1asterisk (8)                                                      asterisk (8)
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NAME

6       asterisk - All-purpose telephony server.
7

SYNOPSIS

9       asterisk [-BcdfFghiImnpqRtTvVW] [-C file] [-e memory] [-G group] [-L
10                loadaverage] [-M value] [-U user] [-s socket-file]
11                asterisk -r [-v] [-d] [-x command]
12                asterisk -R [-v] [-d] [-x command]
13

DESCRIPTION

15       asterisk is a full-featured telephony  server  which  provides  Private
16       Branch eXchange (PBX), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Automated Call
17       Distribution (ACD), Voice over IP (VoIP) gatewaying, Conferencing,  and
18       a plethora of other telephony applications to a broad range of telepho‐
19       ny devices including packet voice  (SIP,  IAX2,  MGCP,  Skinny,  H.323,
20       Unistim)  devices  (both endpoints and proxies), as well as traditional
21       TDM hardware including  T1,  E1,  ISDN  PRI,  GR-303,  RBS,  Loopstart,
22       Groundstart, ISDN BRI and many more.
23
24       At  start, Asterisk reads the /etc/asterisk/asterisk.conf main configu‐
25       ration file and locates the rest of the configuration  files  from  the
26       configuration  in  that file. The -C option specifies an alternate main
27       configuration file.  Virtually all aspects of the operation  of  aster‐
28       isk's  configuration  files  can  be  found in the sample configuration
29       files. The format for those files is generally beyond the scope of this
30       man page.
31
32       When  running  with  -c, -r or -R options, Asterisk supplies a powerful
33       command line, including command completion, which may be used to  moni‐
34       tors  its  status, perform a variety of administrative actions and even
35       explore the applications that are currently loaded into the system.
36
37       Asterisk is a trademark of Digium, Inc.
38

OPTIONS

40       Running Asterisk starts the asterisk daemon (optionally running  it  in
41       the foreground). However running it with -r or -R connects to an exist‐
42       ing Asterisk instance through a remote console.
43
44       -B     Force the background of the terminal to be black, in  order  for
45              terminal  colors  to show up properly. Equivalent to forceblack‐
46              background = yes in asterisk.conf. See also -n and -W.
47
48       -C file
49              Use file as master configuration file instead  of  the  default,
50              /etc/asterisk/asterisk.conf
51
52       -c     Provide  a  control console on the calling terminal. The console
53              is similar to the remote console provided by -r. Specifying this
54              option  implies  -f and will cause asterisk to no longer fork or
55              detach from the controlling terminal. Equivalent  to  console  =
56              yes in asterisk.conf.
57
58       -d     Enable  extra  debugging  statements. This parameter may be used
59              several times, and each increases the debug level. Equivalent to
60              debug = num in asterisk.conf to explicitly set the initian debug
61              level to num. When given at startup, this option also implies -f
62              (no  forking).  However  when connecting to an existing Asterisk
63              instance (-r or -R), it may only increase the debug level.
64
65       -e memory
66              Limit the generation of new channels when  the  amount  of  free
67              memory  has  decreased to under memory megabytes.  Equivalent to
68              minmemfree = memory in asterisk.conf.
69
70       -f     Do not fork or detach from controlling terminal.  Overrides  any
71              preceding  specification  of -F on the command line.  Equivalent
72              to nofork = yes in asterisk.conf.  See also -c.
73
74       -F     Always fork and detach from controlling terminal. Overrides  any
75              preceding  specification of -f on the command line.  May also be
76              used to prevent -d and -v to imply no forking. Equivalent to al‐
77              waysfork = yes in asterisk.conf.
78
79       -g     Remove  resource  limit  on  core size, thus forcing Asterisk to
80              dump core in the unlikely event of a segmentation fault or abort
81              signal.   NOTE:  in some cases this may be incompatible with the
82              -U or -G flags.
83
84       -G group
85              Run as group group instead of the calling group. NOTE: this  re‐
86              quires  substantial  work to be sure that Asterisk's environment
87              has permission to write the files required  for  its  operation,
88              including logs, its comm socket, the asterisk database, etc.
89
90       -h     Provide brief summary of command line arguments and terminate.
91
92       -i     Prompt user to intialize any encrypted private keys for IAX2 se‐
93              cure authentication during startup.
94
95       -I     Enable internal timing if DAHDI timing is  available.   The  de‐
96              fault behaviour is that outbound packets are phase locked to in‐
97              bound packets. Enabling this switch causes them to be locked  to
98              the internal DAHDI timer instead.
99
100       -L loadaverage
101              Limits the maximum load average before rejecting new calls. This
102              can be useful to prevent a system from  being  brought  down  by
103              terminating too many simultaneous calls.
104
105       -m     Temporarily  mutes  output to the console and logs. To return to
106              normal, use logger mute.
107
108       -M value
109              Limits the maximum number of calls to the specified value.  This
110              can  be  useful  to  prevent a system from being brought down by
111              terminating too many simultaneous calls.
112
113       -n     Disable ANSI colors even  on  terminals  capable  of  displaying
114              them.
115
116       -p     If  supported  by  the operating system (and executing as root),
117              attempt to run with realtime priority for increased  performance
118              and  responsiveness  within the Asterisk process, at the expense
119              of other programs running on the same machine.
120
121              Note: astcanary will run concurrently with asterisk.  If  astca‐
122              nary stops running or is killed, asterisk will slow down to nor‐
123              mal process priority, to avoid locking up the machine.
124
125       -q     Reduce default console output when running in  conjunction  with
126              console mode (-c).
127
128       -r     Instead of running a new Asterisk process, attempt to connect to
129              a running Asterisk process and provide a console  interface  for
130              controlling it.
131
132       -R     Much like -r. Instead of running a new Asterisk process, attempt
133              to connect to a running Asterisk process and provide  a  console
134              interface for controlling it. Additionally, if connection to the
135              Asterisk process is lost, attempt to reconnect for as long as 30
136              seconds.
137
138       -s socket file name
139              In combination with -r, connect directly to a specified Asterisk
140              server socket.
141
142       -t     When recording files, write them first into a temporary  holding
143              directory, then move them into the final location when done.
144
145       -T     Add  timestamp  to  all  non-command related output going to the
146              console when running with verbose and/or logging to the console.
147
148       -U user
149              Run as user user instead of the calling  user.  NOTE:  this  re‐
150              quires  substantial  work to be sure that Asterisk's environment
151              has permission to write the files required  for  its  operation,
152              including logs, its comm socket, the asterisk database, etc.
153
154       -v     Increase the level of verboseness on the console. The more times
155              -v is specified, the more verbose  the  output  is.   Specifying
156              this option implies -f and will cause asterisk to no longer fork
157              or detach from the controlling terminal.  This option  may  also
158              be used in conjunction with -r and -R.
159
160              Note:  This  always  sets  the  verbose  level  in  the asterisk
161              process, even if it is running in the background. This will  af‐
162              fect the size of your log files.
163
164       -V     Display version information and exit immediately.
165
166       -W     Display colored terminal text as if the background were white or
167              otherwise light in color. Normally, terminal text  is  displayed
168              as if the background were black or otherwise dark in color.
169
170       -x command
171              Connect to a running Asterisk process and execute a command on a
172              command line, passing any output through  to  standard  out  and
173              then  terminating  when the command execution completes. Implies
174              -r when -R is not explicitly supplied.
175
176       -X     Enables executing of includes via #exec directive inside  aster‐
177              isk.conf.
178

EXAMPLES

180       asterisk - Begin Asterisk as a daemon
181
182       asterisk -vvvgc - Run on controlling terminal
183
184       asterisk -rx "core show channels" - Display channels on running server
185

BUGS

187       Bug  reports and feature requests may be filed at https://issues.aster
188       isk.org
189

SEE ALSO

191       https://www.asterisk.org - The Asterisk Home Page
192
193       http://www.asteriskdocs.org - The Asterisk Documentation Project
194
195       https://wiki.asterisk.org - The Asterisk Wiki
196
197       https://www.digium.com/ - Asterisk is sponsored by Digium
198

AUTHOR

200       Mark Spencer <markster@digium.com>
201
202       Countless other contributors, see CREDITS with  distribution  for  more
203       information.
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207asterisk Trunk                    2011-02-08                      asterisk (8)
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