Provided by: asterisk_20.6.0~dfsg+~cs6.13.40431414-2build5_amd64 bug

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 telephony devices including packet
       voice (SIP, IAX2, MGCP, Skinny, H.323, Unistim) devices (both endpoints and proxies), as well  as  tradi‐
       tional  TDM  hardware  including T1, E1, ISDN PRI, GR-303, RBS, Loopstart, Groundstart, ISDN BRI and many
       more.

       At start, Asterisk reads the /etc/asterisk/asterisk.conf main configuration 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  asterisk'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 com‐
       pletion,  which  may be used to monitors 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 existing Asterisk instance through a remote console.

       -B     Force the background of the terminal to be black, in order for terminal colors to show up  proper‐
              ly. Equivalent to forceblackbackground = 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 de‐
              tach 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  con‐
              necting 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 requires substantial work to be sure
              that Asterisk's environment has permission to write the files required for its operation,  includ‐
              ing 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 secure authentication during startup.

       -I     Enable internal timing if DAHDI timing is available.  The default behaviour is that outbound pack‐
              ets  are phase locked to inbound packets. Enabling this switch causes them to be locked to the in‐
              ternal 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 priori‐
              ty  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 astcanary stops running or is killed,  as‐
              terisk will slow down to normal 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 As‐
              terisk 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 requires 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 de‐
              tach 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 affect 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. Normal‐
              ly, 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 asterisk.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/asterisk/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)