5.2. Installing Asterisk on Debian

Problem

You want to run your Asterisk server on Debian. Can you use apt-get? What are the package names?

Solution

Asterisk installs nicely on Debian with apt-get, with one exception: you still need to compile the Zaptel modules manually. And even that is easy, thanks to the module-assistant utility. First, install Asterisk with these commands:

	# apt-get install asterisk asterisk-sounds-main asterisk-sounds-extra asterisk-config
	asterisk-doc zaptel

Then, you will have to compile the Zaptel drivers from sources. The easy way is to use module-assistant. This is a slick little program that pulls in everything you need to compile and build kernel modules. Run these commands to install module-assistant, and then build and install the Zaptel drivers:

	# apt-get install module-assistant
	# module-assistant prepare
	# module-assistant auto-install zaptel

This takes a short time if you already have a build environment on your PC; longer if module-assistant needs to download a lot of packages. When it's finished, run this command:

	# update-modules

The last step is to configure Asterisk to start at boot, with the update-rc.d command:

	# update-rc.d asterisk start 40 2 3 4 5 . stop 60 0 1 6 .

And that's it. Now you can start learning your way around your Asterisk server.

Discussion

What are these Zaptel thingies for, anyway? Zaptel drivers control the Digium interface cards, so you might think you don't need to bother with the drivers if you're not using Digium hardware. But, you still need a timing device for functions like music on hold and conferencing.

The ztdummy module provides this. In 2.6 kernels, it interacts directly with the system's hardware clock. In 2.4 kernels, it took its timing from the usb-uhci kernel module. Documents that refer to the usb-uhci module are outdated.

Debian packages are usually a bit behind the Asterisk releases, especially in Stable. To get newer Asterisk releases, you'll want Testing or Unstable.

Or, you can build Asterisk from the official Asterisk tarballs on Debian just like any other distribution.

See Also