NAME
asterisk - All-purpose telephony server.
SYNOPSIS
asterisk [ -tThfdvVqpRgciIn ] [ -C file ] [ -U user ] [ -G group ] [ -x
command ] [ -M value ]
asterisk -r [ -v ] [ -x command ] [ -s socket ]
DESCRIPTION
asterisk is a full-featured telephony server which provides Private
Branch eXchange (PBX), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Automated Call
Distribution (ACD), Voice over IP (VoIP) gatewaying, Conferencing, and
a plethora of other telephony applications to a broad range of
telephony devices including packet voice (SIP, IAX2, MGCP, Skinny,
H.323) devices (both endpoints and proxies), as well as traditional TDM
hardware including T1, E1, ISDN PRI, GR-303, RBS, Loopstart,
Groundstart, ISDN BRI, and many more.
At start, Asterisk reads the /etc/asterisk/asterisk.conf main
configuration file and locates the rest of the configuration files from
the configuration in that file. The -C option specifies an alternate
main configuration file. Virtually all aspects of the operation of
asterisk’s configuration files can be found in the sample configuration
files. The format for those files is generally beyond the scope of
this man page.
When running with -c, -r or -R options, Asterisk supplies a powerful
command line, including command completion, which may be used to
monitors its status, perform a variety of administrative actions and
even explore the applications that are currently loaded into the
system.
Asterisk is a trademark of Digium, Inc.
OPTIONS
-C file
Use file as master configuration file instead of the default,
/etc/asterisk/asterisk.conf
-c Provide a control console on the calling terminal. Specifying
this option implies -f and will cause asterisk to no longer fork
or detach from the controlling terminal.
-d Enable extra debugging statements.
Note: This always sets the debug level in the asterisk process,
even if it is running in the background. This will affect the
size of your log files.
-f Do not fork or detach from controlling terminal.
-g Remove resource limit on core size, thus forcing Asterisk to
dump core in the unlikely event of a segmentation fault or abort
signal. NOTE: in some cases this may be incompatible with the
-U or -G flags.
-G group
Run as group group instead of the calling group. NOTE: this
requires substantial work to be sure that Asterisk’s environment
has permission to write the files required for its operation,
including logs, its comm socket, the asterisk database, etc.
-h Provide brief summary of command line arguments and terminate.
-i Prompt user to initialize any encrypted private keys for IAX2
secure authentication during startup.
-L loadaverage
Limits the maximum load average before rejecting new calls.
This can be useful to prevent a system from being brought down
by terminating too many simultaneous calls.
-m Disable log and verbose output to remote (-r) consoles.
-M value
Limits the maximum number of calls to the specified value. This
can be useful to prevent a system from being brought down by
terminating too many simultaneous calls.
-n Disable ANSI colors even on terminals capable of displaying
them.
-p If supported by the operating system (and executing as root),
attempt to run with realtime priority for increased performance
and responsiveness within the Asterisk process, at the expense
of other programs running on the same machine.
-q Reduce default console output when running in conjunction with
console mode (-c).
-r Instead of running a new Asterisk process, attempt to connect to
a running Asterisk process and provide a console interface for
controlling it.
-R Much like -r. Instead of running a new Asterisk process,
attempt to connect to a running Asterisk process and provide a
console interface for controlling it. Additionally, if
connection to the Asterisk process is lost, attempt to reconnect
for as long as 30 seconds.
-s socket
Allows to specify the socket file to be used to connect to the
Asterisk console. Used in conjunction with -r or -R.
-I Enable internal timing if DAHDI timer is available The default
behaviour is that outbound packets are phase locked to inbound
packets. Enabling this switch causes them to be locked to the
internal DAHDI timer instead.
-t When recording files, write them first into a temporary holding
directory, then move them into the final location when done.
-T Add timestamp to all non-command related output going to the
console when running with verbose and/or logging to the console.
-U user
Run as user user instead of the calling user. NOTE: this
requires substantial work to be sure that Asterisk’s environment
has permission to write the files required for its operation,
including logs, its comm socket, the asterisk database, etc.
-v Increase the level of verboseness on the console. The more
times -v is specified, the more verbose the output is.
Specifying this option implies -f and will cause asterisk to no
longer fork or detach from the controlling terminal. This
option may also be used in conjunction with -r and -R.
Note: This always sets the verbose level in the asterisk
process, even if it is running in the background. This will
affect the size of your log files.
-V Display version information and exit immediately.
-W Change the terminal colors to compensate for a light background,
rather than a dark background, as is the default.
-x command
Connect to a running Asterisk process and execute a command on a
command line, passing any output through to standard out and
then terminating when the command execution completes. Implies
-r when -R is not explicitly supplied.
EXAMPLES
asterisk - Begin Asterisk as a daemon
asterisk -vvvgc - Run on controlling terminal
asterisk -rx "core show channels" - Display channels on running server
BUGS
Bug reports and feature requests may be filed at http://bugs.digium.com
SEE ALSO
*CLI> help - Help on Asterisk CLI
*CLI> core show applications - Show loaded dialplan applications
*CLI> core show functions - Show loaded dialplan functions
*CLI> dialplan show - Show current dialplan
http://www.asterisk.org - The Asterisk Home Page
http://www.asteriskdocs.org - The Asterisk Documentation Project
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Asterisk - The Asterisk Wiki
http://www.digium.com/ - Asterisk sponsor and hardware supplier
http://www.markocam.com/ - Asterisk author’s web cam
AUTHOR
Mark Spencer <markster@digium.com>
Countless other contributors, see CREDITS with distribution for more
information