen at certain points. However it is important to be patient as a few of the packages take a long time to install.
10. When the install is finished, the machine will reboot. When it comes up with the boot menu, this will be the installation discs boot menu.
    • 'Force Off' the virtual machine. This is safe as the machine is not fully running yet.
    • From the boot order, remove the optical drive and make sure the hard drive is placed to the top.
    • Start the virtual machine again.
11. On first boot, it will start downloading updates for FreePBX. This may take a while.
12. Once finished, it will leave you at the command prompt. Type 'root' for the username and the password you selected during install for password.
13. That's it, AsteriskNOW! is installed!