4. Configuring Asterisk

We're almost there! Asterisk is now installed, as are the drivers for the X100P FXO Card. Now we just need to configure everything. By the way, a great resource for hardware configuration is available on Digium's site here.

Tip: For the remainder of this article, I will be using the nano text editor to edit various configuration files. A few useful hotkey combinations to know are: Control-W to search the text of the file; Control-O to save the edited file; Control-X to exit; and Control-W followed by Control-V to jump to the end of the file.

We first need to make a few changes to the X100P card config file.

nano /etc/zaptel.conf

Will open the card's configuration file with nano. Now add a new line at the end of the file:

fxsks=1

After you save and exit, type:

ztcfg -vv

and you should see that one channel is configured. Now change to the /etc/asterisk directory and open the zapata.conf file:

cd /etc/asterisk nano zapata.conf

Search for:

signalling=

and you should see a line similar to:

signalling=fxo_ls

which you will modify to be:

signalling=fxs_ks

At the end of the file add two lines:

context=incoming channel => 1

Finally, let's make another modification so that Asterisk will start at boot in case we ever turn off or reboot this PC:

nano /etc/default/asterisk

Change

RUNASTERISK=no

to

RUNASTERISK=yes

Now simply type:

asterisk

to start it up in the background.

At this point you have configured Asterisk and have a working system. But whenever you change any config file, you need to reload the Asterisk configuration. There are several ways to do this, but one way is:

/etc/init.d/asterisk reload

Finally, check that everything works by making sure you have a working phone line connected to your FXO card, and dialing in from a second line or cell phone. If everything is ok, you will hear the Asterisk demo.