How to configure Yate as IAX server

Revision as of 12:12, 6 March 2013

Yate can be used as IAX server and YateClient as IAX client. This configuration will be done on a server that has Mandriva 2010 spring OS.

The purpose of this document is:

• to know what modifications must be made for Yate to function as an IAX server.
• to be able to configure YateClient as an IAX client.
• to use Yate as a telephony engine, as it knows several widely spread protocols (IAX, SIP and H.323, just to mention 3).

Main concepts

IAX is a VoIP open protocol that uses a single UDP port (usually 4569) for the channel signaling and voice streams. This means 2 major accomplishments:

• minimizes the bandwidth used in media transmissions
• provides transparency for easier management when using firewalls and Network Address Translators

You can find out more about IAX using this links: IAX2 protocol and in the IAX page for VoIP info.

Yate is the telephony engine, currently focused on VoIP and PSTN.Yate Client is an Instant Messenger and a softphone. It is based on Yate, just like Freesentral.

Test situation – scheme and presentation

• a functioning telephony service ---> Yate server will provide that in our case, with the proper configuration.
• two phones ---> we used YateClient for these.

Elements:

1. Yate, the telephony server, installed on the desktop computer .
2. YateClient1, also installed on the desktop.
3. YateClient2, installed on another computer.

IAX uses the same UDP port for both signaling and voice. When using the default configuration, both Yate and YateClient use the 4569 port. So, running on the same computer, both will try to secure and use the same port for IAX. Two programs need the same resource, and only one will be fully functional. The configuration must be modified so that Yate or YateClient to work at the same time.

Yate will use the default port, and change it for YateClient. Some protocols generally use certain ports (SIP for example, with 5060/5061). If you change them for your own system, many calls that should work just fine using Yate's default configuration simply won't.

So first set up the server, then the clients. When you want to put in place a telephony solution, always start with the server – this ensures you have the core of your communication system.

Setting Yate as IAX server

On the desktop computer, logged as root, do the following steps:

Download Yate from here.

Install Yate.

Make a directory called iaxsrv located in usr/local/etc to hold your configuration files for the IAX server.

Copy the files from /usr/local/etc/yate to /usr/local/etc/iaxsrv.
Make sure that you rename the configuration file(s) you modify, removing the word "sample". The software functions even if you don't but it uses other files (the ones in /usr/local/etc/yate). So end your new configuration file with ".conf".

Open the regfile.conf from /usr/local/etc/iaxsrv with any text editor. Find the 2 commented lines looking like this:

;[username]
;password=something

This indicates the way you should add any new users that will connect to your server. The semicolon in front of the row marks a comment - this means that the line will be ignored when the file will be compiled and executed. This is the way to insert new comments in Yate configuration files, with a semicolon in front. See more on configuration files and similar way of placing comments .

Add the 2 users in the regfile.conf, like this (see above):

[007]
password=pass1

[008]
password=pass2

Save the file --> Exit.

When you start Yate, please make a habit of it and use the following options:
-v 			 Verbose debugging (you can use more than once)
-d 			 Daemonify, suppress output unless logged
-l filename 	 	 Log to file

Using a command line shell, run Yate, by typing:

$yate -c /usr/local/etc/iaxsrv -v -d -l log_filename 

If you see something similar to the following lines:

Yate (13127) is starting Tue Jun 28 17:27:58 2011
Loaded module File Transfer
Loaded module DumbChannel
Loaded module MsgSniffer
…......
…......
Initializing module MGCP Gateway
Initializing module SNMP Agent
Initializing module Late Router
Initialization complete
Yate engine is initialized and starting up on localhost.localdomain

then you have the Yate server running.

Setting YateClient as IAX client

Yate and YateClient have to use different ports at the same time. Since Yate uses the default (4569), in YateClient modify configuration file to put a diferent port.

This is a very specific situation, when Yate server and YateClient work on the same computer. The reason for which it isn't needed to install YateClient separately: running YateClient means you run Yate with a graphical interface, and more functionalities (like instant messenger). So just customize the configuration file that regulates what port YateClient should use for IAX protocol.

Make a directory called yateclient1* located in usr/local/etc to hold your configuration files for the IAX client.

Copy the files from /usr/local/etc/yate to /usr/local/etc/yateclient1
Make sure that you rename the configuration file(s) you modify, removing the word "sample". The software functions even if you don't, it uses other files (the ones in /usr/local/etc/yate). So end your new configuration file with ".conf".

Open the yiaxchan.conf from /usr/local/etc/yateclient1 with any text editor.

Find these lines in the file:

;port: int: UDP port for incoming connections
;port=4569

Remove the semicolon from the line “port=4569” and replace the number with the UDP port that you checked beforehand if it's available (see important tip #3 from above), like this:

port=4672

Save the file --> Exit.

Now you'll have YateClient running using the new configuration files, the rest of the neccessary modules being loaded from their standard location. Next, the graphical interface will appear and you'll be able to log in.

Run YateClient from a shell

$yate-qt4 -c usr/local/etc/yateclient1

You'll see similar messages for the Yate server, just that the final one should be:

Yate client engine is initialized and starting up on localhost.localdomain 

and then the graphical interface will appear.

Setting up the second YateClient on a different computer is easier because you just download and install it. There is no conflict with Yate telephony server on the same computer resources, so you don't change its configuration.

So right now we also have (2) and (3):

Testing YateClient with Yate

So right now we have all the elements from our scheme. Just to make sure that everything works so far, we should test if YateClient works with Yate.

Start Yate on the desktop with the following command:

$yate -c /usr/local/etc/iaxsrv -v -d -l log_filename 

Start YateClient:

$yate-qt4 -c usr/local/etc/yateclient1

Click Yate Main Menu --> Add account and log in with your account, let's say 007:

With this parameters:
Username: 007
Password: 008
Server: _your_local_IP_

You can see in more detail how to use multiple accounts with Yateclient on its homepage here.

Check if your account is “online” – go to YateClient Main Window --> Settings --> Accounts. The 007 account should be listed like this:

From the telephony tab, dial one of the following (what you should hear in your headphones is listed next to the number): 99991001 (dial tone), 99991002 (busy tone), 99991003 (ring tone).

These are numbers defined for testing purposes and you can find all of them in the regexroute.conf" file. When you call one of these, you'll get a standard telephony tone.

What happens right now between YateClient and Yate is this:

when the online user 007 tries to call 99991001, for example, YateClient sends a signal to Yate Signalling. Yate receives the signal on 4569 port, finds the destination and replies to the port from where it got the signal with the corresponding tone Audio/Voice.

Making the IAX call

Considering that you completed all the stages listed above without errors, right now 007 can call 008.
No routing is required - as the whole process of call negotiation and establishing the connection is solved by the server, Yate, internally.

Let's go over again through the steps:

1. – Yate server must be ran first (as root).
2. – YateClient1 and 2 can be ran in any order, once the server is on.
3. – Logg on the users.
4. – Call.

Things happen in this order, once everything is running:
007 loggs to Yate --> Yate associates 007 with UDP 4672
008 loggs to Yate --> Yate associates 008 with UDP 4569 from its machine

007 calls 008 is made up by:
007 --> Yate
Yate --> 008
so we have 007 <------> 008

Common issues

Obviously, lots of things can go wrong. I can only tell you of the ones I encountered.

a) User is not authenticated.

b) You cannot hear the dialtone when testing

c) Users are logged, but the call doesn't go through.

These problems can have various solutions. For detailed troubleshooting, please make sure you use the “-v” option when you run Yate and YateClient. It shows the messages passed on between the internal modules. This shows you the settings you need to change in the configuration files in order to make it work.

See also

• IAX Module