This article is going to go over the method to best setup CID groups and the different ways to configure each option available for them including statefill, statelookup and creating auto rotators. This will assume you know how to add DID’s to the system which is fairly easy. So the first thing you need to do is create the CID group as defined below:
Step 1 – Create CID group
Within the ViciDial admin gui go to the Admin section then to CID groups
CID Groups
Once you are here, just click “Add a CID Group”:
Add a CID group
The first one we will create is for state lookup method, define “AREACODE” as the group type like shown below:
CID group – State lookup
hit submit and you’ll see it looking like the below picture
CID Group added
Step 2 – Add the DID’s to the CID Group
Next, we will be using the admin utilities to add your DIDs to the CID Group. Go to the “Reports” page and scroll down to the bottom to click on “Admin utilities” then click on “Admin bulk Tools”
Click Admin Utilities
click Admin Bulk Tools
Now scroll down to “CID Groups and AC-CID Bulk Add” and add your DID’s, selecting “state lookup” will assign each number with its area code to the proper state its from, selecting “statefill” will automatically add every area code for each state you have a DID for with separate entries for each area code which is a really nice option to ensure local presence in some fashion even if you don’t own DID’s from every area code.
Add DID to the CID group
When you choose statefill youll see the same number submitted many times, this is normal
StateFill Option
After doing this you’ll notice it filled it every area code for this example I did it for Florida, and even though I only entered 5 area codes, it filled in these 5 numbers for every area code in Florida:
Area Code Statefill
Step 3 – Assign CID group to your campaign
Now you just have to assign the newly created CID group to the detail view of your campaign as shown below, make sure you set “Custom CallerID:” to Y
Assinging CID Group to campaign
Now I will show you how to create an auto rotating CID group which will rotate all the DID’s added to this group based on intervals you can choose. Complete step one again but choose “None” for the “CID Group Type” as shown below”
Create CID Group for Auto Rotator
Once your hit submit, choose how often you want the DID’s to change, a good starting point is every 5 minutes or 35 calls as shown below:
Set intervals for auto rotator
Go back and complete step 2 again using the “state lookup” method and assign the CID Group to the campaign, now your DID’s will auto rotate, I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and like always, if you have any questions, feel free to join our Live Support on Skype.
How to – Add conferences for add on servers to a cluster
This article will show you how to add additional servers to your cluster and make sure all the conferences are also added. Its just a few simple steps needed to have it done for you.
Step 1 – Adding the second server(or 3rd, 4th, 5th, whatever)
There is a SQL script already created that does all the hard work for you, just follow the commands below:
mysql -A asterisk
\. /usr/src/astguiclient/trunk/extras/second_server_install.sql
This should be the output you see if done correctly
Step 2 – Updating the IP from 10.10.10.16 to your new server IP
For this part, there is a perl script that will update the conferences and vicidial conferences as well as the new server that was added to your GUI as “TESTast”. Just copy and paste the following line into your Linux CLI:
Then make sure you add your IP to the third question it asks you as shown below:
Changing the server IP
Step 3 – Run the install.pl script
Now we need to run the install.pl script to connect the second server to DB server
cd /usr/src/astguiclient/trunk
perl install.pl
Make sure when you get to the DB server question you input your DB server IP(where the blue arrow is)
Change DB server IP
Step 4 – Change the name of the server in the ViciDial GUI
Make sure to change the name of your server and update the Asterisk version and trunks
Change TESTast to your new server name
Change your asterisk version and trunks
Thats all there is to it, you should now have your second server added to your cluster. IF you have any questions feel free to comment here or stop by our Skype Live support
How to – Setup a slave DB for a scratch installed ViciDial
This Article will go over how to setup a slave database server for your ViciDial cluster when using a scratch installed server bunch. For this particular example I have used Alma Linux 8.5 which installs Mysql 10.3.28, if you followed my scratch instructions. This process was a pain in the arse, but after much trial and error I was able to get it done and here is how I did it:
Step 1 – Edit the MySQL config file
Add these lines to /etc/my.cnf below [mysqld] on both the master and slave database:
Go into MySQL and create the slave user and do this on both servers
CREATE USER 'slave'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'slave1234';
CREATE USER 'slave'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'slave1234';
GRANT SELECT, CREATE, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, ALTER, DROP, INDEX on asterisk.* TO slave@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'slave1234';
GRANT SELECT, CREATE, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, ALTER, DROP, INDEX on asterisk.* TO slave@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'slave1234';
grant replication slave on . to slave@'%' identified by 'slave1234';
grant replication slave on . to slave@'localhost' identified by 'slave1234';
flush privileges;
Create slave user on both the master and slave DB
Step 3 – Change some setting on the slave DB
Now we need to change some of the settings for the slave DB and add a couple more lines. Change the server-id to 2 instead of 1 in /etc/my.cnf and add the read_only=1 and report-host=whatever the slave DB host is
server-id=2
# read only yes
read_only=1
# define own hostname
report-host=slavedb.yourserver.com
Step 4 – Restart the MySQL services on both servers
Run the following command on both servers:
service mysql restart
Step 5 – Create the MySQL dump to send over to the slave DB from the master
We need to create the MySQL dump and send it over to the slave using the scp command like so:
Once thats done go ahead and zip up the files and send the file over by typing the following:
cd /home/mariadb_backup
zip -r mysqldump.zip *
scp mysqldump.zip 192.168.1.10:/root/
Why we are here, lets lock the MySQL tables on the master:
mysql
FLUSH TABLES WITH READ LOCK;
exit
Step 6 – Connect to Slave DB and extract the files and load it into the slave
ssh into your slave db server and change directory to /root then create the folder and extract the files like so:
cd /root
mkdir mariadb_backup
mv mysqldump.zip mariadb_backup/
cd mariadb_backup/
unzip mysqldump.zip
systemctl stop mariadb
rm -rf /var/lib/mysql/*
Now run the following commands that are BOLD to import the MySQL dump and set its position to match that of the master.
# run prepare task before restore task (OK if [completed OK])
[root@node01 ~]# mariabackup --prepare --target-dir /root/mariadb_backup
mariabackup based on MariaDB server 10.3.28-MariaDB Linux (x86_64)
mariabackup: cd to /root/mariadb_backup/
.....
.....
2019-11-29 19:38:20 0 [Note] InnoDB: Starting crash recovery from checkpoint LSN=1630833
Last binlog file , position 0
191129 19:38:21 completed OK!
# run restore
[root@node01 ~]# mariabackup --copy-back --target-dir /root/mariadb_backup
mariabackup based on MariaDB server 10.3.28-MariaDB Linux (x86_64)
191129 19:39:21 [01] Copying ibdata1 to /var/lib/mysql/ibdata1
191129 19:39:21 [01] ...done
.....
.....
191129 19:39:21 [01] Copying ./xtrabackup_binlog_pos_innodb to /var/lib/mysql/xtrabackup_binlog_pos_innodb
191129 19:39:21 [01] ...done
191129 19:39:21 completed OK!
[root@node01 ~]# chown -R mysql. /var/lib/mysql
[root@node01 ~]# systemctl start mariadb
# confirm [File] and [Position] value of master log
[root@node01 ~]# cat /root/mariadb_backup/xtrabackup_binlog_info
mysql-bin.000001 642 0-101-2
# set replication
[root@node01 ~]# mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MariaDB monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 10
Server version: 10.3.28-MariaDB-log MariaDB Server
Copyright (c) 2000, 2018, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.
MariaDB [(none)]> change master to
-> master_host='10.0.0.31', # Master Host IP address
-> master_user='repl_user', # replication user
-> master_password='password', # replication user password
-> master_log_file='mysql-bin.000001', # [File] value confirmed above
-> master_log_pos=642; # [Position] value confirmed above
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.58 sec)
# start replication
MariaDB [(none)]> start slave;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
# show status
MariaDB [(none)]> show slave status\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
Slave_IO_State: Waiting for master to send event
Master_Host: 10.0.0.31
Master_User: repl_user
Master_Port: 3306
Connect_Retry: 60
Master_Log_File: mysql-bin.000001
Read_Master_Log_Pos: 642
Relay_Log_File: mariadb-relay-bin.000002
Relay_Log_Pos: 555
Relay_Master_Log_File: mysql-bin.000001
Slave_IO_Running: Yes
Slave_SQL_Running: Yes
Replicate_Do_DB:
Replicate_Ignore_DB:
Replicate_Do_Table:
Replicate_Ignore_Table:
Replicate_Wild_Do_Table:
Replicate_Wild_Ignore_Table:
Last_Errno: 0
Last_Error:
Skip_Counter: 0
Exec_Master_Log_Pos: 642
Relay_Log_Space: 866
Until_Condition: None
Until_Log_File:
Until_Log_Pos: 0
Master_SSL_Allowed: No
Master_SSL_CA_File:
Master_SSL_CA_Path:
Master_SSL_Cert:
Master_SSL_Cipher:
Master_SSL_Key:
Seconds_Behind_Master: 0
Master_SSL_Verify_Server_Cert: No
Last_IO_Errno: 0
Last_IO_Error:
Last_SQL_Errno: 0
Last_SQL_Error:
Replicate_Ignore_Server_Ids:
Master_Server_Id: 101
Master_SSL_Crl:
Master_SSL_Crlpath:
Using_Gtid: No
Gtid_IO_Pos:
Replicate_Do_Domain_Ids:
Replicate_Ignore_Domain_Ids:
Parallel_Mode: conservative
SQL_Delay: 0
SQL_Remaining_Delay: NULL
Slave_SQL_Running_State: Slave has read all relay log; waiting for the slave I/O thread to update it
Slave_DDL_Groups: 0
Slave_Non_Transactional_Groups: 0
Slave_Transactional_Groups: 0
1 row in set (0.000 sec)
Step 7 – Unlock the Master DB
Now go back into the master DB and unlock the tables:
mysql unlock tables;
Step 8 – Set the Slave DB in ViciDIal
Now you can set the slave server info in ViciDial by going into the admin GUI and going into system settings. Set the slave DB server IP and choose which reports you want to display from it.
Well, this has been quite the nightmare to get it done and hopefully I can save some of you some time with this article. If you have any problems feel free to join our Skype Live Support Channel and someone will be willing to help.
This article is going to go over how to “scratch” install an archive server on CentOS 8, Rocky Linux or Alma Linux. You can pretty much follow it for OpenSuSe as well but there would be some small variations for installing vsftpd.
Step 1 – Install and setup vsftpd
The first thing we have to do is install and properly configure vsftpd.
yum install vsftpd
nano /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf
paste the following at the very bottom:
allow_writeable_chroot=YES
userlist_deny=NO
pasv_min_port=30000
pasv_max_port=31000
userlist_enable=YES
userlist_deny=NO
userlist_file=/etc/vsftpd/user_list
allow_writeable_chroot=YES
vsftpd.conf config
nano /etc/vsftpd/user_list
(add "cronarchive" to the bottom)
useradd -m -d /home/archive/ cronarchive
passwd cronarchive
(set the pw u want)
mkdir -p /home/archive
chmod -R 777 /home/archive
Step 2 – Set your archive server in install.pl script
Below is a settings example to put during the install.pl script which can be run by running the following commands. This has to be run on all asterisk servers:
cd /usr/src/astguiclient/trunk/
perl install.pl
archive setup during install.pl script
Step 3 – Turning on the cronjob to send the recordings over to the archive server
Changing this cronjob has to be done on all asterisk servers. You have to remove the # in front of this line by typing “crontab -e” and scrolling until you find it:
Step 4 – Changing the Apache alias for the recordings
Last thing we need to do is change the alias for the recordings on the archive server as shown below:
nano /etc/httpd/conf.d/record.conf
Alias /RECORDINGS/ "/home/archive/"
<Directory "/home/archive">
Options Indexes MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
Require all granted
<files *.mp3>
Forcetype application/forcedownload
</files>
</Directory>
Apache alias
Well, thats all there is to it, hopefully this will help some of you with improving your cluster setups and properly setting up an archive server.
How to – Create a DNC call menu for people to remove themselves
This article will go over the process to create a call menu or IVR that allows people to remove themselves from the calling list by pressing a key. The FTC is cracking down on VoIP carriers to make sure their clients are using this feature and it will end up getting your VoIP routes shut down if you do not have this feature on your system.
DNC Call Menu
Step 1 – Create a new Call Menu
Go to the admin GUI for ViciDial and click on inbound, then “Add a new call menu”
Add a new call menu
Step 2 – Fill out the required fields as highlighted in the picture below
For this example we have used some of the built in sounds for ViciDial and piped them together ( | ) to create the voice prompt we want as well as the post message to be played after they opt out. This example only shows 1 option to be pressed, but it can be amplified even more by setting up other options such as leaving a voicemail, asking for a callback, routing to an operator or anything else you can pretty much do with the system.
Step 3 – Attach the call menu to you inbound group that your DID’s are routed through
You can get to your ingroup also through the inbound menu option in the admin GUI. Once your in your inbound group attached to your DIDs, go down to no agent queueing option and set it to Y, then set the route to call menu as shown below:
Inbound Group for DID’s
That’s all there is to it, hopefully you guys head my advice and do this now before it happens to you via your carrier, cause trust me when I tell you, its coming. If you need additional help, feel free to stop by our live support on Skype by clicking here.
The ViciDial Group has released a warning for any SVN version below 3583, if you are below this version, update your system immediately. You can do so by following this article for SVN update.
ViciDial versions below 3583 are Vulnerable!
I hope everyone takes this seriously, or your data may be hacked or minutes used on your VoIP, or worse.
How to – Fix “Repository ‘openSUSE-Leap-15.2-PHP-Applications’ is invalid.”
Repository ‘openSUSE-Leap-15.2-PHP-Applications’ is invalid.
Just a short article to fix this issue for Leap 15.2. First you need to list your repo’s and remove the one labeled PHP-Applications, for my installs its been number 8. The following commands will show you how to find which one and remove it:
This article is going to go over the steps I suggest to take in order to setup a ViciDial Cluster. I do things a little different when it comes to this to prepare for worst case scenario that a server may have problems and have to be taken offline, I install all services to each server, such as apache, mysql and asterisk this way if need be, they each can take on additional roles to cover for a server having to be taken out of production. Obviously this is going to assume you have ViciDial already installed on each server with all roles ready to go. To do so you can follow any one of my articles for scratch installs or you can just use an ISO to install of which I suggest using Vicibox v9.0.3 over V10 because of the issues with the V10 firewall and dynamic portal not working correctly, even if you do apply my fix, I find V9 to be more stable.
ViciDial Cluster
Step 1 – Install Vicidial on each server
As I said above, I suggest installing all services on each server and just leaving the ones not needed for each box, disabled until needed. So if you are using an ISO install instead of one of my scratch instructions, for the purpose on this article, lets say ViciBox v9.0.3. The first thing you need to do after loading v9 is to upgrade the operating system from Leap 15.1 to Leap 15.2 using these instructions, because Leap 15.1 is end of life(no more updates). After that use the command, vicibox-install and choose Y(yes) for the options shown in the picture below:
vicibox-install
Repeat this process on each server and then move on to step 2.
Step 2 – Turn off services not needed on each server role
Now we need to disable services not needed on each server to save on resources, but this way they are there if they are needed in the future.
DB Server: systemctl disable apache2;systemctl disable asterisk
Web Server: systemctl disable mysql;systemctl disable asterisk
Now we want to link them all together by running the install.pl script located in the source directory for vicidial, follow the following commands to get to and run it:
cd /usr/src/astguiclient/trunk
perl install.pl
Now follow the prompt and answer them accordingly. The pictures below will show the choices needed for each server role except make sure you set the IP for the DB server on all the rest instead of localhost.
DB Server and Web Server
DB Server
For the web server make sure you put the DB server IP instead of localhost
Asterisk Servers
Only use 5 and 7 on ONE asterisk server, not all, the rest put 123468
Make sure you only put 5 and 7 keepalives on one asterisk server, the rest you should only choose 123468.
Step 4 – Add them to the GUI for ViciDial
Now we need to add them into the GUI for Vicidial by going to Admin then servers
Go to Servers in the Admin area
Once you are here, click “Add a new server”
Once you are here, click “Add a new server”
Fill out the fields accordingly and click submit
Add a new server
Now for the DB and web server turn the options to N(no) where you see highlighted below:
Active server, Active Asterisk server and Active agent server set to N
Now reboot all servers and then check your reports page to make sure all servers are set to green like shown below
ViciDial Cluster
That’s all there is to it, not as hard as you thought it would be, right? If you have any questions feel free to join our live support on Skype:
I am carpenox from the Vicidial forums and I enjoy helping our community, of which I do free of charge, however my one on one time helping people out I do have to charge for my time in order to keep this going. If my articles have helped you out and you’re making money now because of my help, please think about donating to the cause so I can keep this blog going. Here is a link to donate through PayPal.