Revision as of 10:51, 13 September 2012

This document details the steps needed to get your x164 switch started.

Preface

The x164 softswitch is based on yate. The softswitch can be installed on the servers of the x164 customer or is hosted by x164 in the datacenter.

We recommend to install the softswitch as a OpenVZ virtual machine. OpenVZ offers near-bare-metal performance. The advantages of virtualization are easy backups and easy migration to different hardware in case of failures or hardware upgrades. x164 provides a OpenVZ template for download which is a ready-configured softswitch.

Softswitch installation

Setup Linux Host for OpenVZ

Use of Debian Squeeze is recommended for its stability, but you can use other Linux distributions as you wish. You can look for the proper option for your machine here. Installation guides are also available for the different supported architectures here.

This website offers a screenshot based tutorial that explains how to make a bare-bones installation without a graphical desktop environment. We suggest to create a separate partition /vz to store the virtual machines, as for example in the following scheme.

Disk partitioning

It is encouraged that you follow the order shown in the table.

Updating and upgrading

After installation you should run the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

This ensures you have the latest version of the installed packages.

Remote SSH access

If you want to work on your server from a remote client, it is recommended to use a Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. Install a SSH server:

apt-get install openssh-server

Now you can open the terminal on your workstation and type the following to log into the server:

ssh root@[Server's IP Address]

Provide the password and continue working remotely.

Midnight Commander

We recommend using a visual file manager like Midnight Commander (mc) to make working with the command line easier. To install it in your server enter this command:

apt-get install mc
mc

You can find more information about mc in [1]

Webmin installation

It is recommended that you use Webmin to easily configure your softswitch. Run the following command to avoid dependency issues

apt-get install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl apt-show-versions python

Then you can download Webmin

wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/webadmin/webmin_1.590_all.deb

and install it

dpkg --install webmin_1.590_all.deb

OpenVZ Installation

Installation for Debian systems is detailed in this tutorial. You can also refer to the OpenVZ installation guide for Debian and other operating systems.

Softswitch template installation

To download the softswitch template just run the following command:

wget http://www.x164.com/index.php/download-and-install

and create the softswitch container.

vzctl create [CTID] --ostemplate nameOfTemplate 

Once you have created a new [CTID].conf file will appear at /etc/vz/conf. There you can set the VM's IP, gateway and hostname as it fits your network, among other parameters. This is an example of what the .conf file should look like:

Then you can start your softswitch container:

vzctl start [CTID]

Here you can find some of the basic operations needed to work with your container.

Setup softswitch to connect with x164

The softswitch needs to connect to the x164 database to retrieve routing information and to the x164 radius server to send call details records. We will initiate fake calls from a softphone to test whether everything works correctly.

Editing register.conf file

To access the x164 database in realtime from your softswitch you must need a secret key that we issue to you. To find your key, log into https://access.x164.com. Go to the Rating tab and select Gateways in the Action area.

You need to enter the key into the call routines in the softswitch. Go into the /usr/local/etc/yate folder of your installation and open the register.conf file. In this file the string 'hyTnw94^^f' must be substituted by your own secret key for MySQL procedures in yate.

Setup Firewall on Softswitch

The firewall can be setup comfortably with Webmin:

https://softswitchIP:10000

In the Networking/Linux Firewall subsection, Default Action should be set to Drop. Then a new rule must by added by clicking Add Rule. This new rule must be defined like this

where 11.22.33.55 is the IP of your workstation. The firewall must be opened for all IPs from which you receive VoIP traffic. Now the Linux Firewall menu should look like this:

Press the Apply button to activate the rules.

Verify yate functionality

You can verify that yate is working in principle. Go to the terminal and log into the softswitch through port 29. Using a port which is not the standard ssh port 22 reduces the chance that some weak password is hacked.

ssh root@[softswitchIP]:29

Then see what is happening on the port that will receive the fake call. The softswitch listens on udp port 5061 and not the standard port 5060.

usr/local/etc/yate ngrep port 5061

Now you can attempt a call from a softphone Zoiper

After dialing you should see SIP messages going back and forth between the soft phone and yate. As no subscriber is setup in the system the call will of course fail.

Connection to Radius server

Login into https://access.x164.com and click search in the CDRs tab. The test calls your did should be shown, confirming that the softswitch is connected to the x164 radius server.

Web Configuration of the x164 Service

To get the x164 system started, you must create some new subscribers and set up a block of DID numbers. Once you have done this you can make a test call to verify the system is working properly.

All the tables you have to use in the following section are listed in the 'Rating' tab of the web application, in the 'Actions' menu.

Adding subscribers

In this step you will create at least two dynamic or fixed IP subscribers and set a profile and a rate for both of them, so you can later make a test call from one to another. In the following tables the bold fields must be set, the remaining fields may stay empty.

Adding a dynamic IP customer

Adding a dynamic IP customer implies setting a password for authentication:

Adding a fixed IP customer

For fixed IP customers authentication is based on their IP address, so there is no need to provide a password. Also it's necessary to provide the post location field so their calls can be routed by the x164 system.

Linking customer to a profile

Next step is adding a profile, which is used by the system to calculate the price of calls. Profiles and customers are linked by the 'Profile' field. Select 'Profiles' in the 'Action' area and add a new one:

Linking rates to profiles

The final step of creating a subscriber is adding a rate. Rates include information used to calculate the price of a call and can be linked to several profiles by the 'Rate' field. Go to 'Rates' in the 'Action' area and make a new entry:

Adding DID subscribers

Now that you have created some customers you can make one of them a DID subscriber. In order to do this first you have to create a DID profile and set up a block of DID numbers. In this case we are going to define the block as '34123xxxxxx' and link the number '34123456112' to the subscriber 'user2@domain.com'.

Adding a DID profile

Make a new entry in the 'Profiles' table. The difference between a DID and a regular profile is in the 'Carrier' field, which in this case must be 'DIDRANGE'. 'DIDRANGE' tells the softswitch to route incoming calls to numbers within the DID number blocks only to subscribers:

Setting up block of DID numbers

Add a rate in the 'Rates' table. This must be linked to the DID profile you have created, so you can specify the range of your DID numbers in the 'Destination' field.

Linking a DID to a client

You must now link one of the numbers included in your DID range to one of your customers. To do so, go to the 'DIDclients' table in the 'Rating' tab and make an entry:

Make a test call

Now that the subscribers and DID clients are included in the database, you can make a call from one customer to another. Just make sure both are registered to the x164 system through a softphone or an analog phone with an ATA. In the following image you can see an example of account configuration for registering with Zoiper:

Setting up carriers

Next you can add a carrier and send it calls. First you have to make a carrier record in the 'Carriers' table. Then you have to link it to a profile and a rate. Finally you can make a test call from a previously defined customer to one of the carrier's numbers.

Adding a carrier

Go to the 'Carriers' table. Enter the carrier's name, its location and a new profile.

Linking the carrier to a profile

Add a carrier profile to the 'Profiles' table:

Linking the profile to a rate

Finally go to 'Rates' and make an entry defining the range of numbers that have to be sent to this carrier. In this case we arbitrarily chose the range '341234561xx'.

Make a test call to the carrier

To ensure everything has been set up properly, you can make a call from one of your customers to a carrier's number and verify the call is properly sent.

Establishing quotas

You may need to establish usage quotas for customers and carriers. This can be done from the 'Quota usage' table. There you will find an entry for each customer and carrier you have added to the database:

All you have to do is update the 'Quota' field of a record. When the count in the 'This Month' field exceeds the quota, the 'Notified' field is updated and the subscriber (customer or carrier) is blocked. This means the system sets the 'Blocked' field of its corresponding entry in the 'Customers' or 'Carriers' table. To unblock a subscriber simply update this field with a '0'.