TUTORIAL HylaFAX / AvantFax for PIAF! - Parts 1-4

[shado]

Hello - I have followed these instructions on my PIAF and am stuck at the following place - when I go to the avantfax web address and put in the default admin/password combination, I don't get an error, but I am re-presented back with the login screen - it is not logging me into the application - anything I missed?

thank you

 

[tshif]

jr -
Thanks for letting us know what happened. I wasn't sure what I was going to suggest to get that fixed!

 

[tshif]

Hello - I have followed these instructions on my PIAF and am stuck at the following place - when I go to the avantfax web address and put in the default admin/password combination, I don't get an error, but I am re-presented back with the login screen - it is not logging me into the application - anything I missed?

thank you

Were you ever able to login, even one time?

 

[phinphan]

Need pauses in the dialstring for zap channels?

When I use Avantfax/Hylafax to dial out, it does not use the wwww13215551212 format that all regular calls out the zap trunk use. I imagine I need to edit this:

extensions_custom.conf

[from-fax]
exten => _x.,1,Dial(ZAP/g0/${EXTEN})
exten => _x.,n,Hangup()


The trunk setting is freepbx already have the wwww and all normally dialed calls have the pause.

I edited the from-fax context to the following and the dialstring is correct.

[from-fax]
exten => _x.,1,Dial(ZAP/g0/wwww${EXTEN})
exten => _x.,n,Hangup()

So far, this has made all the difference in the world for completing faxes.

Is this going to cause any other problems? I am only using zap channels for fax sending.

 

[tshif]

Phinphan;
GREAT catch. When we specify a special context for outbound dialing - the special trunk logic is bypassed. I need to update the instructions to mention this.

Thanks VERY much for writing this up!

Tony

 

[shado]

i found out it was a permissions issues - have resolved this and able to complete the configuration - question in freepbx, under my DID - what do I set for the fax handling section - when I test inbound faxing, I am not getting anything

 

[tshif]

i found out it was a permissions issues - have resolved this and able to complete the configuration - question in freepbx, under my DID - what do I set for the fax handling section - when I test inbound faxing, I am not getting anything

Hmm - your the second person whos reporte some sort of permissions errors. Can you identify how these crept into the system? Was it another script, or? If we can figure out how and why its happening, perhaps we can arrange to keep it from happening.

Regarding inbound fax, what form are you using? Shared fax/DID, or didicated DID for fax?

 

[dad311]

I just got back from vacation and AvantFAX no longer likes my password.

Anyone know the best way to recover/fix this issue?

I selected the option to reset the password and a new password was emailed to me. However the new password doest not work.

 

[dad311]

I just got back from vacation and AvantFAX no longer likes my password.

Anyone know the best way to recover/fix this issue?

I selected the option to reset the password and a new password was emailed to me. However the new password doest not work.

Never mind, I changed the permissions on "/var/lib/php/session" to resolve the issue.

 

[tshif]

These login errors that are being resolved by fixing permissions on /var/lib/php/session - Some have suggested the original permission issue is being caused by update-source. Can you confirm having run update-source?

 

[dad311]

I just got back from vacation and AvantFAX no longer likes my password.

Anyone know the best way to recover/fix this issue?

I selected the option to reset the password and a new password was emailed to me. However the new password doest not work.

These login errors that are being resolved by fixing permissions on /var/lib/php/session - Some have suggested the original permission issue is being caused by update-source. Can you confirm having run update-source?

I did not/have not ran update-source.

 

[tshif]

Hmmm. So why are people suddenly having issues with the permissions on this directory? Somethings happening - I think we should wonder what -

 

[wardmundy]

yum update and update-source both load CentOS updates, and both could potentially change file and directory ownership on some of the PHP stuff.

 

[tshif]

I did not/have not ran update-source.

Any chance you did a yum update?

 

[versodom]

HylaFAX / AvantFax for your PBXIAF! - Continued

Configure with the following characteristics:
HylaFAX Server Address: The IP or internal (not public) FQDN of your PBX
Username: fax
Password: faxuser
Default Notify: the email address for which to send success, fail, and fax resubmitted email advisories. Usualy the email address of the workstations user.
Modem: Leave BLANK
Address Book Directory: Any location you wish; Local Hard drive is recommended, but mapped network drive space works also. The user logged into the Windows workstation must have read and write permissions to this location.
Page Size: Usually US Letter
Notification: As desired.

Click OK to save your settings.

Preparing the Firewall: Iptables
In order to allow the Winprint HylaFAX program to reach the PBX from any workstation on the local subnet, we need to execute a command similar to this (from putty or your favorite tool):
(This firewall rule was updated 3/6/09 10:30 AM)
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp -s 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0 -j ACCEPT
service iptables save
service iptables restart

Change the “ 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0” to reflect your actual network subnet and subnet mask.

It should be possible to tighten this iptable rule further by specifying which ports to open, but we have as yet been unable to determine which ports are used by the Winprint driver.

You are now ready to test the Fax Print Driver.

Testing the Print to Fax Function
Any print job sent to this printer (even a Printer Test Page) will raise this dialog box:

The FAX number is completely unedited and unverified. You should enter the destination telephone number in the same format required by the outbound trunk in FreePBX.
If you click on SAVE NUMBER, the number entered will be added to this workstations’ Fax Address Book. If this is the first number you have added, the Fax Address Book will be created in the location you specified when you installed the printer driver (Address Book Directory).
You may enter a Notification email address other than the default if you have special needs for a particular fax.
Clicking SEND will submit your fax to the fax Server. Within a second or two of clicking the SEND button, you should get a very small confirmation dialog box stating that the Fax has been submitted, and providing you with a job number. Be alert, sometimes this dialog box ends up behind other windows on the screen.

Once you have received the confirmation dialog box, you should be able to monitor the fax status via the Avantfax web interface.
Job Done!
If there is enough interest, in the future we will put up more articles discussing more configuration options, and ways to create Private “departmental” faxes, and even use NVDetect to allow Faxes to share a regular extension line.

Untill next time -
tshif

I get the following when I send from a word file:

:-( Problem sending the fax.:

To: 19042856765
FAILED to create PDF for failed fax

If I just send a cover page with
AvantFAX it will send it Perfectly. What gives?

 

[dad311]

Any chance you did a yum update?

No yum update per-say, but I was working on installing Surgar CRM. Maybe an update was done while installing Sugar CRM.

 

[tshif]

I get the following when I send from a word file:

:-( Problem sending the fax.:

To: 19042856765
FAILED to create PDF for failed fax

If I just send a cover page with
AvantFAX it will send it Perfectly. What gives?

Interesting -
I assume you mean when you print to fax from a word doc, you get an email saying FAILED to create PDF for failed fax.

Does this happen with more than one word doc? Try several - some with graphics, some without.

Can you print to fax from any other applications? Try printing to fax from wordpad -

When you print just a cover sheet, how exactly are you doing that?

 

[phinphan]

Versodom - Winprint Hylafax does not use Avantfax. Winprint Hylafax goes directly to Hylafax on the server. Avantfax is just a web interface to Hylafax. Avantfax and Winprint use different cover pages and formats.

I had a similar problem and it turned out that my coverpage in Winprint Hylafax was bad and it screwed up the printing or conversion of the fax itself.

 

[versodom]

Interesting -
I assume you mean when you print to fax from a word doc, you get an email saying FAILED to create PDF for failed fax.

Does this happen with more than one word doc? Try several - some with graphics, some without.

Can you print to fax from any other applications? Try printing to fax from wordpad -

When you print just a cover sheet, how exactly are you doing that?

Yes, it has happened with every word file, graphics or not. I will try wordpad. On the cover sheet only, I just use the AvantFAX URL and do not attach a file. I enter a phone number and a coversheet message at the bottom.

 

[versodom]

Versodom - Winprint Hylafax does not use Avantfax. Winprint Hylafax goes directly to Hylafax on the server. Avantfax is just a web interface to Hylafax. Avantfax and Winprint use different cover pages and formats.

I had a similar problem and it turned out that my coverpage in Winprint Hylafax was bad and it screwed up the printing or conversion of the fax itself.

How did you fix the cover page in Winprint Hylafax? Also i get the same message whether I use the URL or print to winfax hylafax which has Avantfax at the bottom of the e-mail I receive on each attempted call. Therefor they must be connected.