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asterisk (8)							  asterisk (8)

NAME
       asterisk	- All-purpose telephony	server.

SYNOPSIS
       asterisk	[-BcdfFghiImnpqRtTvVW] [-C file] [-e memory] [-G group]	[-L
		loadaverage] [-M value]	[-U user] [-s socket-file]
		asterisk -r [-v] [-d] [-x command]
		asterisk -R [-v] [-d] [-x command]

DESCRIPTION
       asterisk	 is  a	full-featured  telephony server	which provides Private
       Branch eXchange (PBX), Interactive Voice	Response (IVR),	Automated Call
       Distribution (ACD), Voice over IP (VoIP)	gatewaying, Conferencing,  and
       a plethora of other telephony applications to a broad range of telepho-
       ny  devices  including packet voice (SIP, IAX2, H.323, Unistim) devices
       (both endpoints and proxies), as	well as	traditional TDM	 hardware  in-
       cluding T1, E1, ISDN PRI, GR-303, RBS, Loopstart, Groundstart, ISDN BRI
       and many	more.

       At  start, Asterisk reads the /etc/asterisk/asterisk.conf main configu-
       ration file and locates the rest	of the configuration  files  from  the
       configuration  in  that file. The -C option specifies an	alternate main
       configuration file.  Virtually all aspects of the operation  of	aster-
       isk's  configuration  files  can	 be  found in the sample configuration
       files. The format for those files is generally beyond the scope of this
       man page.

       When running with -c, -r	or -R options, Asterisk	 supplies  a  powerful
       command	line, including	command	completion, which may be used to moni-
       tors its	status,	perform	a variety of administrative actions  and  even
       explore the applications	that are currently loaded into the system.

       Asterisk	is a trademark of Digium, Inc.

OPTIONS
       Running	Asterisk  starts the asterisk daemon (optionally running it in
       the foreground).	However	running	it with	-r or -R connects to an	exist-
       ing Asterisk instance through a remote console.

       -B     Force the	background of the terminal to be black,	in  order  for
	      terminal	colors	to show	up properly. Equivalent	to forceblack-
	      background = yes in asterisk.conf. See also -n and -W.

       -C file
	      Use file as master configuration file instead  of	 the  default,
	      /etc/asterisk/asterisk.conf

       -c     Provide  a  control console on the calling terminal. The console
	      is similar to the	remote console provided	by -r. Specifying this
	      option implies -f	and will cause asterisk	to no longer  fork  or
	      detach  from  the	 controlling terminal. Equivalent to console =
	      yes in asterisk.conf.

       -d     Enable extra debugging statements. This parameter	 may  be  used
	      several times, and each increases	the debug level. Equivalent to
	      debug = num in asterisk.conf to explicitly set the initian debug
	      level to num. When given at startup, this	option also implies -f
	      (no  forking).  However  when connecting to an existing Asterisk
	      instance (-r or -R), it may only increase	the debug level.

       -e memory
	      Limit the	generation of new channels when	 the  amount  of  free
	      memory  has  decreased to	under memory megabytes.	 Equivalent to
	      minmemfree = memory in asterisk.conf.

       -f     Do not fork or detach from controlling terminal.	Overrides  any
	      preceding	 specification	of -F on the command line.  Equivalent
	      to nofork	= yes in asterisk.conf.	 See also -c.

       -F     Always fork and detach from controlling terminal.	Overrides  any
	      preceding	 specification of -f on	the command line.  May also be
	      used to prevent -d and -v	to imply no forking. Equivalent	to al-
	      waysfork = yes in	asterisk.conf.

       -g     Remove resource limit on core size,  thus	 forcing  Asterisk  to
	      dump core	in the unlikely	event of a segmentation	fault or abort
	      signal.	NOTE:  in some cases this may be incompatible with the
	      -U or -G flags.

       -G group
	      Run as group group instead of the	calling	group. NOTE: this  re-
	      quires  substantial  work	to be sure that	Asterisk's environment
	      has permission to	write the files	required  for  its  operation,
	      including	logs, its comm socket, the asterisk database, etc.

       -h     Provide brief summary of command line arguments and terminate.

       -i     Prompt user to intialize any encrypted private keys for IAX2 se-
	      cure authentication during startup.

       -I     Enable  internal	timing	if DAHDI timing	is available.  The de-
	      fault behaviour is that outbound packets are phase locked	to in-
	      bound packets. Enabling this switch causes them to be locked  to
	      the internal DAHDI timer instead.

       -L loadaverage
	      Limits the maximum load average before rejecting new calls. This
	      can  be  useful  to  prevent a system from being brought down by
	      terminating too many simultaneous	calls.

       -m     Temporarily mutes	output to the console and logs.	To  return  to
	      normal, use logger mute.

       -M value
	      Limits  the maximum number of calls to the specified value. This
	      can be useful to prevent a system	from  being  brought  down  by
	      terminating too many simultaneous	calls.

       -n     Disable  ANSI  colors  even  on  terminals capable of displaying
	      them.  This option can be	used only at startup  (e.g.  not  with
	      remote console).

       -p     If  supported  by	 the operating system (and executing as	root),
	      attempt to run with realtime priority for	increased  performance
	      and  responsiveness  within the Asterisk process,	at the expense
	      of other programs	running	on the same machine.

	      Note: astcanary will run concurrently with asterisk.  If	astca-
	      nary stops running or is killed, asterisk	will slow down to nor-
	      mal process priority, to avoid locking up	the machine.

       -q     Reduce  default  console output when running in conjunction with
	      console mode (-c).

       -r     Instead of running a new Asterisk	process, attempt to connect to
	      a	running	Asterisk process and provide a console	interface  for
	      controlling it.

       -R     Much like	-r. Instead of running a new Asterisk process, attempt
	      to  connect  to a	running	Asterisk process and provide a console
	      interface	for controlling	it. Additionally, if connection	to the
	      Asterisk process is lost,	attempt	to reconnect for as long as 30
	      seconds.

       -s socket file name
	      In combination with -r, connect directly to a specified Asterisk
	      server socket.

       -t     When recording files, write them first into a temporary  holding
	      directory, then move them	into the final location	when done.

       -T     Add  timestamp  to  all  non-command related output going	to the
	      console when running with	verbose	and/or logging to the console.

       -U user
	      Run as user user instead of the calling  user.  NOTE:  this  re-
	      quires  substantial  work	to be sure that	Asterisk's environment
	      has permission to	write the files	required  for  its  operation,
	      including	logs, its comm socket, the asterisk database, etc.

       -v     Increase the level of verboseness	on the console.	The more times
	      -v  is  specified,  the  more verbose the	output is.  Specifying
	      this option implies -f and will cause asterisk to	no longer fork
	      or detach	from the controlling terminal.	This option  may  also
	      be used in conjunction with -r and -R.

	      Note:  This  always  sets	 the  verbose  level  in  the asterisk
	      process, even if it is running in	the background.	This will  af-
	      fect the size of your log	files.

       -V     Display version information and exit immediately.

       -W     Display colored terminal text as if the background were white or
	      otherwise	 light	in color. Normally, terminal text is displayed
	      as if the	background were	black or otherwise dark	in color.

       -x command
	      Connect to a running Asterisk process and	execute	a command on a
	      command line, passing any	output through	to  standard  out  and
	      then  terminating	 when the command execution completes. Implies
	      -r when -R is not	explicitly supplied.

       -X     Enables executing	of includes via	#exec directive	inside	aster-
	      isk.conf.

EXAMPLES
       asterisk	- Begin	Asterisk as a daemon

       asterisk	-vvvgc - Run on	controlling terminal

       asterisk	-rx "core show channels" - Display channels on running server

BUGS
       Bug reports and feature requests	may be filed at	https://github.com/as-
       terisk/asterisk/issues/

SEE ALSO
       https://www.asterisk.org	- The Asterisk Home Page

       http://www.asteriskdocs.org - The Asterisk Documentation	Project

       https://docs.asterisk.org - The Asterisk	documentation

       https://www.digium.com/ - Asterisk is sponsored by Digium

AUTHOR
       Mark Spencer <markster@digium.com>

       Countless  other	 contributors,	see CREDITS with distribution for more
       information.

asterisk Trunk			  2011-02-08			  asterisk (8)

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