FreeSWITCH package for pfSense 1.2.1 and 2.0 released. PBX or Proxy

Aderium

Thanks for the advise, so let me understand

For now I will setup the FreeSwitch box behind the NAT [ Other pfsense box ] inside the LAN network.

I can have Firewall on … got that ...
I can connect just the LAN of FreeSwitch Box and give it a static private IP part of our existing network and move on, no need for bridging or anything else
I suppose when you update the package we can choose which network port to use. In either case with just the LAN network port and an ethernet cable I should be fine, ... but what about NATing on that box ? will that interfere ?

Thanks in advance

cybrsrfr

To clarify the previous message about NAT it is possible to setup FreeSwitch behind NAT as well have phones on the inside and the outside of the network. However there is more of a learning curve for to do it for starters you would want to configure NAT to direct the traffic to the FreeSwitch Server, configure Rules to allow the traffic, and then finally there are additional changes required to make FreeSWITCH work. See wiki.freeswitch.org for additional NAT details.

I can connect just the LAN of FreeSwitch Box and give it a static private IP part of our existing network and move on, no need for bridging or anything else

Honestly I have not tried it from the LAN. When I have run it as a dedicated device I ran it on the WAN with the IP on the WAN using a local network IP. Then on the LAN I left that interface unplugged.

If you use the static IP on the LAN make sure to go to the 'var' tab as previously described and set the domain = to the lan ip.
Then restart the FreeSWITCH service.

@Aderium:

I suppose when you update the package we can choose which network port to use. In either case with just the LAN network port and an ethernet cable I should be fine, … but what about NATing on that box ? will that interfere ?

If you use the WAN interface only then no traffic travels from the WAN to the LAN and so there is no NAT involved. This may be the case with the using only the LAN interface I haven't tried it. I think you might run into a problem on the LAN side with the LAN trying to find the Gateway to the internet that is defined on the WAN in pfSense 1.2.1.

thekod

I'm pretty sure the sip useragent binds to all interfaces, so it won't matter what interface you have plugged in…

Aderium

First off thank you for all the help. I think that once this is all setup and tested it may make sense to provide you documentation of how we have set it up and add your settings to it and present it as a tutorial to share to others for configuring Freeswitch with this case scenario.

So after reading your response I will follow your direction and plug the Ethernet into the WAN network interface, as you explained that it will eliminate that whole NAT stuff.

So…
We have a PFSENSE firewall and then in the network we have a PFSENSE / Freeswitch device with 2 Network interfaces but we use just the WAN set with DHCP [ the address is static given from the DHCP Server ]

Now I suppose that we still need to open ports and add port forwarders to direct traffic to the FREESwitch box…
Where can I find all that Jazz ? and do I need to follow the steps of implementing the sipproxy package on either the PFSENSE box or the Freeswitch box ?

Regards,

cybrsrfr

@Aderium:

First off thank you for all the help. I think that once this is all setup and tested it may make sense to provide you documentation of how we have set it up and add your settings to it and present it as a tutorial to share to others for configuring Freeswitch with this case scenario.

A variety of tutorials is a good thing. No one is likely to complain about too much documentation. Keep in mind much of the information at wiki.freeswitch.org still applies to this package.

@Aderium:

So after reading your response I will follow your direction and plug the Ethernet into the WAN network interface, as you explained that it will eliminate that whole NAT stuff.

Ok.

@Aderium:

So…
We have a PFSENSE firewall and then in the network we have a PFSENSE / Freeswitch device with 2 Network interfaces but we use just the WAN set with DHCP [ the address is static given from the DHCP Server ]

DHCP is fine as long as its is reserved static IP.

@Aderium:

Now I suppose that we still need to open ports and add port forwarders to direct traffic to the FREESwitch box…
Where can I find all that Jazz ? and do I need to follow the steps of implementing the sipproxy package on either the PFSENSE box or the Freeswitch box ?

You don't need to over complicate things add more complexity if you need it. So for example siproxd may not be needed. I would only through it in the mix if I needed it. Your phones will all be talking to the phone system as in the pfSense FreeSWITCH box. It is the only thing that will talk outside of the network to a VoIP provider (ITSP). If there is someone that knows Siproxd better than me feel free to share your knowledge but as far as I'm aware siproxd is most useful for situations where you have multiple devices in one network going out to an offsite PBX or VoIP provider.

On the machine that is the dedicated pfSense FreeSWITCH box set some 'Rules' on it to allow the VoIP traffic to the WAN interface. SIP protocol on FreeSWITCH uses 5060 - 5090 and can communicate over TCP or UDP. RTP (Real time protocol) uses ports 16384 - 32768 UDP. You do not need to configure NAT. It is not necessary to configure because FreeSWITCH will bind to the WAN a translation of the WAN address to LAN is not needed in this case unless you make FreeSWITCH bind to the LAN.

cybrsrfr

tusc notified me of some bugs he had found today. An issue where in some cases you would see an error on the 'Rec' tab. And there was a problem on the 'Dialplan' tab if you edited and then saved the dialplan the dialplan information was being saved to the wrong position xml path in pfSense. These bugs have been fixed. It is highly recommended you upgrade your install.

Make sure you are using version 0.4.2 or higher. To do this use the backup button on the status tab then remove the package and install it again.

Please feel free to post suggestions, encouragement, or bugs so they can be fixed immediately.

Best Regards,

Mark

cybrsrfr

Another improvement to note the FreeSWITCH package no longer requires the LAN interface to drive the 'Status' page and some of the other socket communication. This clears the way for appliance support.

Conference:
Default config has three sets of conference lines one for 8khz, 16khz and 32khz audio.

8khz extension 3001-3099
16khz extensions 3101-3199
32khz extensions 3201-3299

IVR example:
5000

Call Park:
park 5900
unpark 5901

Echo Test:
9996

Hold Music:
9999

Call Groups
Ring several phones at once. Ring all phone extensions in a group all at once or in order. Any two digit group number may be used. The following example will use group number 01.

Add to Group
81[2 digit group number]
Calling Extension 8101 will add the current phone to group 01.

Delete from Group
80[2 digit group number]

Calling Extension 8001 will remove the current phone extension from group 01.

Ring Group Simultaneous
82[2 digit group number]

Calling Extension 8201 will ring all phone extensions in group 01.

Ring Group Order
83[2 digit group number]

Calling Extension 8201 will ring the first phone extensions in group 01 followed by the next phone in the group and then ring the next phone extension in the group until the call is answered.

More options available they are defined under the 'Dialplan' 'default.xml' button.

cybrsrfr

pfSense user: tusc has found a bug that is now fixed in the latest version 0.4.5. It has to do with using multiple conditions when working with the 'Public' tab. This issue also affected and has been fixed for the 'Dialplan'. Thanks tusc for finding and notifying me so that this could be improved.

cybrsrfr

FreeSWITCH package is now working on pfSense 2.0 even when run with only 1 interface (appliance mode).

tester_02

I just want to say that having this package is awesome.
I've always been intimidated by SIP, except to get a PAP2 running at home.
I know a lot of us newbs looking at this are still overwhelmed, but I know after some more reading I will try it out. For a newb to sip, there are so many options that I don't exactly know where to start. Ok, ok, I do know, more reading :)

I will say that making this available here is extremely encouraging. I am finally starting to see the light at then end of the tunnel.

Thank you for all your hard work "mcrane"

scottnguyen

Sorry if this is a bit off topic…but is there a reason you (MCCRANE) chose FreeSWITCH vs something like sipXecs as a package?

cybrsrfr

scottnguyen:

sipXecs looked pretty good here is my reasons for not going with it.
1. sipXecs already has a GUI and a company backing it. I'm not sure what language the GUI was in by I wanted one in PHP.
2. I'm not an expert on sipXecs but my impression is its limited to SIP only.
3. sipXecs is LGPL which I like better than the GPL however I like the MPL even better than the LGPL.

Spend some time to learn more about FreeSWITCH it will be worth your time.

FreeSWITCH configuration by default is XML. pfSense's config is stored in XML. So it seemed a good fit.

FreeSWITCH is also modular, extensible, scalable, multi-platform, can interface with multiple languages, remote access is possible over xml rpc, over a network socket, can be a VoIP SWITCH, Proxy, soft phone, and/or PBX.

cybrsrfr

tester_02: Configuring the linksys pap2t is a good start. Reading about FreeSWITCH here on the forum should help. In addition to that take a look at http://wiki.freeswitch.org. Do your best to read through the information then feel free to ask questions. Good Luck!

I mentioned this in a comment on the blog but want to make sure it gets noticed.

Voicemail.

To access your voicemail you can dial extension 4000 then your id (extension number) then the voicemail password. This can be accessed from any extension on the system or from any phone through the IVR (auto attendant).

In addition to that if your extension is 1001 and you were currently on that extension you simply call extension 1001 and it will go to your voicemail.

adrianhensler

I'm pretty interested in this package. I've had an asterisk server running for … years? behind a pfsense box; it works great.

I'm a little leary of having to learn freeSwitch; I've got all my steps and knowledge down for installing ubuntu server and then asterisk / FreePBX on top of it.

But reducing the number of manchines running in my house by one is very appealing. My config is pretty simlpe too; so I don't forsee any problems migrating. I do have a couple 'if this line rings; call my cell / voip phone / house phone until one of them picks up' - I'd hate to lose that sort of functionality.

And with FreePBX just putting freeSwitch on their coming soon page; this could all get very interesting fast.

Just wanted to state my interest as well; I look forward to trying this out soon.

adrianhensler

Installed the freeswitch package, upgraded to Rc3, saw these errors at the bottom of the page during the reinstall after upgrade:

Warning: fsockopen(): unable to connect to 76.11.76.41:8021 in /usr/local/pkg/freeswitch.inc on line 92 Warning: socket_set_blocking(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /usr/local/pkg/freeswitch.inc on line 93 Warning: fsockopen(): unable to connect to 192.168.1.1:8021 in /usr/local/pkg/freeswitch.inc on line 92 Warning: socket_set_blocking(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /usr/local/pkg/freeswitch.inc on line 93 no handle

I'm guessing this is just because there is no rule for the event socket. Solution is to surpress these warnings? Or warn that ports should be opened? Or option 3, I missed the mark completely.

cybrsrfr

@adrianhensler:

Installed the freeswitch package, upgraded to Rc3, saw these errors at the bottom of the page during the reinstall after upgrade:

I'm guessing this is just because there is no rule for the event socket. Solution is to surpress these warnings? Or warn that ports should be opened? Or option 3, I missed the mark completely.

A rule is not necessary for the even socket unless there are strict rules for outbound access. Supressing the warning would hide the problem but not fix it.

The problem is that it tries to connect to the socket for only 1 second before giving up. In some cases 1 second isn't long enough. FreeSWITCH package 0.4.7 will now try for 3 seconds hopefully this will be sufficient. Also removed some necessary files from the default config.

thekod

adrianhensler, Freeswitch can do everything you're talking about with the bridge application in the dialplan…check it out! :)
http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/Misc._Dialplan_Tools_bridgecall

adrianhensler

Okay, in for a penny in for a pound. I just disabled the asterisk and figured I'd go nuts.

The package works great and I got it set up and calling working between two phones (a local grandstream 2020 and a remote linksys voip router; also a remote pap2)

Having some issues that I'm sure someone can assist with - I've been dealing with voip for a long time but not ever with freeswitch.

1. Outgoing calling to a pots (cell phone in this case) results in crazy static as soon as the cell starts ringing - the phone line is all static; I don't hear a ring just noise. It continues after I answer the cell phone. I'm thinking codec mismatch but it's confusing to me - I thought the call would just fail in that case?

2. Trickier problem due to me not understanding where to fix this in freeswitch. I don't have a proper static IP. It's pretty close to static - but it's not static. I had a workaround in asterisk that seemed to work pretty well - a SynDNS dns name and the externip / externhost commands.

In freeswitch, how do I make this work correctly: if I edit the vars to force my domain to be a name; ie myDynDNSname.org instead of the default $${local_ip_v4} this happens (as seen in the logs):

I call in, I hear "goodbye" and my transfer to phone doesn't work because it is looking for 2000@123.123.123.123 which doesn't exist because the line is registered as 2000@myDynDNSname.org

If I leave it as the default; then the incoming call works to get to voicemail - but then my phone doesn't ring because it says it's not registered - it's registered as 2000@myDynDNSname.org and not as 2000@123.123.123.123.

If I change the external devices to register by IP rather than DynDNS name I think everything will work; but when my IP changes I'll haev to update all the devices so I think that the DynDNS name is the way to go.

Someone please show me the error of my ways. I'm so close.

The other interesting bit to this is that while outgoing calling connects but results in noise (problem #1 above) the incoming calling on the same gateway has audio but just doesn't connect correctly due to dns versus ip configurations.

Thanks for listening.

thekod

To fix your ip<->dns issue, set the phone to register as user 2000, and the ip of the phone server or proxy server (in the phone settings) to your dns name. Then set <x-pre-process cmd="set" data="domain=domaingoeshere.com">in the vars.xml.

I'm using DynDNS with this configuration, and it's working perfectly.

I've got no idea about issue 1 though…sorry! Out of curiousity, who's your provider?</x-pre-process>

cybrsrfr

@thekod:

To fix your ip<->dns issue, set the phone to register as user 2000, and the ip of the phone server or proxy server (in the phone settings) to your dns name. Then set <x-pre-process cmd="set" data="domain=domaingoeshere.com">in the vars.xml.

I'm using DynDNS with this configuration, and it's working perfectly.</x-pre-process>

Perfect answer! adrianhensler: make sure all your phones register with the domain. You can mix domains and IPs only if you enable 'force-register-domain' from the 'Internal' tab. That will make all registration attempts assume the 'force-register-domain' domain name. FreeSWITCH is designed to run as a VOIP SWITCH and therefore is designed for hosting more the one domain for multi-tenant uses.

The static problem you mentioned…

I suspect the problem that is occurring is specific to the provider you are using. I have setup several providers with FreeSWITCH and have not had the problem you described. What provider are you using?

On the Linksys phone you will get better audio quality if you go to the 'SIP' tab under admin advanced in the Linksys GUI and set the 'RTP Packet Size' to '0.020'.