Astribank 2 Drivers for Elastix

The new Astribank models, known as ‘Astribank 2’, require a DAHDI/Zaptel upgrade. When appropriate software packages are installed, it is possible to use combinations of the old (Astribank) and the new (Astribank 2) devices connected to the same Asterisk server.

Following are instructions for upgrading packages for the various Elastix versions:

 Elastix 1.5

 Elastix 1.3

 Elastix <1.3

 Download Complete Instructions as PDF File (423.27 Kb)

Elastix 1.5

The latest Elastix DAHDI packages (dahdi-2.2.0.2-4 and later) already contain the updated Astribank drivers. It is possible to check the currently installed DAHDI packages version by using the following command:

rpm –qa | grep dahdi

If the standard, “plain vanilla” Elastix 1.5 is installed, then it it is necessary to upgrade the DAHDI RPM packages in order to provide support for Asterisk 2 devices.

For Non-Astribank BRI Implementations With Non-Xorcom Servers

If you don’t use Astribank BRI and you don’t use a Xorcom Asterisk appliance server (XR1000/2000/3000):

1. Upgrade your Elastix to the latest packages
   yum update
2. Reset the Astribank devices as described in the “How to Reset Astribank 2 Device" section of the "DAHDI Notes" page.
3. If necessary, configure the DAHDI channels as described in the “How to Configure DAHDI Channels” section of the "DAHDI Notes" page.

For Astribank BRI and/or Xorcom Server Implementations

If you use Astribank BRI and/or use a Xorcom Asterisk server (XR1000/2000/3000):

1. In the /etc/yum.repos.d/elastix.repo file define parameter 'exclude' for [elastix-base] and [elastix-updates] repositories as follows:
   exclude=elastix-mysqldbdata *dahdi *dahdi-devel asterisk asterisk-devel asterisk-sounds* libpri*
2. Download and install the Xorcom repository encryption public key:
   cd /tmp
   wget http://updates.xorcom.com/astribank/elastix/repo/RPM-GPG-KEY-xorcom
   rpm --import RPM-GPG-KEY-xorcom
3. Download the Xorcom repository configuration file:
   cd /etc/yum.repos.d
   wget http://updates.xorcom.com/astribank/elastix/xorcom.repo
4. Update the software:
   yum update *dahdi*
5. Reset the Astribank devices as described in the "How to Reset the Astribank 2 Device" section of the "DAHDI Notes" page.
6. If necessary, configure the DAHDI channels as described in the “How to Configure DAHDI Channels” section of the "DAHDI Notes" page.

Elastix 1.3

There are two ways to provide Astribank 2 support for users of Elastix 1.3:

1. Upgrade the Zaptel packages as follows:
   cd /tmp
   wget http://updates.xorcom.com/astribank/elastix/repo/zaptel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2.i686.rpm
   wget http://updates.xorcom.com/astribank/elastix/repo/zaptel-devel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2.i686.rpm
   wget http://updates.xorcom.com/astribank/elastix/repo/kernel-module-zaptel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2_2.6.18_53.1.19.el5.i686.rpm
   
   rpm -Uvh zaptel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2.i686.rpm \
   zaptel-devel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2.i686.rpm \
   kernel-module-zaptel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2_2.6.18_53.1.19.el5.i686.rpm
   
   Reset the Astribank devices as described in the "How to Reset the Astribank 2 Device" section of the "Zaptel Notes" page.
   
   If necessary, configure the Zaptel channels as described in the “How to Configure Zaptel Channels” section of the "Zaptel Notes" page.
2. Upgrade to Elastix 1.5 and the latest DAHDI & Asterisk packages using files from the Xorcom repository.

Upgrading from Elastix 1.3 to 1.5

Follow the steps below in order to upgrade to Elastix 1.5:

It is strongly recommended that you backup your current server using the Xorcom Rapid Recovery tool. Also, please be aware that you will need to configure DAHDI channels after performing the upgrade. Unfortunately, no configuration porting tools exist.

1. In the /etc/yum.repos.d/elastix.repo file define parameter 'exclude' for [elastix] and [elastix-updates] repositories as follows:
   exclude=elastix-mysqldbdata *dahdi *dahdi-devel asterisk asterisk-devel asterisk-sounds* libpri*
2. Download and install the Xorcom repository encryption public key:
   cd /tmp
   wget http://updates.xorcom.com/astribank/elastix/repo/RPM-GPG-KEY-xorcom
   rpm --import RPM-GPG-KEY-xorcom
3. Download the Xorcom repository configuration file:
   cd /etc/yum.repos.d
   wget http://updates.xorcom.com/astribank/elastix/xorcom.repo
4. Update the software:
   yum update
5. After the kernel update, the XEN kernel version will be set as the default option. In order to fix the problem, edit file /boot/grub/menu.lst and define the parameter 'default' in such a way that it will point to the
   'title CentOS (2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)'.
   Please note that the kernels are numbered starting from 0. For example:
   default=0
   timeout=5
   splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
   # hiddenmenu
   title CentOS (2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)
     root (hd0,0)
     kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18-92.1.22.el5 ro root=LABEL=/
     initrd /initrd-2.6.18-92.1.22.el5.img
   title CentOS (2.6.18-92.1.22.el5xen)
     root (hd0,0)
     kernel /xen.gz-2.6.18-92.1.22.el5
     module /vmlinuz-2.6.18-92.1.22.el5xen ro root=LABEL=/
     module /initrd-2.6.18-92.1.22.el5xen.img
   title Elastix (2.6.18-53.1.19.el5xen)
     root (hd0,0)
     kernel /xen.gz-2.6.18-53.1.19.el5
     module /vmlinuz-2.6.18-53.1.19.el5xen ro root=LABEL=/
     module /initrd-2.6.18-53.1.19.el5xen.img
   title Elastix-base (2.6.18-53.1.19.el5)
     root (hd0,0)
     kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18-53.1.19.el5 ro root=LABEL=/
     initrd /initrd-2.6.18-53.1.19.el5.img
   As you can see, the 'default=0' points to the correct kernel.
6. Reboot the server.
7. Reset the Astribank devices as described in the “How to Reset Astribank 2 Device When DAHDI is Used” section of the "DAHDI Notes" page.
8. Configure the DAHDI channels. Please note, that the old Zaptel and Asterisk Zapata channels configuration is automatically ported to the DAHDI and Asterisk DAHDI channels configuration. You will only need to add the echo canceller settings to the /etc/dahdi/system.conf file. For example, if you have 8 DAHDI channels then you can add the line below to the system.conf file:
   
   echocanceller=oslec,1-8
   
   Alternatively you can re-configure the DAHDI channels  as described in the “How to Configure DAHDI Channels” section of the "DAHDI Notes" page.

Elastix <1.3

You can download the Zaptel source RPM package and build the binary packages as follows:

1. Install some pre-requisites:
   yum install rpm-build libusb-devel
2. Download the source RPM package:
   cd /tmp
   wget http://updates.xorcom.com/astribank/elastix/repo/zaptel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2.src.rpm
3. Build the Zaptel packages:
   rpmbuild --rebuild --target i686 zaptel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2.src.rpm
4. Install the binary RPM packages:
   cd /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i686
   rrpm -Uvh zaptel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2.i686.rpm \
   zaptel-devel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2.i686.rpm \
   kernel-module-zaptel-1.4.12.9.svn.4651-2_2.6.18_53.1.19.el5.i686.rpm
5. Reset the Astribank devices as described in the “How to Reset Astribank 2 Device When DAHDI is Used” section of the "Zaptel Notes" page.
6. If necessary, configure the Zaptel channels as described in the “How to Configure Zaptel Channels” section of the "Zaptel Notes" page.