asterisk (8)asterisk (8)
NAMEasterisk - All-purpose telephony server.
SYNOPSISasterisk [-BcdfFghiImnpqRtTvVW] [-C file] [-e memory] [-G group] [-L
loadaverage] [-M value] [-U user] [-s socket-file]
asterisk-r [-v] [-d] [-x command]
asterisk-R [-v] [-d] [-x command]
DESCRIPTIONasterisk 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 telepho‐
ny devices including packet voice (SIP, IAX2, MGCP, Skinny, H.323,
Unistim) 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 configu‐
ration 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 aster‐
isk'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 moni‐
tors 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
Running Asterisk starts the asterisk daemon (optionally running it in
the foreground). However running it with -r or -R connects to an exist‐
ing Asterisk instance through a remote console.
-B Force the background of the terminal to be black, in order for
terminal colors to show up properly. Equivalent to forceblack‐
background = yes in asterisk.conf. See also -n and -W.
-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. The console
is similar to the remote console provided by -r. Specifying this
option implies -f and will cause asterisk to no longer fork or
detach from the controlling terminal. Equivalent to console =
yes in asterisk.conf.
-d Enable extra debugging statements. This parameter may be used
several times, and each increases the debug level. Equivalent to
debug = num in asterisk.conf to explicitly set the initian debug
level to num. When given at startup, this option also implies -f
(no forking). However when connecting to an existing Asterisk
instance (-r or -R), it may only increase the debug level.
-e memory
Limit the generation of new channels when the amount of free
memory has decreased to under memory megabytes. Equivalent to
minmemfree = memory in asterisk.conf.
-f Do not fork or detach from controlling terminal. Overrides any
preceding specification of -F on the command line. Equivalent
to nofork = yes in asterisk.conf. See also -c.
-F Always fork and detach from controlling terminal. Overrides any
preceding specification of -f on the command line. May also be
used to prevent -d and -v to imply no forking. Equivalent to al‐
waysfork = yes in asterisk.conf.
-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 re‐
quires 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 intialize any encrypted private keys for IAX2 se‐
cure authentication during startup.
-I Enable internal timing if DAHDI timing is available. The de‐
fault behaviour is that outbound packets are phase locked to in‐
bound packets. Enabling this switch causes them to be locked to
the internal DAHDI timer instead.
-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 Temporarily mutes output to the console and logs. To return to
normal, use logger mute.
-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.
Note: astcanary will run concurrently with asterisk. If astca‐
nary stops running or is killed, asterisk will slow down to nor‐
mal process priority, to avoid locking up the 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 file name
In combination with -r, connect directly to a specified Asterisk
server socket.
-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 re‐
quires 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 af‐
fect the size of your log files.
-V Display version information and exit immediately.
-W Display colored terminal text as if the background were white or
otherwise light in color. Normally, terminal text is displayed
as if the background were black or otherwise dark in color.
-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.
-X Enables executing of includes via #exec directive. This can be
useful if You want to do #exec inside asterisk.conf
EXAMPLESasterisk - 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 https://issues.aster‐
isk.org
SEE ALSO
http://www.asterisk.org - The Asterisk Home Page
http://www.asteriskdocs.org - The Asterisk Documentation Project
http://wiki.asterisk.org - The Asterisk Wiki
http://www.digium.com/ - Asterisk is sponsored by Digium
AUTHOR
Mark Spencer <markster@digium.com>
Countless other contributors, see CREDITS with distribution for more
information.
asterisk Trunk 2011-02-08 asterisk (8)
