Xorcom Rapid - Risk-free Asterisk

Note: Xorcom Rapid is outdated and no longer maintained

Xorcom Rapid is a free Debian/Asterisk distribution program that includes an auto-install and special auto-configuration features. It quickly and effortlessly converts any PC to a functioning Asterisk PBX.

Xorcom Rapid 1.1

Features:

• Asterisk 1.0.9
• Flash Operator Panel
• Auto-detection and configuration of zaptel cards
• Has default pre configuration which includes SIP extensions, Zap extensions, voice mail and conference room
• Contains optional extra software such as: Apache, MySQL, Webmin and many others (detailed in the website)

Main changes in this verison:

List of Changes from 1.0:

• Asterisk 1.0.9
• Flash Operator Panel
• Festival text-to-speech support
• French, German, Italian and Swedish sound prompts
• Extra sounds from Asterisk-sounds
• Music-on-hold using a wav-player
• Up-to-date SpanDSP
• Kernel 2.6 is now the default
• i686-optimized kernel packages included
• ZapHFC ISDN support from the Bristuff patch
• Initial support for Zaptel detection in ZapHFC
• Support for Asterisk+European+CallerID for X100P cards
• |iaxcomm.exe is included on the CD: an IAX software phone
• DeStar: experimental Asterisk management application
• Webmin: extra modules added
• Improved usability of the menus
• Improved firewall script
• More modular default dial-plan
• IAX accounts are available (but can't generate calls, like the SIP ones) by default
• VIM, along with syntax highlighting of Asterisk files (:set syntax=asterisk)
• etherconf for more convenient Ethernet card configuration
• …and even a minimal irc client
• Network installation should be possible, though not officially supported
• Changes to voicemail passwords are saved

Warning: Installing this program will overwrite all files on the PC.

Minimum Hardware Requirements

• 200 MHz Pentium PC
• 128 MB RAM
• 600 MB disk space
• CD drive

Getting Started

The default configuration includes 10 Zaptel extensions (401-410), 10
SIP extensions (501-510), 10 IAX extensions (601-610) and a MeetMe
conference room (300). If you have a TDM Zaptel card, it should be
identified by the installer.

To use the Zaptel extensions you have to have Zaptel (or compatible)
cards. The installer should detect and configure TDM cards (both FXO and
FXS). It will also set the first detected FXO channel as the trunk
and the first detected FXS channel as the default phone when calling from
the trunk. The installer will also assign numbers to any Astribank connected
to the box.

To use the SIP or IAX extensions you will need a SIP phone: either a
hardware one or a software one ("soft phone"). Currently the
configuration is very permissive: no password is required to connect
from anywhere.

However, the trunk is DISABLED - read "the SIP and IAX extensions are
DISABLED by default". To understand why you have to read two more
paragraphs (duh!).

If your computer has a "real" Internet address this should basically
allow anybody from the Internet to connect to your PBX. And if you
happen to have a trunk configured, anyone can use your PBX to make free
phone calls through your trunk. You probably wouldn't want that.

For that reason calls from the SIP and IAX extensions are disabled by
default. (If you have a Zaptel extension you can still call a SIP or
IAX extension from it). If you have a good reason to assume that no one
can connect to your SIP and IAX extensions, use the menu option
"Asterisk->Enable SIP and IAX".

Troubleshooting

Lost AMP Pasword

I can't find the administrator password of AMP (the web interfrface). Any workaround?

If you can login to the linux CLI (from the console or from ssh) as root, run the following command from the CLI:

ast-cmd mysql asterisk -e 'select username,password from ampusers'

Reload Zaptel Drivers

Is there any simple way to rmmod and modprobe all the zaptel drivers on the system?

Actually the menu entry Asterisk => Restart Asterisk does just that: stops asterisk, unloads drivers, reloads them, and re-starts asterisk.

Alternatively, from the Linux CLI you can use:

 /etc/init.d/asterisk zaptel-fix

Note that in the menu of the Xorcom TS-1 there are separate menu entries for restarting Asterisk and for reloading the Zaptel drivers (w/restarting Asterisk).

Links

• Homepage
• Xorcom Users Mailing List - Discusses issues relating Xorcom Rapid
• Xorcom Users Mailing List Archives
• CD Images
• Berlios Developer site and bugs database

See Also

• Xorcom Live CD
• Xorcom