I’ve been back from Spring break for a week so time for an update. I’ll go over some of the CEL (Call Event Log) work, talk a bit about some security “auditing” additions I’ve been adding to Module Admin, and give you a preview on some great work towards a full FreePBX Distro ISO (vs. netinstall) that Tony has been working on! We also have a great [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/freepbx-appliance.php]FreePBX Appliance[/url] that has been added to the store and some new [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/oss-contracts.php]Support Peace of Mind (POMPS)[/url] service offerings to compliment the existing paid services. Lastly, if you are procrastinating registering for the next [url=/open-telephony-training-seminar]Open Telephony Training Seminar[/url] time is running out so [url=/open-telephony-training-seminar-register]go register now[/url] to assure your spot!
FreePBX 2.11
Version 2.11 is still very much in an “alpha” phase with no tarball available yet. We’ll work on branching trunk to 2.11 shortly and make it a bit easier to start reviewing. Some work has started with the Asterisk CEL technology and I made some checkins yesterday into the 2.11 branch of the CDR reporting module. Unix ODBC, Asterisk ODBC, CEL and CEL ODBC support are all required in order to get the module working the way it has been initially implemented. All the required RPMs are available through [i]yum[/i] on the Distro though no configuration work has yet been done. Much of this is at the Distro level which we have not attacked at this time, but we’ve included a zipped file with instructions in the 2.11 CDR module that makes it pretty easy to configure if you want to start playing with it. We would like early adopters who are very interested in CEL to get their hands dirty and provide feedback and suggestions before we move forward heavily on an implementation path.
Once you’ve configured CEL, the current CDR Reports module will allow you to click on any CDR record resulting in a full list of CEL events associated with that record, as well as a display of all the CDR records that are part of the same call. You can now have fun with call pickups, transfers, parking, etc. and see all the events that make up that single call, as well as all the CDR records which are in fact the same call.
The CELs are ultimately designed around getting more accurate billing data but our initial goal is to simply get the technology out and into FreePBX hoping this results in creative ideas or third party modules taking advantage of this and delivering some very useful functionality.
Security is always a critical area that gets people’s attention. We [url=/news/2012-03-26/security-concerns-2-11-updates-and-expiring-early-bird-specials]patched a serious security vulnerability[/url] several weeks ago but despite that, we continued to see reports of people being hacked well after the fixes were available for easy detection and installation from the online repository. We decided to embark on some ideas that may help highlight vulnerable modules installed on a system that are known to contain security vulnerabilities. When this work is finished, Module Admin will highlight known vulnerable modules so they are very obvious and add security notifications into the notification panel. If you are setup to receive emails from Module Admin, then these security issues will also be emailed to you. We’ll blog more details about this in the coming weeks since there’s a lot more to talk about and this blog is already getting pretty long!
FreePBX Distro and Appliance
The FreePBX Distro has been a great success and the endless work from Tony and the Schmooze Com, Inc team has been awesome! Up until now loading the Distro requires a [i]netInstall[/i] which works fine for most situations but has resulted in a lot of requests for a full ISO download. Tony has tackled this problem and will tell you a lot more about this in the next blog so stay tuned. As always, he’s gone the extra mile to deliver you more then just a basic ISO!
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We’ll take a moment to point you at the absolute and simplest way to load up your system, which would be with the [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/freepbx-appliance.php]FreePBX Appliance[/url] that has been sitting in the [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/oss.php?tab=fpbx-applaiance]FreePBX Store[/url] for some time with a lot of happy customers. The [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/freepbx-appliance.php]FreePBX Classic[/url] is a great solution for most installations including standard features such as dual mirrored (RAID1) drives, a fantastic form factor with minimal moving parts and even [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/oss.php?tab=support]FreePBX Support Credits[/url] to get you started. For a really beefy and/or rack mountable solution that won’t run you much more there’s the [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/freepbx-appliance.php]FreePBX Xtreme[/url] which packs higher CPU, memory, expandability and more. You can get much more details on these great appliance [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/oss.php?tab=fpbx-applaiance]in the store[/url] and they all come pre configured with the FreePBX Distro on top of high quality hardware components!
If a fully supported appliance from the world class team that brings you this great project doesn’t give you all the [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/oss-contracts.php]Peace of Mind[/url] you require, have a look at the new [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/oss-contracts.php]POMPS[/url] support contracts now available from the [url=/freepbx-official-paid-support]FreePBX Support and Services[/url] team! With these offerings SLA levels up to 24×7 support are now available whether running your own hardware or one of these great appliances! Check the [url=http://www.schmoozecom.com/oss.php?tab=support]Store[/url] to get all the details.
Open Telephony Training Seminar
The next [url=/open-telephony-training-seminar]OTTS[/url] event is coming up in less than 4 weeks and the last two seminars completely sold out! If you are thinking of joining us in the Twin Cities next month then make sure to [url=/open-telephony-training-seminar-register]register now![/url] We look forward to seeing some of you there!
Back to coding for now, we’ll be back shortly with more details on the ISO and the Security Notification work that is being worked on!
Philippe – On behalf of the FreePBX Team
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