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SPAM Blocker & CNAM Cornucopia for Incredible PBX 2021
If you enjoy calls from politicians and car warranty offers as much as we do, then today’s your lucky day. Blocking spam phone calls has been a challenge to put it charitably. Thanks to some earlier work by Stewart Nelson on the DSLR forum as well as Stewart’s considerable hand-holding in the development of our previous tutorials, we want to introduce an updated call screening approach for Incredible PBX 2021 that takes into account some recent changes in FreePBX® design. In a nutshell, the previous implementation no longer works because of some FreePBX plumbing changes that eliminated the "hook" we were using to intercept and screen incoming calls.
If you missed the earlier article, here’s the design. First time callers that are not on your WhiteList will be prompted to "press 5 to connect." Since most spam calls sit in a queue for several seconds before a live person chimes in, that person won’t hear the prompt. After 10 seconds or an invalid response, the call is sent to voicemail. In the alternative, you can play a SIT tone and disconnect the call or you can send the call to your favorite uncle, Lenny. When a successful caller calls again, the caller will be connected without a prompt. Once installed, you can change the voice prompt to a number other than 5 by modifying lines 11 and 13 of the context [sub-log-caller] which you will find in extensions_custom.conf in the /etc/asterisk directory at the completion of this install.
While today’s approach won’t block every robocaller, our testing suggests that it will catch more than 95% of these annoying calls. Using CallerID Superfecta coupled with the Asterisk® Phanebook will provide an extremely low-cost solution both for blocking spammers AND for displaying accurate CNAM data for incoming calls. The silver lining is you’ll only pay for CNAM lookups from legitimate callers once, and you have a choice of using OpenCNAM or BulkCNAM with the scripts we’ll provide today. Last, but not least, you’ll also get CNAM data for outgoing calls in your CDR logs.
Here’s the actual dialplan addition that will monitor your incoming calls:
[sub-log-caller] exten => s,1,NoOp(*** begin sub-log-caller ***) exten => s,n,Set(email='root') exten => s,n,GotoIf($['${MESSAGE(from)}' != '']?SMSINCOMING) exten => s,n,GotoIf(${DB_EXISTS(cidname/${CALLERID(num)})}?CNAMOK) ;exten => s,n,Goto(WHITELISTED) exten => s,n,GotoIf($[${DB(SPAMCHECK/deactivate)} = 1]?CONNECTNOW) exten => s,n,GotoIf($[${DB(cidname/0)} = SPAMCHECK]?CONNECTNOW) exten => s,n,Playback(silence/1) ;exten => s,n,Goto(ANONTEST) exten => s,n,Playback(custom/press5) exten => s,n,Read(MYCODE,beep,1,n,1,10) exten => s,n,GotoIf($["${MYCODE}" = "5"]?ANONTEST) exten => s,n(FLUNKED),NoOp(*** Caller FLUNKED screening ***) exten => s,n,Dial(local/*701@from-internal) ; uncomment to send to 701 VM ;exten => s,n,Dial(local/53669@from-internal) ; uncomment to send to Lenny exten => s,n,Zapateller() exten => s,n,Hangup exten => s,n,Return() exten => s,n(SMSINCOMING),NoOp(${MESSAGE(from)}) exten => s,n,NoOp(${MESSAGE(body)}) exten => s,n,GotoIf($["${email}" = "root"]?NOEMAIL) exten => s,n,system(echo "FROM: ${MESSAGE(from)} \nVIA: ${CDR(did)} \n${MESSAGE(body)}" | `/usr/bin/which mail` -s "Incoming SMS Message" ${email}) ;exten => s,n,SendText("Received but cannot reply now.") exten => s,n(NOEMAIL),Hangup exten => s,n,Return() exten => s,n(CNAMOK),Set(CALLERID(name)=${DB(cidname/${CALLERID(number)})}) exten => s,n,Goto(WHITELISTED) exten => s,n(ANONTEST),GotoIf($[${CALLERID(num)} > 0]?WHITELISTNOW:CONNECTNOW) exten => s,n(WHITELISTNOW),Set(DB(cidname/${CALLERID(number)})=${CALLERID(name)}) exten => s,n,Set(CALLERID(all)="${CALLERID(name)} <${CALLERID(number)}>") exten => s,n,Goto(SENDEMAIL) exten => s,n(WHITELISTED),Set(CALLERID(all)="${CALLERID(name)} <${CALLERID(number)}>") exten => s,n,Goto(CONNECTNOW) exten => s,n(SENDEMAIL),NoOp(WhiteListed: ${CALLERID(all)}) exten => s,n,GotoIf($["${email}" = "root"]?CONNECTNOW) exten => s,n,system(echo "In Asterisk Phone Book, verify new CNAM entry of ${CALLERID(name)} for ${CALLERID(number)}." | `/usr/bin/which mail` -s "Incredible PBX CNAM Reminder" ${email}) exten => s,n(CONNECTNOW),NoOp(*** end of sub-log-caller ***) exten => s,n,Return() ;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The beauty of today’s design is that it won’t interfere with your existing call processing rules. In other words, FreePBX Inbound Routes sent to IVRs, Ring Groups, Conferences, and even incoming Faxes still will be processed exactly as they have been in the past once the CallerID number makes it onto your WhiteList. Unlike the previous design which tweaked the FreePBX Core module slightly, today’s implementation uses a slightly modified [app-blacklist-check] context to kick off our screening component above. This eliminates the need to modify the core module each time FreePBX updates the module. We’ve also enhanced the install to support those using the new Incredible PBX 2021 PUBLIC platform. This gives you the same SPAM protection for calls reaching your PBX directly via a SIP URI instead of a commercial DID.
Here are the basic steps to get this working:
- Configure and Enable CallerID Superfecta in FreePBX
- Enable CallerID Superfecta on All Inbound Routes
- Set the Proper Context for Your Trunks
- Download & Install Call Screener 2021
- Import Previous Callers into WhiteList
1. Configuring CallerID Superfecta in FreePBX
CallerID Superfecta is an integral component in today’s new call screening design. It will be used both to populate the Asterisk Phonebook’s WhiteList and to provide CallerID Name (CNAM) data about your callers while assuring that you only pay for one CNAM query even though grandma may call you a dozen times a day. We use the Asterisk Phonebook as the whitelist of authorized callers. The way CallerID Superfecta works is it checks multiple sources for a match on the incoming CallerID Number. As soon as a match is found, the checking ends and the CallerID Number and Name are passed to the Call Screening script.
The CallerID Superfecta lookup sequence needs to be set as follows in the United States: AsteriDex (if desired), Asterisk Phonebook (required), and then one of the following commercial CNAM lookup services: OpenCNAM or BulkCNAM. In other countries, there still may be free CNAM services, but they’ve all disappeared in the U.S. market. We’ve documented the other available sources in a previous Nerd Vittles article.
Low-volume OpenCNAM Value pricing provides global lookups for $0.0028 each. BulkCNAM provides CNAM queries with RoboCall identification for $0.002 per query. If you sign up with OpenCNAM, you will need your Account SID and Auth Token to configure CallerID Superfecta and to populate the Call Screening script. If you sign up with BulkVS, you will need your API Key from the API Credentials tab in your BulkVS Dashboard.
With your credentials in hand, login into FreePBX as admin and navigate to Admin -> CID Superfecta -> Default. Arrange and enable the lookup sources in the following order: AsteriDex, Asterisk Phonebook, and then either OpenCNAM or BulkCNAM (in the U.S. market) or your country’s best CNAM lookup source. Be sure to enter your credentials for the CNAM provider by clicking on the wrench icon beside the provider. If your incoming trunks already provide CNAM lookups (such as BulkVS and Incredible PBX Trunking), then you can substitute Trunk Provided as your CNAM lookup service. With Incredible PBX Trunking, in addition to free CNAM lookups, you also get SPAM detection at no additional cost. For details on the service, follow this link. Then we typically set Telco Data as the last lookup source which will at least give you the city and state of the caller.
2. Enabling CallerID Superfecta on Inbound Routes
By default, CallerID Superfecta is not enabled for incoming calls to your PBX. You must enable it on every Inbound Route by navigating to Connectivity -> Inbound Routes and then editing each of your routes. Then click on the Other tab and set Enable Superfecta Lookup to YES and set the Superfecta Scheme to DEFAULT. Click SUBMIT to save your route settings and then reload the dialplan when prompted.
3. Setting the Proper Context for Your Trunks
It’s equally important to make certain that the CallerID Numbers for all of your incoming calls arrive in the same format. Computers are stupid. 8005551212 and 18005551212 and +18005551212 are completely different callers as far as your PBX is concerned. If different trunks deliver calls with CallerID Numbers formatted differently, then you would need to whitelist ALL of the various permutations for every caller in the Asterisk Phonebook. For those in the U.S. and Canada that primarily receive calls from the U.S. and Canada, we recommend setting the context entry in every trunk to from-pstn-e164-us. This will handle the translation of all 3 number formats above into 10-digit numbers. Calls from other countries will not be affected.
4. Downloading & Installing Call Screener 2021
Now let’s put all the Call Screener components in place and configure the screening setup to meet your own requirements. To get started, log into Incredible PBX as root and issue the following commands:
mkdir /tmp/CALL-SCREENER cd /tmp/CALL-SCREENER wget http://incrediblepbx.com/CallScreener2021.tar.gz tar zxvf CallScreener2021.tar.gz rm -f CallScreener2021.tar.gz ./install
Once the install is begun, the editor will open to the dialplan code. In the [sub-log-caller] context, you have a few options. First, you need to choose how to handle incoming calls where the caller does not enter the "press5″ number prompt in a timely manner. The default setup (line 14) sends these callers to voicemail for extension 701. You can change the voicemail extension, or you can elect to treat the calls differently. We’ve provided two additional options. Line 15 will send the calls to Lenny at extension 53669. Line 16 will send the calls to Zapateller which is the universal tone for numbers that are not in service. You should enable only one of these three options and comment out the other two by placing a semicolon (;) at the start of the other two lines. If you have fax detection enabled on your PBX, you probably would not want to send failed calls to either Lenny or Zapateller since you may never know the incoming faxes failed. Similarly, if you get calls from people with rotary dial phones such as Grandma, you probably don’t want her talking to Lenny or listening to Zapateller tones.
The next option is which number to prompt callers to press. The default is 5. But you can change it by modifying the existing press5 entry on line 10 and entering the number to match on line 12. Available choices are 5 through 9.
The final option in the [sub-log-caller] context is to activate email notifications for new callers that pass the screening test. This is especially important if you receive lots of calls from cellphone users. Most of those calls will arrive with a CNAM entry of nothing more than the caller’s City and State. Activating an email reminder will notify you to update the Asterisk Phonebook entry for such callers to replace the City, State entry with the caller’s actual name so that your CDR listings and future calls provide accurate CNAM information for the caller. To activate email reminders, replace root in Set(email="root") in line 2 with your actual email address.
The [macro-dialout-trunk-predial-hook] context handles populating the Asterisk Phonebook WhiteList for outbound calls you make to people that are not yet in your Asterisk Phonebook. These numbers will automatically be added to your whitelist, but you also have the option of adding CNAM entries for these outbound calls using either OpenCNAM or BulkCNAM for outbound calls to numbers that are not yet in your Asterisk Phonebook. To activate CNAM lookups, simply uncomment either line 4 or 5 in the context. For the service you have activated, remember to also enter your Account SID and Auth Token in the case of OpenCNAM or your API Key in the case of BulkCNAM. If you leave both lines commented out which is the default, the callee’s phone number will be entered as both the CNAM and CNUM whitelist entry in the Asterisk Phonebook.
Once you have made all the changes desired, save the template by pressing Ctl-X, then Y, then ENTER. The installer then will complete installation of the Call Screener 2021 components.
5. Importing Previous Callers into WhiteList
We appreciate that you may not want to aggravate callers that have been calling you for years by making them jump through hoops the next time they call. So here’s a quick way to populate your Asterisk Phonebook with the names and numbers of previous callers. For entries where the CNAM is merely the CallerID Number, future calls from these numbers still will be looked up with OpenCNAM or BulkCNAM to obtain an actual CNAM match. We’ve made a couple of assumptions that you are more than welcome to adjust to meet your own needs. First, we’ve limited the list to callers from the past two calendar years. Second, we’ve only captured calls that lasted more than 15 seconds. We’ll drop down to the Linux CLI to build the list of callers to import. Then we’ll use the FreePBX GUI to import the list into the Asterisk Phonebook. While building the import list, you’ll have an opportunity to prune the list and remove any undesirable entries using nano. To generate the .csv file, issue the following commands:
cd /root ./export-CDR
Now you should have a 2YR-clean.csv file in its final form for import. Copy the file to your desktop PC and open FreePBX in your browser. Navigate to Admin -> Asterisk Phonebook. Click Import Phonebook and then Browse. Select the 2YR-clean.csv file from your desktop. Then click Upload. Take a final look at the new entries in your Asterisk Phonebook to make sure nothing came unglued, and you’re all set.
Originally published: Thursday, March 4, 2021
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Amazon’s Polly TTS Returns for Incredible PBX 2021
In a word, WOW! If you’ve previously used text-to-speech (TTS) applications with Incredible PBX™ or any other PBX, you fully appreciate the challenges of getting excellent voice quality from a synthesized voice. In addition to operating system quirks, you also had to scramble to find TTS software that had acceptable voice quality without breaking the bank. Well, it’s a new day with Incredible PBX 2021. Shortly after Amazon’s introduction of Polly TTS, we integrated it into the Wazo platform with Incredible PBX. However, because of Debian dependencies, we were unable to migrate it to CentOS. With RedHat’s recent decision regarding CentOS, we introduced Incredible PBX 2021 for Debian. And now is a perfect time to bring back Polly TTS as well. Polly TTS provides not only incredible voice quality but it comes at an unbelievable price point. Your first year is free for the first 5 million characters each month. After that and in subsequent years, it’s $4 for every million characters of TTS translation, and you only pay for the characters used. But, don’t take our word for it. Listen to this sample. The clip’s introduction uses the free Pico TTS voice. The Yahoo News headlines were generated with Polly. Can you say Night and Day?
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/319736570″ params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="80%" height="414″ iframe="true" /]
The beauty of Nerd Vittles projects is it’s all about the freedom to choose rather than making do with choices selected by others. Today’s addition of the Polly TTS engine brings the number of TTS options supported with Incredible PBX 2021 to four. In addition to the free options of Festival and PICO, you now have two dirt cheap commercial alternatives that rival the voice quality of any available TTS application on the market. There’s IBM’s Watson which we are using for voicemail transcription. And now you have Amazon’s Polly TTS as well.
Stewart Nelson was kind enough to share his audio clip comparing the Top Four commercial TTS applications. You can judge them for yourself. The clips are played in the following order: Amazon Polly TTS, Google Translate, IBM Watson TTS, and Microsoft.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/320177552″ params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450″ iframe="true" /]
How New TTS Apps Will Work in Incredible PBX 2021. That’s only half of our story today. We also are introducing our proven TTS methodology that makes it easy to roll your own TTS applications and take advantage of the voice platforms already installed on your Incredible PBX 2021 server. In our new TTS design, there are three components. First, there’s a chunk of dialplan code that answers calls, prompts for input (if required), and then passes the call off for processing and generation of the TTS results using the desired TTS platform.
The processing and TTS components consist of two PHP/AGI scripts on Asterisk® servers. The results processing script actually obtains the data to feed to the TTS processing engine. For example, this could be news headlines or a local weather forecast. This script generates plain text suitable for processing by any TTS engine. Finally, a TTS script stores your user credentials (if required) and handles translation of the text results into an audio file using the TTS platform of your choice. It also plays the audio "results" to the caller. As you add new applications, all that is necessary is a short dialplan snippet and a results processing script to obtain the necessary text to feed the TTS processing script.
Here’s a sample Asterisk dialplan snippet for our Yahoo News Headlines application. Note that you need only change the pollytts line of code to switch TTS engines. Simple design!
;# // BEGIN nv-news-yahoo exten => 951,1,Answer exten => 951,n,Wait(1) exten => 951,n,Set(TIMEOUT(digit)=7) exten => 951,n,Set(TIMEOUT(response)=10) exten => 951,n,AGI(picotts.agi,"Please hold while we get the headlines.",en-US) exten => 951,n,AGI(nv-news-yahoo.php,10) ; obtain latest 10 Yahoo NEWS Headlines exten => 951,n,NoOp(News: ${NEWS}) ; display NEWS in text format on Asterisk CLI exten => 951,n,AGI(pollytts.php,"${NEWS}") ; pass NEWS to TTS engine for playback exten => 951,n,Hangup ;# // END nv-news-yahoo
The picotts line (above) shows the syntax to use the Pico TTS engine instead of pollytts. The new line would look like the following. Doesn’t get much easier than this:
exten => 951,n,AGI(picotts.agi,"${NEWS}",en-US)
Getting Started. Here are the steps to get everything working with your existing Incredible PBX 2021 platform. First, you’ll need credentials from Amazon Polly after you create or sign in to your an Amazon AWS account. Enter "Polly" in the AWS dialog to add the service. Make note of your Amazon region while here. Then open your Security Credentials by clicking on your name and choosing My Security Credentials. Create a new Access Key ID and Secret. You’ll need these credentials as well as your Amazon region in a minute. Next, you’ll need to put the pieces in place on your Incredible PBX 2021 server to support Polly TTS. We’ve made this easy by bundling everything into a single tarball. Just log into your server as root, download the tarball, untar it, add MP3 support for SOX, run the included script to install the dialplan code, and edit the pollytts.php script to install your Amazon credentials. Install time: under a minute.
cd /var/lib/asterisk/agi-bin cp -p nv-news-yahoo.php nv-news-yahoo-orig.php cp -p nv-weather-zip.php nv-weather-zip-orig.php wget http://incrediblepbx.com/nv-polly-install.tar.gz tar zxvf nv-polly-install.tar.gz rm -f nv-polly-install.tar.gz apt-get -y install libsox-fmt-mp3 ./install-polly-dialplan-incrediblepbx.sh nano -w pollytts.php
Once the pieces are in place and the editor opens, insert your Amazon key, secret, and region code. Then save the file: Ctrl-X, Y, then ENTER
.
Now you can test things out by picking up a phone connected to your PBX and dialing 951 for News or 947 for Weather by ZIP Code. Enjoy!
NEWS FLASH: This new installer works great on the Incredible PBX 2020 Raspberry Pi platform as well.
Originally published: Monday, January 22, 2021
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Happy New Year: Introducing Incredible PBX 2021 for Debian
Shifting gears is never easy, and sometimes it takes ill-advised corporate blunders to move the needle. But IBM®’s decimation of the CentOS project last month coupled with the Sangoma® Ransomware fiasco were just the motivation we needed to shift into overdrive and explore alternatives for the Incredible PBX® 2021 project. After six beta releases, we are delighted to introduce Incredible PBX 2021 with ClearlyIP’s FreePBX® 15 module protection and your choice of either Asterisk® 16 or the Asterisk 18 LTS release.
Before we get started, we want to offer our special thanks to the many talented individuals on the VoIP-Info.org Forum and the ClearlyIP development team who helped to bring this open source product to fruition. Keep in mind that it was produced during this holiday season without missing a beat and in spite of 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic and the Sangoma® infamous security breach, the handling of which was so bad that we can’t muster enough tact to write about it.
Setting Up a Debian Platform for Incredible PBX 2021
If you’re using on-premise hardware, begin by downloading the netinst ISO image of Debian 10 for amd64. Follow our previous tutorials for tips on installation with VirtualBox or VMware ESXi. If you’d prefer to experiment in the cloud for about a penny an hour, open an account at Vultr or Digital Ocean using our referral links that support the Nerd Vittles project. You’ll also get some free credit to try out the service. Then create a new $5/month Debian 10, 64-bit instance in your favorite city.
If you’re using other cloud platforms with a Debian 10 offering, we strongly recommend a KVM platform. Also be advised that all Debian 10 releases are not equal. So be sure to upgrade to the latest Debian 10 release before you proceed. Here are the steps:
apt-get update --allow-releaseinfo-change apt-get upgrade # GRUB prompt: install to /dev/vda # SSH prompt: keep local version reboot
If your PBX is sitting behind a NAT-based router, you’ll need to redirect incoming UDP 5060-5061 and UDP 10000-20000 traffic to the private IP address of your server. This is required for all of the SIP providers included in the Incredible PBX 2021 build. Otherwise, all inbound calls will fail.
Installing Incredible PBX 2021 on Debian 10 Server
Once your Debian 10 platform is up and running, login as root using SSH or Putty. If you wish to use the default Asterisk 18 platform, issue the commands below to kick off the install. If you’d prefer to stick with Asterisk 16 for the time being and perhaps upgrade to Asterisk 18 later with the included upgrade script, then edit the script once you download it and change 18 to 16 in line 34 of the script before executing it.
wget http://incrediblepbx.com/IncrediblePBX2021.sh chmod +x IncrediblePBX2021.sh ./IncrediblePBX2021.sh
At about 5 minutes into the install procedure, you’ll be prompted for your telephone country code. It’s 1 for Canada and the United States. Just before the install completes, you’ll be prompted to save your default IPtables setup. Once the installation completes, reboot and you should be good to go.
After you log back in following a reboot, check the version of Debian 10 in the pbxstatus display. If it’s less than 10.7, issue the following commands to bring your server up to Debian 10.10 or later, not Debian 11. Do NOT do this before the base install is finished, or Asterisk may fail to install properly.
apt-get update apt-get upgrade -y
Next Steps with Incredible PBX 2021
Before you can manage your PBX through a web browser, you first will need to set the admin passwords for FreePBX, Apache web apps such as Reminders and AsteriDex, and AvantFax (if you are using Incredible Fax). These all can be set by logging into your server as root and issuing the following commands: admin-pw-change, apache-pw-change, and avantfax-pw-change. The AvantFax password can also be reset with a browser by first logging in as admin with a password of password.
Outbound mail functionality needs to be working so that you can receive voicemail messages and faxes by email. To prevent SPAM, most ISPs and ITSPs block messages from downstream mail servers. That would be you. The easiest way to resolve this is to configure SendMail using Gmail as an SMTP Smarthost. You obviously need a Gmail account to implement this and, if you have turned on two-factor authentication for your Gmail account, you also will need to obtain an App password for your Gmail account, and use that in lieu of your regular Gmail password when configuring SendMail. With your Gmail username and password in hand, log into your server as root and run: /root/enable-gmail-smarthost-for-sendmail.
If your Incredible PBX 2021 is hosted with a cloud provider, be advised that many providers do not include a swap file as part of their offering. FreePBX requires a swap file. To add one, issue this command after logging into your server as root: /root/create-swapfile-DO.
To correctly set the time on your PBX, run: /root/timezone-setup.
By default, the voicemail password for each of the configured extensions (701-705) is set to the extension number. This means the user will be prompted to set a voicemail password on the first login to voicemail for each extension. A phone must be registered to the actual extension to access its voicemail account. For example, once a phone is registered to extension 701, the voicemail setup can be accessed by dialing *98701.
If you want to send and receive faxes with Incredible PBX 2021, run the following script while logged into your server as root: /root/incrediblefax2020-debian10.sh. When prompted, accept all the defaults. Once the HylaFax and AvantFax components are installed, reboot your server. To send faxes, click on the AvantFax tab in the FreePBX GUI and enter your login credentials (default: admin/password). To receive incoming faxes once you have configured a trunk and DID for your PBX, login to the FreePBX GUI as admin. Navigate to Connectivity -> Inbound Routes. For each of your DIDs on which you wish to receive faxes, select the inbound route and click the Fax tab. Review the Default Inbound Route Fax settings for proper setup.
NOTE: If you get a database error when you attempt to access AvantFax from a web browser, log into your server as root and reinstall the AvantFax database: ./avantfax-db-replace
.
Overview of the Initial Asterisk Setup Process
For those new to PBXs, here’s a two paragraph summary of how Voice over IP (VoIP) works. Phones connected to your PBX are registered with Extensions so that they can make and receive calls. When a PBX user picks up a phone and dials a number, an Outbound Route tells the PBX which Trunk to use to place the call based upon established dialing rules. Unless the dialed number is a local extension, a Trunk registered with some service provider accepts the call, and the PBX sends the call to that provider. The provider then routes the call to its destination where the recipient’s phone rings to announce the incoming call. When the recipient picks up the phone, the conversation begins.
Looking at things from the other end, when a caller somewhere in the world wishes to reach you, the caller picks up a telephone and dials a number known as a DID that is assigned to you by a provider with whom you have established service. When the provider receives the call to your DID, it routes the call to your PBX based upon destination information you established with the provider. Your PBX receives the call with information identifying the DID of the call as well as the CallerID name and number of the caller. An Inbound Route on your PBX then determines where to send the call based upon that DID and CallerID information. Typically, a call is routed to an Extension, a group of Extensions known as a Ring Group, or an IVR or AutoAttendant giving the caller choices on routing the call to the desired destination. Once the call is routed to an Extension, the PBX rings the phone registered to that Extension. When you pick up the phone, the conversation begins.
Configuring Trunks with Incredible PBX GUI
Perhaps the most difficult component to configure in the PBX is the Trunk. Almost every provider has a different way of doing things. We’ve taken some of the torture out of the exercise by providing a script which will configure settings for dozens of providers in seconds. Once installed, all you need to do is edit the desired Trunk (Connectivity:Trunks), change the Disable Trunk entry to No, and insert your credentials in both the PEER Details and Registration string of the SIP Settings Outgoing and Incoming tabs. Skyetel is enabled by default and needs no setup on the PBX side.
Configuring Skyetel for Incredible PBX 2021
If you’ve decided to go with Skyetel, here’s the drill. Sign up for Skyetel service and take advantage of the Nerd Vittles specials. First, complete the Prequalification Form here. You then will be provided a link to the Skyetel site to complete your registration. Once you have registered on the Skyetel site and your account has been activated, open a support ticket and request the $10 credit for your account by referencing the Nerd Vittles special offer. Once you are satisfied with the service, fund your account as desired, and Skyetel will match your deposit of up to $250 simply by opening another ticket. That gets you up to $500 of half-price calling. Credit is limited to one per person/company/address/location. Effective 10/1/2023, $25/month minimum spend required.
Skyetel does not use SIP registrations to make connections to your PBX. Instead, Skyetel utilizes Endpoint Groups to identify which servers can communicate with the Skyetel service. An Endpoint Group consists of a Name, an IP address, a UDP or TCP port for the connection, and a numerical Priority for the group. For incoming calls destined to your PBX, DIDs are associated with an Endpoint Group to route the calls to your PBX. For outgoing calls from your PBX, a matching Endpoint Group is required to authorize outbound calls through the Skyetel network. Thus, the first step in configuring the Skyetel side for use with your PBX is to set up an Endpoint Group. Here’s a typical setup for Incredible PBX 2021:
- Name: MyPBX
- Priority: 1
- IP Address: PBX-Public-IP-Address
- Port: 5060
- Protocol: UDP
- Description: my.incrediblepbx.com
To receive incoming PSTN calls, you’ll need at least one DID. On the Skyetel site, you acquire DIDs under the Phone Numbers tab. You have the option of Porting in Existing Numbers (free for the first 60 days after you sign up for service) or purchasing new ones under the Buy Phone Numbers menu option.
Once you have acquired one or more DIDs, navigate to the Local Numbers or Toll Free Numbers tab and specify the desired SIP Format and Endpoint Group for each DID. Add SMS/MMS and E911 support, if desired. Call Forwarding and Failover are also supported. That completes the VoIP setup on the Skyetel side. System Status is always available here.
Configuring VoIP.ms for Incredible PBX 2021
To sign up for VoIP.ms service, may we suggest you use our signup link so that Nerd Vittles gets a referral credit for your signup. Once your account is set up, you’ll need to set up a SIP SubAccount and, for Authentication Type, choose Static IP Authentication and enter your Incredible PBX 2021 server’s public IP address. For Transport, choose UDP. For Device Type, choose Asterisk, IP PBX, Gateway or VoIP Switch. Order a DID in their web panel, and then point the DID to the SubAccount you just created. Be sure to specify atlanta1.voip.ms as the POP from which to receive incoming calls. In the Incredible PBX GUI, be sure to enable the VoIP.ms trunk.
Configuring V1VoIP for Incredible PBX 2021
To sign up for V1VoIP service, sign up on their web site. Then login to your account and order a DID under the DIDs tab. Once the DID has been assigned, choose View DIDs and click on the Forwarding button beside your DID. For Option #1, choose Forward to IP Address/PBX. For the Forwarding Address, enter the public IP address of your server. For the T/O (timeout) value, set it to 2o seconds. Then click the Update button. Under the Termination tab, create a new Endpoint with the public IP address of your server so that you can place outbound calls through V1VoIP. In the Incredible PBX GUI, be sure to enable all of the V1VoIP trunks.
Configuring Anveo Direct for Incredible PBX 2021
To sign up for Anveo Direct service, sign up on their web site and then login. After adding funds to your account, purchase a DID under Inbound Service -> Order DID. Next, choose Configure Destination SIP Trunk. Give the Trunk a name. For the Primary SIP URI, enter $[E164]$@server-IP-address. For Call Options, select your new DID from the list. You also must whitelist your public IP address under Outbound Service -> Configure. Create a new Call Termination Trunk and name it to match your server. For Dialing Prefix, choose six alphanumeric characters beginning with a zero. In Authorized IP Addresses, enter the public IP address of your server. Set an appropriate rate cap. We like $0.01 per minute to be safe. Set a concurrent calls limit. We like 2. For the Call Routing Method, choose Least Cost unless you’re feeling extravagant. For Routes/Carriers, choose Standard Routes. Write down your Dialing Prefix and then click the Save button.
Before you can make outbound calls through Anveo Direct from your PBX, you first must configure the Dialing Prefix that you wrote down in the previous step. Log into the GUI as admin using a web browser and edit the Anveo-Out trunk in Connectivity -> Trunks. Enable the Trunk. Then click on the custom-Settings tab and replace anveo-pin with your actual Dialing Prefix. Click Submit and Apply Config to complete the setup. In the Incredible PBX GUI, be sure to enable all of the remaining Anveo trunks.
By default, incoming Anveo Direct calls will be processed by the Default inbound route on your PBX. If you wish to redirect incoming Anveo Direct calls using DID-specific inbound routes, then you’ve got a bit more work to do. In addition to creating the inbound route using the 11-digit Anveo Direct DID, enter the following commands after logging into your server as root using SSH/Putty:
cd /etc/asterisk echo "[from-anveo]" >> extensions_custom.conf echo "exten => _.,1,Ringing" >> extensions_custom.conf echo "exten => _.,n,Goto(from-trunk,\${SIP_HEADER(X-anveo-e164)},1)" >> extensions_custom.conf asterisk -rx "dialplan reload"
Configuring Extensions with Incredible PBX GUI
Extensions are created using the Incredible PBX GUI: Applications:Extensions. Many SIP phones expect extensions to communicate on UDP port 5060. If this is the case with your SIP phone or softphone, then always create Chan_SIP extensions which communicate on UDP 5060. If your SIP phone or softphone provide port flexibility, then you have a choice in the type of SIP extension to create: Chan_SIP or the more versatile PJSIP (UDP 5061). Just remember to always configure SIP extensions with NAT Mode=YES in the Advanced tab. If your VoIP phones or softphones support IAX connectivity, you may wish to consider IAX extensions which avoid NAT problems.
When you create a new Extension, a new entry is automatically created in the PBX Internal Directory. If you wish to allow individual users to manage their extensions or use the WebRTC softphone, then you will also have to create a (very) secure password for User Control Panel (UCP) access. Choose Admin:User Management and click on the key icon of the desired extension to assign a password for UCP and WebRTC access.
Configuring a Desktop Softphone for Incredible PBX
We’re in the home stretch now. You can connect virtually any kind of telephone to your new PBX. Plain Old Phones require an analog telephone adapter (ATA) which can be a separate board in your computer from a company such as Digium. Or it can be a standalone SIP device such as ObiHai’s OBi100 or OBi110 (if you have a phone line from Ma Bell to hook up as well). SIP phones can be connected directly so long as they have an IP address. These could be hardware devices or software devices such as the YateClient softphone. We’ll start with a free one today so you can begin making calls. You can find dozens of recommendations for hardware-based SIP phones both on Nerd Vittles and the PIAF Forum when you’re ready to get serious about VoIP telephony.
We recommend YateClient for Windows which is free. Download it from here. Run YateClient once you’ve installed it and enter the credentials for the 701 extension on Incredible PBX. You can find them by running /root/show-passwords
. You’ll need the IP address of your server plus your extension 701 password. In the YateClient, fill in the blanks using the IP address of your Server, 701 for your Username, and whatever Password was assigned to the extension when you installed Incredible PBX. Click OK to save your entries.
Once you are registered to extension 701, close the Account window. Then click on YATE’s Telephony Tab and place some test calls to the numerous apps that are preconfigured on Incredible PBX. Dial a few of these to get started:
DEMO - Apps Demo 123 - Reminders 947 - Weather by ZIP Code 951 - Yahoo News TODAY - Today in History LENNY - The Telemarketer's Worst Nightmare
If you are a Mac user, another great no-frills softphone is Telephone. Just download and install it from the Mac App Store. For Android users, check out the terrific new VitalPBX Communicator. Works flawlessly with Incredible PBX.
Configuring a Softphone Extension on a Smartphone
Adding an Incredible PBX extension to your smartphone gets a little trickier. Whether you’re an iPhone or Android lover, all smartphones use batteries, and you don’t want to drain your battery by running a softphone as a foreground app all the time. Fortunately, you now have some choices in softphones engineered to work without draining your battery. While they all cost money, it’s not much money. We’ve written about all the choices, and you’ll find the links in our Softphone Provider Recommendations on the new Incredible PBX Wiki.
With PJsip extensions, you’re not limited to a single phone connection at a time, and we’ve preconfigured extension 701 to support five simultaneous connections. The setup on the softphone side is simple. For the server, enter the actual IP address of your PBX in the following format: 22.33.44.55:5061. Then enter 701 for the username and enter the password assigned to the 701 extension on your PBX. When an incoming call arrives, all the phones registered to extension 701 will ring simultaneously. Simply answer the call on the phone that is most convenient.
Configuring Outbound Routes in Incredible PBX GUI
Outbound Routes serve a couple of purposes. First, they assure that calls placed by users of your PBX are routed out through an appropriate trunk to reach their destination in the least costly manner. Second, they serve as a security mechanism by either blocking or restricting certain calls by requiring a PIN to complete the calls. Never authorize recurring charges on credit cards registered with your VoIP providers and, if possible, place pricing limits on calls with your providers. If a bad guy were to break into your PBX, you don’t want to give the intruder a blank check to make unauthorized calls. And you certainly don’t want to join the $100,000 Phone Bill Club.
To create outbound routes in the Incredible PBX GUI, navigate to Connectivity:Outbound Routes and click Add Outbound Route. In the Route Settings tab, give the Outbound Route a name and choose one or more trunks to use for the outbound calls. In the Dial Patterns tab, specify the dial strings that must be matched to use this Outbound Route. NXXNXXXXXX would require only 10-digit numbers with the first and fourth digits being a number between 2 and 9. Note that Outbound Routes are searched from the top entry to the bottom until there is a match. Make certain that you order your routes correctly and then place test calls watching the Asterisk CLI to make sure the calls are routed as you intended.
Configuring Inbound Routes in Incredible PBX GUI
Inbound Routes, as the name implies, are used to direct incoming calls to a specific destination. That destination could be an extension, a ring group, an IVR or AutoAttendant, or even a conference or DISA extension to place outbound calls (hopefully with a very secure password). Inbound Routes can be identified by DID, CallerID number, or both. To create Inbound Routes, choose Connectivity:Inbound Routes and then click Add Inbound Route. Provide at least a Description for the route, a DID to be matched, and the Destination for the incoming calls that match. If you only want certain callers to be able to reach certain extensions, add a CallerID number to your matching criteria. You can add Call Recording and CallerID CNAM Lookups under the Other tab.
Audio Issues with Incredible PBX 2021
If you experience one-way or no audio on some calls, add your external IP address and LAN subnet in the GUI by navigating to Settings -> Asterisk SIP Settings. In the NAT Settings section, click Detect Network Settings. Click Submit and Apply Settings to save your changes.
Security Considerations with Incredible PBX 2021
Incredible PBX 2021 includes a rock-solid firewall that limits access to preferred providers and individuals whose IP addresses you have whitelisted. Unfortunately, this may not insulate your server from FreePBX 15 irregularities if, in fact, Sangoma’s signing key was compromised in the October 2020 Ransomware Attack. Sangoma either doesn’t know or isn’t telling. Keep in mind that Sangoma didn’t mention the October breach either until someone else exposed it. Sangoma’s latest press release is available here.
The good news is Incredible PBX 2020 and 2021 platforms include a unique ClearlyIP feature that lets us manage which modules and versions can be installed. It works exactly like what ClearlyIP has documented in their must-read blog post, and we’ve built a locked version that rolls back all of the modules to dates before the Sangoma breach. The good news is, with Incredible PBX, you don’t have to jump through all the hoops covered in the ClearlyIP article to fully insulate your server from the Ransomware breach. We’ve done the work for you.
For those with mission-critical platforms, we’d recommend immediate implementation of what follows. For everyone else, it’s your choice whether to wait and see if there is a breach of the signing certificate with malicious modules. If you opt to wait and see, MAKE FREQUENT BACKUPS.
Here’s how to roll back all of your modules to dates before the breach. Login to the FreePBX GUI as admin and navigate to Settings > Advanced Settings. Drop down to the Lock Version field and change 15.19.11.001 to 15.19.11.003. Save your changes and reload your dialplan. Then use Module Admin to roll back any installed modules that are newer than the safe versions shown.
Our extra special thanks goes to Tony Lewis and the ClearlyIP team for providing this invaluable resource. Somehow we knew it would come in handy sooner or later. Unfortunately, that day has come.
Adding Incredible PBX 2021 to an OpenVPN Network
We previously have documented the procedure for creating an OpenVPN server as well as OpenVPN client templates (.ovpn). If you need a refresher, the tutorial is here. To add your Incredible PBX 2021 server to an existing OpenVPN network, begin by creating an incrediblepbx2021.ovpn template on your OpenVPN server. Be sure to comment out or delete the setenv line in the template. Then copy this template to /etc on your Incredible PBX 2021 server. Next, issue the following commands to put the remaining pieces in place:
cp -p /root/openvpn-start /etc/. echo "[Unit] Description=openvpn2021 ConditionPathExists=/etc/openvpn-start After=rclocal.service [Service] Type=forking ExecStart=/etc/openvpn-start /etc/incrediblepbx2021.ovpn TimeoutSec=0 StandardOutput=tty RemainAfterExit=yes PermissionsStartOnly=true SysVStartPriority=99 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target" > /etc/systemd/system/openvpn2021.service
Finally, enable the new openvpn2021.service and reboot your server. The OpenVPN IP address should now appear on the LAN line in pbxstatus:
systemctl enable openvpn2021.service reboot
Incredible PBX 2021 Administration
We’ve eased the pain of administering your new PBX with a collection of scripts which you will find in the /root folder after logging in with SSH or Putty. Here’s a quick summary of what each of the scripts does.
add-fqdn is used to whitelist a fully-qualified domain name in the firewall. Because Incredible PBX 2021 blocks all traffic from IP addresses that are not whitelisted, this is what you use to authorize an external user for your PBX. The advantage of an FQDN is that you can use a dynamic DNS service to automatically update the IP address associated with an FQDN so that you never lose connectivity.
add-ip is used to whitelist a public IP address in the firewall. See the add-fqdn explanation as to why this matters.
del-acct is used to remove an IP address or FQDN from the firewall’s whitelist.
admin-pw-change is used to set the admin password for access to the FreePBX/Incredible PBX web GUI using a browser pointed to the local IP address of your server.
apache-pw-change is used to set the admin password for access to Apache/Incredible PBX apps including AsteriDex and Reminders. This provides a password layer of protection for access to these applications.
avantfax-email-change is used to change the destination email address for incoming faxes.
avantfax-pw-change is used to change your admin password for the AvantFax web console.
iaxmodem-restart is used to restart the modems used to send and deliver faxes. The pbxstatus display will tell you whether the IAXmodems are down.
incrediblebackup2021 makes a backup of critical components on your PBX to a tarball saved in /backup. This should be copied to safe location off-site for a rainy day.
incrediblerestore2021 restores a backup file which has been copied to the /backup folder.
ipchecker is a script which deciphers the public IP addresses associated with whitelisted FQDNs created with add-fqdn on your server. If any of the addresses have changed, the firewall is restarted after updating the IP addresses. By default, it is executed every 10 minutes by /etc/crontab.
licenses.sh displays the license associated with each of the FreePBX modules on your server.
logos-b-gone removes proprietary artwork from your PBX and is no longer necessary with the included IncrediblePBX FreePBX module.
mime-construct is a command-line utility to send emails with attachments.
neorouter-login is a script to add your PBX to a NeoRouter VPN. Tutorial here.
odbc-gen.sh is a script that was run to generate the ODBC settings for Asterisk. Do NOT use it.
openvpn-start is a script to add your PBX to an existing OpenVPN network using an .ovpn config file. Tutorial here.
pbxstatus displays status of all major components of Incredible PBX 2021.
pptp-install is a script to create a PPTP network connection for your PBX. Tutorial here.
purge-cdr-cel-records removes all CDR and CEL records from the MySQL database.
reset-conference-pins is a script that automatically and randomly resets the user and admin pins for access to the preconfigured conferencing application. Dial C-O-N-F from any registered SIP phone to connect to the conference.
reset-extension-passwords is a script that automatically and randomly resets ALL of the SIP passwords for extensions 701-705. Be careful using this one, or you may disable existing registered phones and cause Fail2Ban to blacklist the IP addresses of those users. HINT: You can place a call to the Ring Group associated with all five extensions by dialing 777.
reset-reminders-pin is a script that automatically and randomly resets the pin required to access the Telephone Reminders application by dialing 123. It’s important to protect this application because a nefarious user could set up a reminder to call a number anywhere in the world assuming your SIP provider’s account was configured to allow such calls.
show-feature-codes is a cheat sheet for all of the feature codes which can be dialed from any registered SIP phone. It documents how powerful a platform Incredible PBX 2021 actually is. A similar listing is available in the GUI at Admin -> Feature Codes.
show-passwords is a script that displays most of the passwords associated with Incredible PBX 2021. This includes SIP extension passwords, voicemail pins, conference pins, telephone reminders pin, and your Anveo Direct outbound calling pin (if configured). Note that voicemail pins are configured by the user of a SIP extension the first time the user accesses the voicemail system by dialing *97.
sig-fix disables Module Signature Checking in the FreePBX GUI. This should not be necessary unless you have added or edited FreePBX Modules with missing module signatures.
sms-skyetel is a script to send SMS messages using a Skyetel trunk.
sms-voip.ms is a script to send SMS messages using a VoIP.ms trunk.
sms-blast, sms-blaster, and sms-dictator are scripts for message blasting. Tutorial here.
switch-to-php5.6 is a script to disable PHP 7.3 and set PHP 5.6 as the default version for your PBX. PHP 5.6 is required to use AvantFax. It is the default configuration for Incredible PBX 2021. The current default PHP version is displayed in the Apache listing of pbxstatus.
switch-to-php7.3 is a script to disable PHP 5.6 and set PHP 7.3 as the default version for your PBX. You cannot use AvantFax when PHP 7.3 is the default.
timezone-setup is a script to set the timezone for your PBX.
update-IncrediblePBX is a script that runs the Automatic Update Utility whenever you login to your server as root. These updates typically resolve bugs and security issues with your PBX. Do NOT remove it.
upgrade-asterisk16 is a script that runs on Asterisk 16 platforms to upgrade your PBX to the latest release of Asterisk 16.
upgrade-asterisk18 is a script that runs on both Asterisk 16 and 18 platforms to upgrade your PBX to the latest release of Asterisk 18.
wolfram is a script to deploy Wolfram Alpha on your PBX. Tutorial here.
Forwarding Calls to Your Cellphone. Keep in mind that inbound calls to your DIDs automatically ring all five SIP extensions, 701-705. The easiest way to also ring your cellphone is to set one of these five extensions to forward incoming calls to your cellphone. After logging into your PBX as root, issue the following command to forward calls from extension 705 to your cellphone: asterisk -rx "database put CF 705 6781234567"
To remove call forwarding: asterisk -rx "database del CF 705"
Keeping FreePBX 15 Modules Current
We strongly recommend that you periodically update all of your FreePBX modules to eliminate bugs and to reduce security vulnerabilities. From the Linux CLI, log into your server as root and issue the following commands:
rm -rf /tmp/* fwconsole ma upgradeall fwconsole reload /root/sig-fix systemctl restart apache2 /root/sig-fix
Ready to turn Incredible PBX 2021 into a PUBLIC-Facing PBX? Here’s how.
Originally published: Friday, January 1, 2021
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
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The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
A New Day: Introducing Incredible PBX 2021 Beta for Debian
Shifting gears is never easy, and sometimes it takes an ill-advised corporate blunder to move the needle. But IBM’s decimation of the CentOS project last week was just the motivation we needed to begin exploring alternatives for the Incredible PBX project. We are delighted to introduce the beta release of Incredible PBX 2021 for Debian 10 for those with a pioneering spirit that would like to participate in development of this promising new platform.
Before we get started, a few cautionary notes. This is not production-ready software. It’s been in development for less than a week by a single individual. As much as we believe in miracles, this probably is not one of them. Having said that, many talented individuals on the VoIP-Info.org Forum have taken this for a spin and offered numerous suggestions. You, too, can follow our progress and participate. With a little luck, we’ll have a production-ready release before the end of 2020. We’ve successfully built a fully-functional version of Incredible PBX 2021 with on-premise hardware using VirtualBox and VMware ESXi. And we’ve deployed virtual machines at Vultr and Digital Ocean without a hiccup.
For those that would like to roll up your sleeves and contribute to this open source project, here’s how to get started. If you’re using on-premise hardware, begin by downloading the netinst ISO image of Debian 10.7 for amd64. Follow our previous tutorials for tips on installation with VirtualBox or VMware ESXi. If you’d prefer to experiment in the cloud for about a penny an hour, open an account at Vultr or Digital Ocean using our referral links that support the Nerd Vittles project. You’ll also get some free credit to try out the service. Then create a new $5/month Debian 10, 64-bit instance in your favorite city.
Once your Debian 10 platform is up and running, login as root using SSH or Putty and issue the following commands:
wget http://incrediblepbx.com/IncrediblePBX2021.sh chmod +x IncrediblePBX2021.sh ./IncrediblePBX2021.sh
At about 5 minutes into the install procedure, you’ll be prompted for your telephone country code. It’s 1 for Canada and the United States. Just before the install completes, you’ll be prompted to save your default IPtables setup. Once the installation completes, reboot and you should be good to go. For tips on next steps, review the Incredible PBX 2020 CentOS 7 tutorial.
After you log back in following a reboot, check the version of Debian 10 in the pbxstatus display. If it’s less than 10.7, issue the following commands to bring your server up to Debian 10.7. Do NOT do this before the base install is finished, or Asterisk may fail to install properly.
apt-get update apt-get upgrade -y
Next Steps with Incredible PBX 2021
Before you can manage your PBX through a web browser, you first will need to set the admin passwords for FreePBX, Apache web apps such as Reminders and AsteriDex, and AvantFax (if you are using Incredible Fax). These all can be set by logging into your server as root and issuing the following commands: admin-pw-change, apache-pw-change, and avantfax-pw-change. The AvantFax password can also be reset with a browser by first logging in as admin with a password of password.
Outbound mail functionality needs to be working so that you can receive voicemail messages and faxes by email. To prevent SPAM, most ISPs and ITSPs block messages from downstream mail servers. That would be you. The easiest way to resolve this is to configure SendMail using Gmail as an SMTP Smarthost. You obviously need a Gmail account to implement this and, if you have turned on two-factor authentication for your Gmail account, you also will need to obtain an App password for your Gmail account, and use that in lieu of your regular Gmail password when configuring SendMail. With your Gmail username and password in hand, log into your server as root and run: /root/enable-gmail-smarthost-for-sendmail.
If your Incredible PBX 2021 is hosted with a cloud provider, be advised that many providers do not include a swap file as part of their offering. FreePBX requires a swap file. To add one, issue this command after logging into your server as root: /root/create-swapfile-DO.
To correctly set the time on your PBX, run: /root/timezone-setup.
By default, the voicemail password for each of the configured extensions (701-705) is set to the extension number. This means the user will be prompted to set a voicemail password on the first login to voicemail for each extension. A phone must be registered to the actual extension to access its voicemail account. For example, once a phone is registered to extension 701, the voicemail setup can be accessed by dialing *98701.
If you want to send and receive faxes with Incredible PBX 2021, run the following script while logged into your server as root: /root/incrediblefax2020-debian10.sh. When prompted, accept all the defaults. Once the HylaFax and AvantFax components are installed, reboot your server. To send faxes, click on the AvantFax tab in the FreePBX GUI and enter your login credentials (default: admin/password). To receive incoming faxes once you have configured a trunk and DID for your PBX, login to the FreePBX GUI as admin. Navigate to Connectivity -> Inbound Routes. For each of your DIDs on which you wish to receive faxes, select the inbound route and click the Fax tab. Review the Default Inbound Route Fax settings for proper setup.
NOTE: If you get a database error when you attempt to access AvantFax from a web browser, log into your server as root and reinstall the AvantFax database: ./avantfax-db-replace
.
Audio Issues with Incredible PBX 2021
If you experience one-way or no audio on some calls, add your external IP address and LAN subnet in the GUI by navigating to Settings -> Asterisk SIP Settings. In the NAT Settings section, click Detect Network Settings. Click Submit and Apply Settings to save your changes.
Adding Incredible PBX 2021 to an OpenVPN Network
We previously have documented the procedure for creating an OpenVPN server as well as OpenVPN client templates (.ovpn). If you need a refresher, the tutorial is here. To add your Incredible PBX 2021 server to an existing OpenVPN network, begin by creating an incrediblepbx2021.ovpn template on your OpenVPN server. Be sure to comment out or delete the setenv line in the template. Then copy this template to /etc on your Incredible PBX 2021 server. Next, issue the following commands to put the remaining pieces in place:
cp -p /root/openvpn-start /etc/. echo "[Unit] Description=openvpn2021 ConditionPathExists=/etc/openvpn-start After=rclocal.service [Service] Type=forking ExecStart=/etc/openvpn-start /etc/incrediblepbx2021.ovpn TimeoutSec=0 StandardOutput=tty RemainAfterExit=yes PermissionsStartOnly=true SysVStartPriority=99 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target" > /etc/systemd/system/openvpn2021.service
Finally, enable the new openvpn2021.service and reboot your server. The OpenVPN IP address should now appear on the LAN line in pbxstatus:
systemctl enable openvpn2021.service reboot
Incredible PBX 2021 Administration
We’ve eased the pain of administering your new PBX with a collection of scripts which you will find in the /root folder after logging in with SSH or Putty. Here’s a quick summary of what each of the scripts does.
add-fqdn is used to whitelist a fully-qualified domain name in the firewall. Because Incredible PBX 2021 blocks all traffic from IP addresses that are not whitelisted, this is what you use to authorize an external user for your PBX. The advantage of an FQDN is that you can use a dynamic DNS service to automatically update the IP address associated with an FQDN so that you never lose connectivity.
add-ip is used to whitelist a public IP address in the firewall. See the add-fqdn explanation as to why this matters.
del-acct is used to remove an IP address or FQDN from the firewall’s whitelist.
admin-pw-change is used to set the admin password for access to the FreePBX/Incredible PBX web GUI using a browser pointed to the local IP address of your server.
apache-pw-change is used to set the admin password for access to Apache/Incredible PBX apps including AsteriDex and Reminders. This provides a password layer of protection for access to these applications.
avantfax-email-change is used to change the destination email address for incoming faxes.
avantfax-pw-change is used to change your admin password for the AvantFax web console.
iaxmodem-restart is used to restart the modems used to send and deliver faxes. The pbxstatus display will tell you whether the IAXmodems are down.
incrediblebackup2021 makes a backup of critical components on your PBX to a tarball saved in /backup. This should be copied to safe location off-site for a rainy day.
incrediblerestore2021 restores a backup file which has been copied to the /backup folder.
ipchecker is a script which deciphers the public IP addresses associated with whitelisted FQDNs created with add-fqdn on your server. If any of the addresses have changed, the firewall is restarted after updating the IP addresses. By default, it is executed every 10 minutes by /etc/crontab.
licenses.sh displays the license associated with each of the FreePBX modules on your server.
logos-b-gone removes proprietary artwork from your PBX and is no longer necessary with the included IncrediblePBX FreePBX module.
mime-construct is a command-line utility to send emails with attachments.
neorouter-login is a script to add your PBX to a NeoRouter VPN. Tutorial here.
odbc-gen.sh is a script that was run to generate the ODBC settings for Asterisk. Do NOT use it.
openvpn-start is a script to add your PBX to an existing OpenVPN network using an .ovpn config file. Tutorial here.
pbxstatus displays status of all major components of Incredible PBX 2021.
pptp-install is a script to create a PPTP network connection for your PBX. Tutorial here.
purge-cdr-cel-records removes all CDR and CEL records from the MySQL database.
reset-conference-pins is a script that automatically and randomly resets the user and admin pins for access to the preconfigured conferencing application. Dial C-O-N-F from any registered SIP phone to connect to the conference.
reset-extension-passwords is a script that automatically and randomly resets ALL of the SIP passwords for extensions 701-705. Be careful using this one, or you may disable existing registered phones and cause Fail2Ban to blacklist the IP addresses of those users. HINT: You can place a call to the Ring Group associated with all five extensions by dialing 777.
reset-reminders-pin is a script that automatically and randomly resets the pin required to access the Telephone Reminders application by dialing 123. It’s important to protect this application because a nefarious user could set up a reminder to call a number anywhere in the world assuming your SIP provider’s account was configured to allow such calls.
show-feature-codes is a cheat sheet for all of the feature codes which can be dialed from any registered SIP phone. It documents how powerful a platform Incredible PBX 2021 actually is. A similar listing is available in the GUI at Admin -> Feature Codes.
show-passwords is a script that displays most of the passwords associated with Incredible PBX 2021. This includes SIP extension passwords, voicemail pins, conference pins, telephone reminders pin, and your Anveo Direct outbound calling pin (if configured). Note that voicemail pins are configured by the user of a SIP extension the first time the user accesses the voicemail system by dialing *97.
sig-fix disables Module Signature Checking in the FreePBX GUI. This should not be necessary unless you have added or edited FreePBX Modules with missing module signatures.
sms-skyetel is a script to send SMS messages using a Skyetel trunk.
sms-voip.ms is a script to send SMS messages using a VoIP.ms trunk.
sms-blast, sms-blaster, and sms-dictator are scripts for message blasting. Tutorial here.
switch-to-php5.6 is a script to disable PHP 7.3 and set PHP 5.6 as the default version for your PBX. PHP 5.6 is required to use AvantFax. It is the default configuration for Incredible PBX 2021. The current default PHP version is displayed in the Apache listing of pbxstatus.
switch-to-php7.3 is a script to disable PHP 5.6 and set PHP 7.3 as the default version for your PBX. You cannot use AvantFax when PHP 7.3 is the default.
timezone-setup is a script to set the timezone for your PBX.
update-IncrediblePBX is a script that runs the Automatic Update Utility whenever you login to your server as root. These updates typically resolve bugs and security issues with your PBX. Do NOT remove it.
wolfram is a script to deploy Wolfram Alpha on your PBX. Tutorial here.
Forwarding Calls to Your Cellphone. Keep in mind that inbound calls to your DIDs automatically ring all five SIP extensions, 701-705. The easiest way to also ring your cellphone is to set one of these five extensions to forward incoming calls to your cellphone. After logging into your PBX as root, issue the following command to forward calls from extension 705 to your cellphone: asterisk -rx "database put CF 705 6781234567"
To remove call forwarding: asterisk -rx "database del CF 705"
Keeping FreePBX 15 Modules Current
We strongly recommend that you periodically update all of your FreePBX modules to eliminate bugs and to reduce security vulnerabilities. From the Linux CLI, log into your server as root and issue the following commands:
rm -f /tmp/* fwconsole ma upgradeall fwconsole reload /root/sig-fix systemctl restart apache2 /root/sig-fix
Originally published: Monday, December 14, 2020
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Capitalism 101: IBM Castrates CentOS to "Improve" RHEL
If you loved the PC Jr. and New Coke, you’re going to love yesterday’s technology news. Claiming the best of intentions, IBM® cut the 8-year life span of CentOS® 8 to one year after which CentOS will become CentOS Stream, an experimental development platform sandwiched between Fedora® and Red Hat Enterprise Linus®. If you’ve spent the last year or two planning for or deploying CentOS 8, too bad. You can either pay up for RHEL licenses going forward or switch to a new platform. The government-sponsored Scientific Linux project folded into CentOS so that option no longer exists. Oracle Linux® remains an option but, considering Oracle’s track record with MySQL, that might give many organizations pause. For organizations with thousands of CentOS platforms, the remaining alternatives are PAINFUL. Both Debian and Ubuntu would require major software plumbing changes. There’s always a chance that the original CentOS developers will come to the rescue with a new product, but we’re not holding our breath.
So here we are. How does this affect Incredible PBX? As most of you know, we’ve had Incredible PBX 2020 versions for both CentOS 7 and Raspbian 10 for the Raspberry Pi®. There will be no CentOS 8 release of Incredible PBX, but you’ve got four more years of CentOS 7 support unless IBM welches on that commitment as well. Because Raspbian 10 is a derivative of Debian 10, moving forward it makes perfect sense to consolidate onto the Debian 10 platform. And Incredible PBX 2021 will do just that with versions for Debian 10 and Raspbian.
With a little help from Santa, we hope to have a beta release of Incredible PBX 2021 for Debian before the end of this month. Stay tuned. The world will not end.
Originally published: Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
The Most Important Asterisk Component: It’s the Backups!
You might think Backups are critical in the event of a catastrophic hardware failure. And you’d be right. But there are other equally important reasons to maintain current backups. If you decide to migrate to a new server platform, a current backup makes it a painless exercise. If you need to recover from a FreePBX® module upgrade that hosed your server, a current backup is critical. If you want to migrate to a newer release of Asterisk® or FreePBX, a backup is all that stands in the way of a potential nightmare or days of drudgery.
Depending upon your server platform, there are a number of backup methodologies. The most obvious one is Incredible Backup 16 which was used to build your initial Incredible PBX® 2020 platform. Next is Incredible Backup 2020 which is available on the new Incredible PBX Wiki. A third backup option is the FreePBX Backup & Restore Module which is included in all Incredible PBX 2020 builds. On cloud-based server platforms from CrownCloud, Vultr, and Digital Ocean, there’s a backup or snapshot option built into the platform. On Vultr and Digital Ocean servers, backups are an optional feature for an additional 20% monthly charge. On CrownCloud servers, a free snapshot is included in your $25 annual fee. Other cloud platforms have different backup options. For on-premise virtual machine platforms such as VirtualBox and VMware, there are snapshot and backup options built into the platform. And, of course, there are disk imaging backup options such as Clonezilla, Mondo Rescue and dozens of other Linux backup solutions. Today we want to walk you through which backup alternatives work best depending on platform and the level of protection desired.
Incredible PBX 2020 Backup & Restore
As noted, Incredible PBX 2020 Backup & Restore is the newest release of backup and restore utilities for Incredible PBX 2020 platforms. It’s available for download from the Incredible PBX Wiki. To make a backup, run: /root/incrediblebackup2020
. You would typically use it to recover from a catastrophic hardware failure or to migrate your PBX to a new, compatible platform such as moving from CentOS 7 on-premise hardware to a cloud-based CentOS 7 platform or migrating a VirtualBox installation to dedicated hardware. It backs up the entire web directory tree as well as all MySQL databases in addition to Asterisk files that you may have customized. It is well suited for restoration of an Incredible PBX 2020 server setup onto the same operating system platform from which the backup was made. In other words, you wouldn’t use it to restore an Incredible PBX 2020 server from a CentOS 7 platform to a Raspberry Pi platform or vice versa. Before restoring an Incredible PBX 2020 backup, you must first build the new server with the same operating system, Asterisk, and FreePBX versions as the backup image, i.e. a new Incredible PBX 2020 installation for CentOS 7 or Raspbian 10. Next, install the Incredible PBX 2020 Backup & Restore components. Finally, copy your Incredible Backup 2020 image to the /backup folder of the new server and then run: /root/incrediblerestore2020
.
FreePBX Backup & Restore Module
The FreePBX Backup & Restore Module is included in all Incredible PBX 2020 servers. It is accessed by logging into the FreePBX GUI as admin and navigating to Admin -> Backup & Restore after creating a Storage Location with Settings -> Filestore. For example, to create a backup directory in /var/spool/asterisk, the Local filestore entries would look like this:
The typical use case would be to recover from a module update scenario that went awry, to migrate from one FreePBX 15 platform to a new one with an incompatible operating system, e.g. to move from a Raspberry Pi to a CentOS 7-based server. It is also useful for upgrading from an Incredible PBX 13-13 platform to Incredible PBX 2020 but, for this to work, you must first remove the OSS Endpoint Manager module on the Incredible PBX 13-13 server.
To restore a FreePBX backup onto a new platform, repeat the steps above to set up the FileStore on the new server. Then copy the backup image from /var/spool/asterisk/backup to your desktop. Next, run the Restore option on the new platform and upload the backup image from your desktop.
Cloud Server Backups & Snapshots
Depending upon your cloud hosting provider, the procedure to create backups and snapshots may differ. The important point to stress is that these backups and snapshots are extremely easy to create but typically are housed in the same network operations center and often on the same server as your PBX. The risks in using these backup and snapshot options as your sole recovery mechanism from a catastrophic failure should be obvious. When combined with an off-site Incredible Backup 2020 image, you’re protected from a NOC catastrophic failure.
VirtualBox Backups & Snapshots
On the VirtualBox platform, you’ll find the Snapshot utility under Machine -> Tools. The other option is a full backup which is accomplished in one of two ways. For an external backup, choose File -> Export. For a backup in place, choose Machine -> Clone. The usual warnings about storing your backup images off-site apply.
VMware ESXi Backups & Snapshots
On the VMware ESXi platform, you’ll find the Snapshot utility under Actions -> Snapshots. To make an external backup, go to Actions -> Export. The usual warnings about storing your backup images off-site apply.
Installing Mondo Rescue for CentOS 7
The Mondo Rescue install for CentOS 7 is dependent upon a repository that is difficult to ascertain to put it charitably. Here is the correct installation procedure for CentOS 7:
cd /etc.yum.repos.d wget ftp://ftp.mondorescue.org/centos/7/x86_64/mondorescue.repo yum install mondo
For the backup and restore process using Mondo Rescue, follow this TecMint tutorial once you complete the install above.
Cloning a Raspberry Pi microSD Card
Our Incredible PBX 2020 for Raspberry Pi tutorial documents the easiest method for backing up your Raspberry Pi. We are repeating it here for completeness.
rpi-clone is a utility that makes it easy to make a bootable image of the microSD card used to start your Raspberry Pi. You’ll need a USB-to-microSD adapter to begin. Insert a backup microSD card large enough to hold all of the data on the primary microSD card (df -h). Insert the USB stick with the card. Identify the backup microSD card, usually sda (fdisk -l). Format the backup microSD card:
mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1 && mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
. Then issue the following command to clone the primary microSD card: rpi-clone -f sda. Tutorial here.Originally published: Monday, November 23, 2020
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Revolutionary: Incredible PBX & Fax 2020 for Raspberry Pi
Enhancements to the Raspberry Pi 4 platform have been fast and furious this fall. Last week we introduced a $45 bootable SSD for the Raspberry Pi. And this week we’re showcasing the $70 Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC and a new release of the Incredible PBX 2020 image supporting both of these additions with all the latest Raspberry Pi firmware.
As we’re all hunkered down hiding from the Coronavirus, it seemed a perfect time to finally tackle the project we’ve been putting off for longer than we care to publish, integrating Incredible Fax with HylaFax and Avantfax into the base image of Incredible PBX® 2020 on the Raspberry Pi 4 platform. This build also features Asterisk® 16 with the latest FreePBX® 15 GPL modules plus the feature sets of Incredible PBX® and RasPBX and RonR’s latest build. It includes support for plug-and-play Incredible IP Phones and a new trunking platform that integrates SMS messaging into your Asterisk platform. And it’s all rolled into one terrific bundle that can be installed in about a minute after you burn the image to a microSD card.
Unlike other aggregations, there’s nothing to compile with Incredible PBX/FAX 2020 for Raspbian 10. And, unlike the FreePBX Distro, we don’t rely on static packages which make it difficult to add future modifications on your own. Instead, Incredible PBX/Fax 2020 offers a snapshot image with a complete toolkit to make future modifications as desired. Last, but not least, Incredible PBX/Fax 2020 features the new ClearlyIP module repository which protects you from proprietary modifications that limit or cripple your PBX moving forward.
What’s Included? Incredible PBX/Fax 2020 for Raspbian 10 serves up a never before available VoIP powerhouse featuring Asterisk 16 and all FreePBX 15 GPL modules, an Apache web server, the latest MariaDB SQL server (formerly MySQL), Exim4 mail server, Incredible Fax with turnkey Hylafax and AvantFax, and most of the Incredible PBX feature set including SIP, SMS, voice recognition, AsteriDex, PicoTTS Text-to-Speech VoIP applications plus email delivery of faxes in PDF format, Click-to-Dial, News, Weather, Telephone Reminders, and hundreds of features that typically are found in commercial PBXs: Conferencing, IVRs and AutoAttendants, Email Delivery of transcribed voicemails, Voicemail Blasting, and more. We’ve also incorporated the Zero Trunk Configuration feature from the LITE build which lets you sign up with one of four VoIP providers and start making and receiving calls instantly. Or you can use the new ClearlyIP trunking module included in the GUI for seamless integration of SMS messaging into FreePBX and its User Control Panel.
Choosing a SIP Provider. As we mentioned, Incredible PBX/Fax 2020 comes preconfigured to support five of the major SIP providers: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, VoIP.ms, V1VoIP, and Anveo Direct. We obviously hope you’ll choose ClearlyIP, Skyetel, or VoIP.ms trunking because they financially support Nerd Vittles and our open source projects. As the old saying goes, they may not be the cheapest, but you get what you pay for. With all five providers, you only pay for minutes you use so signing up with more than one provider is a smart idea.
Assembling the Required Raspberry Pi Components
Before you can deploy Incredible PBX 2020, you’ll first need the necessary Raspberry Pi hardware. To support the enhanced Incredible PBX/Fax platform, we strongly recommend either the Raspberry Pi 400 or the Raspberry Pi 4B with at least 2GB RAM for under $42. You can choose a reseller below for quicker delivery. Assuming you already own an HDMI-compatible monitor and a USB keyboard (only required if you don’t buy a RasPi 400)…
Raspberry Pi 4B or Raspberry Pi 400 $8 USB-C RasPi 4 (only) Power Supply $8 32GB microSDHC Class 10 card (strongly recommended!) $5 Official RasPi 4B Case or see above for our favorite
Getting Started with Incredible PBX 2020
Here’s our 10-Step Guide to installation and setup. "Automatic" means just watch. Steps #1 and #2: follow the links. For the remaining steps, we’ll further document the procedures.
- Download and unzip latest Incredible PBX/FAX 2020.3 image from SourceForge
- Transfer Incredible PBX/FAX 2020 image to microSD card and Boot server
- Login to RasPi console as root:password to initialize your server (Automatic)
- In Localization Options, set Locale, TimeZone, Keyboard, & WiFi Country
- Reboot after writing down your server IP address (Automatic)
- Login via SSH or Putty as root:password to set passwords & setup firewall (Automatic)
- Enter an email address for receipt of incoming faxes in PDF format
- Run admin-pw-change to set the admin password for access to the web GUI
- Register for and configure at least one trunk provider for Incredible PBX 2020
- Set up and test your Exim mail server as documented below
ALERT: Reportedly, the latest Raspberry Pi 4 board will not boot with the image above. We will post an updated image as soon as we can get our hands on a new Raspberry Pi. In the meantime, there’s a workaround if you have an older (working) Raspberry Pi. Begin by installing the Incredible PBX image above onto a new microSD card and boot the older RasPi 4 with that card. Login as root and immediately press Ctrl-C. Then issue the following commands and, following shutdown, insert the new microSD card into your new RasPi 4.
apt update apt dist-upgrade halt
First Boot of Incredible PBX 2020 with Wi-Fi
Incredible PBX 2020 requires Internet connectivity to complete its automated install. If you’re using a wired network connection, you can skip to the next section. With the Raspberry Pi 3B, 4B and 400, WiFi is built into the hardware. But you still have to insert your SSID name and SSID password to make a connection to your WiFi network. To do so, follow these next steps carefully. Insert the Incredible PBX 2020 microSD card into your Raspberry Pi and apply power to the hardware. When the bootup procedure finishes, login as root with the default password: password. At the first prompt, DO NOT PRESS THE ENTER KEY! Instead, press Ctrl-C to break out of the setup script. At the command prompt, issue the following commands to bring up the WiFi config file:
cd /etc/wpa_supplicant nano -w wpa_supplicant.conf
If your WiFi network does not require a password, uncomment or insert the four lines below and save the file: Ctrl-X, Y, then Enter. Now restart your server: reboot. When the reboot finishes, you now should have network connectivity.
network={ key_mgmt=NONE priority=1 country=US }
If your WiFi network requires a password, uncomment or insert the following into wpa_supplicant.conf:
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev update_config=1 country=US network={ ssid="YourSSID" psk="YourSSIDpassword" key_mgmt=WPA-PSK scan_ssid=1 priority=7 }
Then scroll down to the SSID entry and replace YourSSID with the actual SSID of your WiFi network. Make sure you preserve the entry with the quotes as shown. Next, replace YourSSIDpassword with the SSID password of your WiFi network. Save the file: Ctrl-X, Y, then Enter. Now restart your server: reboot. When the reboot finishes, you now should have network connectivity.
Once the reboot process finishes, you should see an entry on about the middle line displayed on your monitor which reads: "My IP address is…". Write down the IP address shown. You’ll need it in a minute. Skip the next section since you are using a WiFi connection.
If you don’t see an IP address assigned to your server, then correct the network deficiency (invalid WiFi credentials, DHCP not working, Internet down), and reboot until you see an IP address assigned to your server. DO NOT PROCEED WITHOUT AN ASSIGNED IP ADDRESS. NOTE: The Raspberry Pi 400 requires the latest Incredible PBX image for Wi-Fi connectivity.
You’ll also need to change the default PortKnocker setting to your wireless LAN connection:
sed -i 's|eth0|wlan0|' /etc/default/knockd service knockd restart
First Boot of Incredible PBX Using Wired Connection
Incredible PBX 2020 requires Internet connectivity to complete its automated install. After connecting your server to your local network with a network cable, insert the Incredible PBX 2020 microSD card into your Raspberry Pi and apply power to the hardware. When the bootup procedure finishes, you should see an entry on about the middle line displayed on your monitor which reads: "My IP address is…". Write down the IP address shown. You’ll need it in the next step.
If you don’t see an IP address assigned to your server, then correct the network deficiency (cable not connected, DHCP not working, Internet down), and reboot until you see an IP address assigned to your server. DO NOT PROCEED WITHOUT AN ASSIGNED IP ADDRESS.
Completing the Incredible PBX Initialization Procedure
Unless your desktop PC and RasPi are both on the same private LAN, the remainder of the install procedure should be completed from a desktop PC using SSH or Putty. This will assure that your desktop PC is also whitelisted in the Incredible PBX firewall. Using the console to complete the install is NOT recommended as your desktop PC will not be whitelisted in the firewall. This may result in your not being able to log in to your server. Once you have network connectivity, log in to your server as root from a desktop PC using the default password: password. Accept the license agreement by pressing ENTER. You then will be redirected to raspi-config. This is the utility used to expand your Incredible PBX 2020 image to use your entire microSD card; however, this new build does this for you so you can skip this step. Next, choose Localization Options and set Locale, TimeZone, Keyboard, & WiFi Country. Review the other items and then exit and reboot.
Once your server reboots and you log back in as root, you’ll first be prompted to enter an email address for delivery of incoming faxes in PDF format. All of your passwords then will be randomly assigned with the exception of the root user Linux password and your admin passwords for access to the web GUI and AvantFax. You can set the root password by issuing the command: passwd
. Set the admin password for access to the web GUI with this command: /root/admin-pw-change
. Set the admin password for access to AvantFax with this command: /root/avantfax-pw-change
. With the exception of these passwords, the remaining passwords can be displayed using the command: /root/show-passwords
.
Finally, if your PBX is sitting behind a NAT-based router, you’ll need to redirect incoming UDP 5060-5061 and UDP 10000-20000 traffic to the private IP address of your RasPi. This is required for all of the SIP providers included in the Incredible PBX 2020 build. Otherwise, all inbound calls will fail.
Configuring Skyetel for Incredible PBX 2020
If you’ve decided to go with Skyetel, here’s the drill. Sign up for Skyetel service and take advantage of the Nerd Vittles Free $10 credit and BOGO special. First, complete the Prequalification Form here. You then will be provided a link to the Skyetel site to complete your registration. Once you have registered on the Skyetel site and your account has been activated, open a support ticket and request the $10 credit for your account by referencing the Nerd Vittles special offer. Once you are happy with the service, open another ticket after funding your account and request that Skyetel match your deposit of up to $250. That gets you up to $500 of helf-price calling. Credit is limited to one per person/company/address/location. If you have numbers to port in, you can do it at no cost after funding your account. Effective 10/1/2023, $25/month minimum spend required.
Skyetel does not use SIP registrations to make connections to your PBX. Instead, Skyetel utilizes Endpoint Groups to identify which servers can communicate with the Skyetel service. An Endpoint Group consists of a Name, an IP address, a UDP or TCP port for the connection, and a numerical Priority for the group. For incoming calls destined to your PBX, DIDs are associated with an Endpoint Group to route the calls to your PBX. For outgoing calls from your PBX, a matching Endpoint Group is required to authorize outbound calls through the Skyetel network. Thus, the first step in configuring the Skyetel side for use with your PBX is to set up an Endpoint Group. Here’s a typical setup for Incredible PBX 2020:
- Name: MyPBX
- Priority: 1
- IP Address: PBX-Public-IP-Address
- Port: 5060
- Protocol: UDP
- Description: 2020.incrediblepbx.com
To receive incoming PSTN calls, you’ll need at least one DID. On the Skyetel site, you acquire DIDs under the Phone Numbers tab. You have the option of Porting in Existing Numbers (free for the first 60 days after you fund your account) or purchasing new ones under the Buy Phone Numbers menu option.
Once you have acquired one or more DIDs, navigate to the Local Numbers or Toll Free Numbers tab and specify the desired SIP Format and Endpoint Group for each DID. Add SMS/MMS and E911 support, if desired. Call Forwarding and Failover are also supported. That completes the VoIP setup on the Skyetel side. System Status is always available here.
Configuring VoIP.ms for Incredible PBX 2020
To sign up for VoIP.ms service, may we suggest you use our signup link so that Nerd Vittles gets a referral credit for your signup. Once your account is set up, you’ll need to set up a SIP SubAccount and, for Authentication Type, choose Static IP Authentication and enter your Incredible PBX 2020 server’s public IP address. For Transport, choose UDP. For Device Type, choose Asterisk, IP PBX, Gateway or VoIP Switch. Order a DID in their web panel, and then point the DID to the SubAccount you just created. Be sure to specify atlanta1.voip.ms as the POP from which to receive incoming calls. On the Incredible PBX side, simply Enable the VoIPms trunk and save your update.
Configuring V1VoIP for Incredible PBX 2020
To sign up for V1VoIP service, sign up on their web site. Then login to your account and order a DID under the DIDs tab. Once the DID has been assigned, choose View DIDs and click on the Forwarding button beside your DID. For Option #1, choose Forward to IP Address/PBX. For the Fowarding Address, enter the public IP address of your server. For the T/O (timeout) value, set it to 2o seconds. Then click the Update button. Under the Termination tab, create a new Endpoint with the public IP address of your server so that you can place outbound calls through V1VoIP. On the Incredible PBX side, simply Enable the V1VoIP trunks and save your updates.
Configuring Anveo Direct for Incredible PBX 2020
To sign up for Anveo Direct service, sign up on their web site and then login. After adding funds to your account, purchase a DID under Inbound Service -> Order DID. Next, choose Configure Destination SIP Trunk. Give the Trunk a name. For the Primary SIP URI, enter $[E164]$@server-IP-address. For Call Options, select your new DID from the list. You also must whitelist your public IP address under Outbound Service -> Configure. Create a new Call Termination Trunk and name it to match your server. For Dialing Prefix, choose six alphanumeric characters beginning with a zero. In Authorized IP Addresses, enter the public IP address of your server. Set an appropriate rate cap. We like $0.01 per minute to be safe. Set a concurrent calls limit. We like 2. For the Call Routing Method, choose Least Cost unless you’re feeling extravagant. For Routes/Carriers, choose Standard Routes. Write down your Dialing Prefix and then click the Save button. On the Incredible PBX side, simply Enable the AnveoDirect trunks and save your updates.
Before you can make outbound calls through Anveo Direct from your PBX, you first must configure the Dialing Prefix that you wrote down in the previous step. Using a browser, login to the GUI as admin. Navigate to Connectivity -> Trunks -> Anveo-Out. Click the Pencil icon to edit the trunk settings. Then click the Custom Settings tab. Replace anveo-pin with your actual Anveo PIN. Click Submit and Apply Settings to save your changes.
By default, incoming Anveo Direct calls will be processed by the Default inbound route on your PBX. If you wish to redirect incoming Anveo Direct calls using DID-specific inbound routes, then you’ve got a bit more work to do. In addition to creating the inbound route using the 11-digit Anveo Direct DID, enter the following commands after logging into your server as root using SSH/Putty:
cd /etc/asterisk echo "[from-anveo]" >> extensions_custom.conf echo "exten => _.,1,Ringing" >> extensions_custom.conf echo "exten => _.,n,Goto(from-trunk,\${SIP_HEADER(X-anveo-e164)},1)" >> extensions_custom.conf asterisk -rx "dialplan reload"
Adding a Bootable SSD to Raspberry Pi
Shown below are the two components that make up the 256GB storage solution for the Raspberry Pi. These include the M.2 SSD SATA drive and the M.2 enclosure which provides a USB connector that’s compatible with your RasPi. Assembly of the components takes less than a minute as shown in the steps below:
You can order the M.2 SSD SATA drive and the UGREEN M.2 enclosure using our Amazon referral links which help support Nerd Vittles and the Incredible PBX open source project.
Once you have assembled your SSD in the sleeve, log back in as root using SSH or Putty. For best performance, insert the SSD drive into one of the blue USB 3.0 ports and verify that /dev/sda device is shown when you issue the command: fdisk -l
Now proceed with the following steps to copy the image from your microSD card to the new SSD SATA drive:
rpi-clone -l -e sda -f sda # answer prompts with yes and incred2020 # once the image is copied, dismount the drive when prompted mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/clone cd /mnt/clone/boot cp -p -r /boot/* . sed -i 's|sda2|mmcblk0p2|' /boot/cmdline.txt cd / umount /mnt/clone halt
Now you’re ready to restart your Raspberry Pi from the SSD SATA drive. Remove the microSD card and reboot your server.
Configuring a Softphone for Incredible PBX 2020
We’re in the home stretch now. You can connect virtually any kind of telephone to your new PBX. Plain Old Phones require an analog telephone adapter (ATA) which can be a separate board in your computer from a company such as Digium. Or it can be a standalone SIP device such as ObiHai’s OBi100 or OBi110 (if you have a phone line from Ma Bell to hook up as well). SIP phones can be connected directly so long as they have an IP address. These could be hardware devices or software devices such as the YateClient softphone. We’ll start with a free one today so you can begin making calls. You can find dozens of recommendations for hardware-based SIP phones both on Nerd Vittles and the PIAF Forum when you’re ready to get serious about VoIP telephony.
We recommend YateClient for Windows which is free. Download it from here. Run YateClient once you’ve installed it and enter the credentials for the 701 extension on Incredible PBX. You can find them by running /root/show-passwords
. You’ll need the IP address of your server plus your extension 701 password. In the YateClient, fill in the blanks using the IP address of your Server, 701 for your Username, and whatever Password was assigned to the extension when you installed Incredible PBX. Click OK to save your entries.
Once you are registered to extension 701, close the Account window. Then click on YATE’s Telephony Tab and place some test calls to the numerous apps that are preconfigured on Incredible PBX. Dial a few of these to get started:
DEMO - Apps Demo 123 - Reminders 947 - Weather by ZIP Code 951 - Yahoo News TODAY - Today in History LENNY - The Telemarketer's Worst Nightmare
If you are a Mac user, another great no-frills softphone is Telephone. Just download and install it from the Mac App Store.
Audio Issues with Incredible PBX 2020
Only if you experience one-way or no audio on some calls, add your external IP address and LAN subnet in the GUI by navigating to Settings -> Asterisk SIP Settings. In the NAT Settings section, click Detect Network Settings. Click Submit and Apply Settings to save your changes.
Configuring Gmail as Exim Smart Relay Host
Most Raspberry Pi implementations will be on networks managed by companies like Comcast, Spectrum, and AT&T that block downstream mail servers (that’s you) from sending email. The solution is to use Gmail or your local ISP as a smart relay host to send mail from your server. You’ll need this to deliver voicemails via email. Here’s how to set it up using a Gmail account without two-step authentication. Log into your server as root and run dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config. Choose "mail sent by smarthost; received via SMTP or fetchmail." Accept all the defaults until you get to Outgoing Smarthost prompt. Enter: smtp.gmail.com::587. At the following prompts, choose NO, NO, mbox, and NO. When the setup completes, edit /etc/exim4/passwd.client and insert the following line using your Gmail AcctName and AcctPW. NOTE: If you are using a Gmail account with 2-step verification enabled, you MUST use a Gmail App Key instead of your Gmail account password. You also must enable Less Secure Apps access to your Gmail account.
smtp.gmail.com:AcctName@gmail.com:AcctPW
Save the file and then issue the following commands to complete the setup:
update-exim4.conf systemctl restart exim4 exim4 -qff
Now send yourself a test email message to make sure things are working properly:
echo "test" | mail -s testmessage yourname@yourmailprovider.com
Once you have email messages flowing, incoming faxes automatically will be delivered to the email address you assigned when setting up your PBX. You can change this email address with the command: avantfax-email-change.
Some prefer an email notification whenever your server is booted. Once you have configured a relay host above, you can add the feature by editing /etc/rc.local and adding the following lines with your actual email address just above the service knockd start line:
_PRIVATE="Private IP: `cat /etc/hostip | cut -f1-2 -d " "`" _PUBLIC=" Public IP: `curl -s -S --user-agent \\ "Mozilla/4.0" http://myip.incrediblepbx.com | awk 'NR==2'`" echo "$_PRIVATE\\n$_PUBLIC" | mail -s "RasPi 2020 has booted" yourname@yourmailserver.com
Configuring Inbound Routes for Fax Detection
Not all VoIP trunks support fax transmission, e.g. Vitelity. Assuming yours do and you’ll only know by trial and error, here’s how to configure FreePBX to automatically detect incoming faxes and process them for PDF delivery by email. The default inbound route is preconfigured to support email delivery of your faxes. So, any trunks using that default route require no further configuration. If you add additional Inbound Routes, here’s how to enable fax detection on those routes.
Under the Fax tab of each new Inbound Route, enter the following settings:
Detect Faxes: YES Fax Detection Type: SIP Fax Ring: YES Fax Detect Time: 4 Fax Destination: Custom Destinations -> Fax (Hylafax)
Managing Faxes with AvantFax
You can manage your incoming and outgoing faxes using AvantFax. Click on the AvantFax tab in FreePBX to access it. The default credentials are admin:password. When you first access AvantFax with a browser, you may get a missing page error. Just press the back arrow key in your browser and the AvantFax main page will appear.
If you want to change the admin password for AvantFax, log into your server as root with SSH/Putty and issue the command: /root/avantfax-pw-change.
Send yourself a fax at no cost in the United States from FaxZero.
Building the Incredible PBX Demo IVR
If you’d like to try your hand at building an IVR, here are the steps to build the Incredible PBX Demo IVR. From the FreePBX Dashboard, choose Applications -> IVR -> Add IVR. Then fill in the template using the entries shown below. Then click Submit and Reload Dialplan.
Building the Incredible PBX Stealth AutoAttendant
Many users prefer to play an announcement to incoming callers with a brief pause thereafter which indicates that the call is being connected. If configured properly, this lets you embed several dial codes which can be entered while the announcement is playing and the call is being transferred. For example, you might wish to route incoming calls to Lenny if a caller presses 0. Or you might wish to immediately route an incoming call to a Ring Group if the caller presses 1. Here’s a sample IVR setup to get you started.
Incredible PBX 2020 Administration
We’ve eased the pain of administering your new PBX with a collection of scripts which you will find in the /root folder after logging in with SSH or Putty. Here’s a quick summary of what each of the scripts does.
admin-pw-change lets you update the admin password for web browser access to the Incredible PBX GUI.
apache-pw-change lets you update the admin password for Apache applications such as AsteriDex and Reminders.
avantfax-pw-change lets you update the root password for AvantFax access (coming soon!).
add-fqdn is used to whitelist a fully-qualified domain name in the firewall. Because Incredible PBX 2020 blocks all traffic from IP addresses that are not whitelisted, this is what you use to authorize an external user for your PBX. The advantage of an FQDN is that you can use a dynamic DNS service to automatically update the IP address associated with an FQDN so that you never lose connectivity.
add-ip is used to whitelist a public IP address in the firewall. See the add-fqdn explanation as to why this matters.
del-acct is used to remove an IP address or FQDN from the firewall’s whitelist.
configure-exim-email lets you reconfigure the email server if you need to use an SMTP relay such as Google to get outbound email flowing. Tutorial here.
iptables-restart is the ONLY command you should ever use to restart the IPtables firewall and Fail2Ban.
knock.FAQ contains your PortKnocker credentials for emergency access to your server if the firewall locks you out. Tutorial here.
proximity (once configured) will automatically forward calls to your cellphone when you are out of BlueTooth range from your RasPi. Also must enable running of script in /etc/crontab.
reset-conference-pins is a script that automatically and randomly resets the user and admin pins for access to the preconfigured conferencing application. Dial C-O-N-F from any registered SIP phone to connect to the conference.
reset-extension-passwords is a script that automatically and randomly resets ALL of the SIP passwords for extensions 701-705. Be careful using this one, or you may disable existing registered phones and cause Fail2Ban to blacklist the IP addresses of those users. HINT: You can place a call to the Ring Group associated with all five extensions by dialing 777.
reset-reminders-pin is a script that automatically and randomly resets the pin required to access the Telephone Reminders application by dialing 123. It’s important to protect this application because a nefarious user could set up a reminder to call a number anywhere in the world assuming your SIP provider’s account was configured to allow such calls.
rpi-clone is a utility that makes it easy to make a bootable image of the microSD card used to start your Raspberry Pi. You’ll need a USB-to-microSD adapter to begin. Insert a backup microSD card large enough to hold all of the data on the primary microSD card (df -h). Insert the USB stick with the card. Identify the backup microSD card, usually sda (fdisk -l). Format the backup microSD card:
mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1 && mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
. Then issue the following command to clone the primary microSD card: rpi-clone -f sda. Tutorial here.
show-feature-codes is a cheat sheet for all of the feature codes which can be dialed from any registered SIP phone. It documents how powerful a platform Incredible PBX 2020 actually is. A similar listing is available in the GUI at Admin -> Feature Codes.
show-passwords is a script that displays ALL of the passwords associated with Incredible PBX 2020. This includes SIP extension passwords, voicemail pins, conference pins, telephone reminders pin, and your Anveo Direct outbound calling pin (if configured). Note that voicemail pins are configured by the user of a SIP extension the first time the user accesses the voicemail system by dialing *97.
timezone-setup lets you reconfigure the correct time zone for your server.
purge-cdr-cel-records cleans out all existing entries in both the CDR and CEL tables of the Asterisk CDR database.
log-cleanup removes all entries from most of the logs in /var/log.
sig-fix disables module signature checking in FreePBX. It is automatically disabled upon installation.
readme-RonR.txt documents the scripts provided from RonR build. We do NOT recommend using the FCC Blacklist because of its current size.
update-asterisk16 is a utility that updates Asterisk 16 to the latest release. This should only be necessary when a security issue or bug is identified that affects the operation of your PBX.
update-IncrediblePBX is the Automatic Update Utility which checks for server updates from incrediblepbx.com every time you log into your server as root using SSH or Putty. Do NOT disable it as it is used to load important fixes and security updates when necessary. We recommend logging into your server at least once a week.
pbxstatus (shown above) displays status of all major components of Incredible PBX 2020.
Forwarding Calls to Your Cellphone. Keep in mind that inbound calls to your DIDs automatically ring all five SIP extensions, 701-705. The easiest way to also ring your cellphone is to set one of these five extensions to forward incoming calls to your cellphone. After logging into your PBX as root, issue the following command to forward calls from extension 705 to your cellphone: asterisk -rx "database put CF 705 6781234567"
To remove call forwarding: asterisk -rx "database del CF 705"
Keeping FreePBX 15 Modules Current
We strongly recommend that you periodically update all of your FreePBX modules to eliminate bugs and to reduce security vulnerabilities. Make a backup image with rpi-clone first! From the Linux CLI, log into your server as root and issue the following commands:
rm -f /tmp/* fwconsole ma upgradeall fwconsole reload /root/sig-fix systemctl restart apache2 /root/sig-fix
Upgrading Asterisk 16 to Asterisk 18
For those that enjoy living on the bleeding edge, we’ve create a script which makes it easy to upgrade Incredible PBX 2020 to Asterisk 18. The tutorial is available on the new Incredible PBX Wiki along with dozens of other tutorials.
Continue Reading: Icing on the Cake for Incredible PBX and Raspberry Pi
Now Available: Amazon’s Polly TTS for Incredible PBX. Works great on the RasPi platform!
Originally published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 Updated: Monday, February 22, 2021
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.
Turbocharge Your Raspberry Pi 4 with a $45 Bootable SSD
If a $45 addition to your Incredible PBX® 2020 setup on the Raspberry Pi 4 isn’t too rich for your blood, then today’s your lucky day. When we’re finished, you’ll have a perfect SOHO communications platform that boots from a 256GB drive to provide long-term reliability without having to worry about replacing worn-out microSD cards. You’ll also have ample room to implement a Network Attached Storage (NAS) solution to store music or documents. With Wi-Fi in your home or office, you then can tuck the RasPi away in an out of sight drawer.
Shown below are the two components that make up the 256GB storage solution for the Raspberry Pi. These include the M.2 SSD SATA drive and the M.2 enclosure which provides a USB connector that’s compatible with your RasPi. Assembly of the components takes less than a minute as shown in the steps below:
You can order the M.2 SSD SATA drive and the UGREEN M.2 enclosure using our Amazon referral links which help support Nerd Vittles and the Incredible PBX open source project.
Once your order arrives and you have assembled the components as shown above, you’re ready to begin. The prerequisite for this project is an Incredible PBX® 2020 platform running on a Raspberry Pi 4. Begin by logging into Incredible PBX as root using SSH or Putty. Do NOT insert the SSD drive just yet. Issue the following commands:
apt update apt full-upgrade -y echo program_usb_boot_mode=1 | sudo tee -a /boot/config.txt apt install rpi-eeprom -y sed -i 's|critical|stable|' /etc/default/rpi-eeprom-update rpi-eeprom-update -d -f \ /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/stable/pieeprom-2020-09-03.bin reboot
After Incredible PBX reboots, log back in as root using SSH or Putty. For best performance, insert the SSD drive into one of the blue USB 3.0 ports and verify that /dev/sda device is shown when you issue the command: fdisk -l
Now proceed with the following steps to copy the image from your microSD card to the new SSD SATA drive:
rpi-clone -l -e sda -f sda # answer prompts with yes and incred2020 # once the image is copied, dismount the drive when prompted mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/clone cd /mnt/clone/boot cp -p -r /boot/* . sed -i 's|sda2|mmcblk0p2|' /boot/cmdline.txt cd / umount /mnt/clone halt
Now you’re ready to restart your Raspberry Pi from the SSD SATA drive. Remove the microSD card and reboot your server. Our special thanks to @ext-104 for all of his work on this.
Adding Network Attached Storage to Raspberry Pi
While reliability and performance were the primary motivators in adding an SSD SATA drive to the Raspberry Pi platform, there’s also a silver lining. You now have loads of storage capacity that can be shared within your home or office for dozens of uses including a music collection to power your Sonos audio system or a data repository to share with other users on your private network. Here’s how to transform your Raspberry Pi into a network storage device which can be accessed from virtually any device including Windows machines, Macs, Linux servers, smartphones, and music players.
CAUTION: Heat is no friend of solid state electronics. If you choose to deploy NAS on your Raspberry Pi 4, do not proceed until you get a case for your device that includes one or more fans. Click on the one pictured at the top of this article for the hands-down winner.
We don’t typically add additional user accounts on your Raspberry Pi, but we don’t want users sharing your NAS drive to have access to your communications platform so an additional user account is an easy way to accomplish that. Begin by creating a new nas user account with no login access: useradd -r -s /usr/sbin/nologin nas
Next, we want to create a /nas directory to store your NAS data: mkdir /nas
Add the SAMBA components for net connectivity: apt install samba samba-common-bin
Choose YES when prompted for WINS connectivity. Set permissions: chmod -R 777 /nas
Add the following to the bottom of /etc/samba/smb.conf:
[nas] path=/nas writeable=yes create mask=0777 directory mask=0777 public=yes read only=no guest ok=no
Restart SAMBA, activate SAMBA on boot, and create SAMBA credentials for nas user:
systemctl restart smbd systemctl enable smbd smbpasswd -a nas
Login to your NAS drive using your nas user credentials: smb://raspi-IP-address/nas
Your NAS drive now functions much like any other network drive on your LAN. Access to your NAS device from Windows or a Mac is simple using the native file managers. For smartphone access, you’ll need a file manager that supports SMB connections. We recommend Total Commander on the Android platform. On iPhones, follow this tutorial. For CentOS platforms, what you want is a process that mounts the NAS device as a directory on your server. You then can interact with the NAS device in the same way you interact with any other Linux directory.
apt install cifs-utils mkdir /nas chown nas:nas /nas # you'll be prompted for your nas password after entering next command mount -t cifs -o username=nas,sec=ntlmssp \ //RasPi-OpenVPN-IP-Address/nas /nas ls /nas # here's how to gracefully unmount your NAS drive umount -t cifs /nas
UPDATE FOR SONOS COMPATIBILITY: If you plan to use your NAS drive to store music for playback with a Sonos device, add this in the [global] section of /etc/samba/smb.conf to support Sonos V1 SMB authentication: ntlm auth=yes
. Your link to your NAS device should look like this assuming you have a music folder: \\ip-address\nas\music
. Then enter your IP address and nas user credentials as above in Settings -> System -> Music Library. Don’t forget to update your Music Index once you have configured your NAS Music Library.
Originally published: Monday, November 2, 2020
Need help with Asterisk? Visit the VoIP-info Forum.
Special Thanks to Our Generous Sponsors
FULL DISCLOSURE: ClearlyIP, Skyetel, Vitelity, DigitalOcean, Vultr, VoIP.ms, 3CX, Sangoma, TelecomsXchange and VitalPBX have provided financial support to Nerd Vittles and our open source projects through advertising, referral revenue, and/or merchandise. As an Amazon Associate and Best Buy Affiliate, we also earn from qualifying purchases. We’ve chosen these providers not the other way around. Our decisions are based upon their corporate reputation and the quality of their offerings and pricing. Our recommendations regarding technology are reached without regard to financial compensation except in situations in which comparable products at comparable pricing are available from multiple sources. In this limited case, we support our sponsors because our sponsors support us.
BOGO Bonaza: Enjoy state-of-the-art VoIP service with a $10 credit and half-price SIP service on up to $500 of Skyetel trunking with free number porting when you fund your Skyetel account. No limits on number of simultaneous calls. Quadruple data center redundancy. $25 monthly minimum spend required. Tutorial and sign up details are here.
The lynchpin of Incredible PBX 2020 and beyond is ClearlyIP components which bring management of FreePBX modules and SIP phone integration to a level never before available with any other Asterisk distribution. And now you can configure and reconfigure your new Incredible PBX phones from the convenience of the Incredible PBX GUI.
VitalPBX is perhaps the fastest-growing PBX offering based upon Asterisk with an installed presence in more than 100 countries worldwide. VitalPBX has generously provided a customized White Label version of Incredible PBX tailored for use with all Incredible PBX and VitalPBX custom applications. Follow this link for a free test drive!
Special Thanks to Vitelity. Vitelity is now Voyant Communications and has halted new registrations for the time being. Our special thanks to Vitelity for their unwavering financial support over many years and to the many Nerd Vittles readers who continue to enjoy the benefits of their service offerings. We will keep everyone posted on further developments.