Question

How to activate asterisk server and connect Zoiper to asterisk server? (FreePBX business app)

Posted on January 4, 2024
DigitalOcean Droplets Firewall
Asked by Seymen Pek

Hello, I need your help. As I was trying to make my own voip system using freepbx digitalocean business app, I had a problem. Here is what I’ve tried on it.

curl -v -u username:password http://server_ip:8088/ari/endpoints

Here is the result (logs):

*   Trying server_ip:8088...
* Connected to server_ip (server_ip) port 8088 (#0)
* Server auth using Basic with user 'username'
> GET /ari/endpoints HTTP/1.1
> Host: server_ip:8088
> Authorization: "token here"
> User-Agent: curl/7.81.0
> Accept: */*
> 
* Mark bundle as not supporting multiuse
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< Server: Asterisk/18.6.0
< Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2024 13:48:33 GMT
< Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store
< Content-type: application/json
< Content-Length: 113
< 
[
  {
    "technology": "PJSIP",
    "resource": "anonymous",
    "state": "offline",
    "channel_ids": []
  }
* Connection #0 to host server_ip left intact

sudo systemctl start asterisk

Here is the error log:

Asterisk is already running.
Can't open PID file /var/run/asterisk/asterisk.pid (yet?) after start: No such file or directory
Failed to start LSB: Asterisk PBX.

Unit asterisk.service entered failed state.
asterisk.service failed.
pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root

How can I fix those issues? Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.

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Bobby Iliev

Site Moderator

• January 8, 2024

Hello Seymen,

The issue you’re encountering with Asterisk on your FreePBX DigitalOcean business app seems to be related to the way Linux handles the /var/run directory after a reboot. This directory, including /var/run/asterisk, often gets cleared upon reboot on many Linux distributions.

To resolve the “Asterisk is already running but can’t find PID file” issue, here are some steps you can take:

Create the Directory and Set Permissions:
- You can manually create the /var/run/asterisk directory and set the correct ownership. You can add these commands in the /etc/init.d/asterisk script to automatically execute them when the system starts.
- Use the following commands:
```
if ! [ -d /var/run/asterisk ] ; then   
   mkdir /var/run/asterisk   
   chown $AST_USER:$AST_GROUP /var/run/asterisk   
fi
```
- Replace $AST_USER and $AST_GROUP with the appropriate user and group names for your Asterisk setup.
Check and Fix Permissions:
- Ensure that the user running Asterisk has the correct permissions for the /var/run/asterisk/ directory and the asterisk.ctl file within it.
- The permissions issue might be preventing Asterisk from accessing or creating the required .ctl and .pid files.
Verify Asterisk is Running:
- Sometimes, the issue could be because Asterisk isn’t running at all. When Asterisk starts, it should create the asterisk.ctl file. If it’s not running or halts immediately due to an error, this file won’t be created.
- Run Asterisk in console mode with increased verbosity to monitor for any errors during startup:
```
asterisk -cvvvvv
```
- This can help identify if there are underlying issues causing Asterisk to halt.
Consider SELinux Configuration:
- If SELinux is enabled on your system, ensure that it’s properly configured to allow Asterisk to create the necessary files.