1asterisk (8) asterisk (8)
2
6 asterisk - All-purpose telephony server.
7
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
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 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 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 Asterisk is a trademark of Digium, Inc.
38
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 -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 -C file
49 Use file as master configuration file instead of the default,
50 /etc/asterisk/asterisk.conf
51 -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 -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 -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 -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 -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 -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 -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 -h Provide brief summary of command line arguments and terminate.
91 -i Prompt user to intialize any encrypted private keys for IAX2 se‐
93 cure authentication during startup.
94 -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 -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 -m Temporarily mutes output to the console and logs. To return to
106 normal, use logger mute.
107 -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 -n Disable ANSI colors even on terminals capable of displaying
114 them. This option can be used only at startup (e.g. not with
115 remote console).
116 -p If supported by the operating system (and executing as root),
118 attempt to run with realtime priority for increased performance
119 and responsiveness within the Asterisk process, at the expense
120 of other programs running on the same machine.
121 Note: astcanary will run concurrently with asterisk. If astca‐
123 nary stops running or is killed, asterisk will slow down to nor‐
124 mal process priority, to avoid locking up the machine.
125 -q Reduce default console output when running in conjunction with
127 console mode (-c).
128 -r Instead of running a new Asterisk process, attempt to connect to
130 a running Asterisk process and provide a console interface for
131 controlling it.
132 -R Much like -r. Instead of running a new Asterisk process, attempt
134 to connect to a running Asterisk process and provide a console
135 interface for controlling it. Additionally, if connection to the
136 Asterisk process is lost, attempt to reconnect for as long as 30
137 seconds.
138 -s socket file name
140 In combination with -r, connect directly to a specified Asterisk
141 server socket.
142 -t When recording files, write them first into a temporary holding
144 directory, then move them into the final location when done.
145 -T Add timestamp to all non-command related output going to the
147 console when running with verbose and/or logging to the console.
148 Can only be used at startup (e.g. not with remote console mode).
149 -U user
151 Run as user user instead of the calling user. NOTE: this re‐
152 quires substantial work to be sure that Asterisk's environment
153 has permission to write the files required for its operation,
154 including logs, its comm socket, the asterisk database, etc.
155 -v Increase the level of verboseness on the console. The more times
157 -v is specified, the more verbose the output is. Specifying
158 this option implies -f and will cause asterisk to no longer fork
159 or detach from the controlling terminal. This option may also
160 be used in conjunction with -r and -R.
161 Note: This always sets the verbose level in the asterisk
163 process, even if it is running in the background. This will af‐
164 fect the size of your log files.
165 -V Display version information and exit immediately.
167 -W Display colored terminal text as if the background were white or
169 otherwise light in color. Normally, terminal text is displayed
170 as if the background were black or otherwise dark in color.
171 -x command
173 Connect to a running Asterisk process and execute a command on a
174 command line, passing any output through to standard out and
175 then terminating when the command execution completes. Implies
176 -r when -R is not explicitly supplied.
177 -X Enables executing of includes via #exec directive inside aster‐
179 isk.conf.
180
182 asterisk - Begin Asterisk as a daemon
183 asterisk -vvvgc - Run on controlling terminal
185 asterisk -rx "core show channels" - Display channels on running server
187
189 Bug reports and feature requests may be filed at https://issues.aster‐
190 isk.org
191
193 https://www.asterisk.org - The Asterisk Home Page
194 http://www.asteriskdocs.org - The Asterisk Documentation Project
196 https://wiki.asterisk.org - The Asterisk Wiki
198 https://www.digium.com/ - Asterisk is sponsored by Digium
200
202 Mark Spencer <markster@digium.com>
203 Countless other contributors, see CREDITS with distribution for more
205 information.
206asterisk Trunk 2011-02-08 asterisk (8)