The Best Way To Install FreePBX Distro SNG7 Official - VPSVOS COMMUNICATION

Freepbx is one of the most widely deployed open source PBX platforms in the world. If you are running a VoIP business, you should have familiar with Freepbx. If not, you don’t need to be worried at all. After reading the entire content, you will get an in-depth review of Freepbx and how to install Freepbx Distro on your machine. 

What is FreePBX Distro?

FreePBX is formerly known as AsteriskNOW. It is one of the best PBX solutions that can be installed on almost every platform. The FreePBX Distro was released in 2011 as a part of the Asterisk management program. It helps to configure, control, and manage Asterisk PBX software with its interactive graphical processing unit (GUI). 

The CentOS based freeware unified communications software, FreePBX Distro offers VoIP, PBX, Fax, IVR, voice-mail, and email functions. It also helps to populate the Asterisk Management System. If you have Freepbx, CentOS, and/or, Asterisk, you should take the test of FreePBX Distro to enhance the productivity of your core telephony engine. In this FreePBX guide, we will discuss how you can install FreePBX distro. 

 

How to Install FreePBX Distro

Well, this is becoming a Google trend to find the exact way to install Freepbx Distro on the machine. Before installing the FreePBX, you should know its versions and how they work with the different versions of FreePBX and Asterisk. 

The latest version of FreePBX Distro is FreePBX Distro Stable SNG7-PBX-64bit-2002 that is compatible with the following: 

• FreePBX 15
• CentOS 7.6
• Asterisk 13 or 16

The official FreePBX Distro comes with a CD version or ISO file containing the system CentOS, Asterisk, FreePBX GUI, and assorted dependencies. You can install FreePBX Distro either from your CD/DVD drive or using the USB drive. Here are the step by step instructions to install FreePBX Distro: 

1. Download FreePBX Distro: Af first, you need to download the latest official FreePBX Distro ISO file.

 

2. Convert the Downloaded ISO file to a CD/DVD or USB Drive: Now, you need to convert your ISO file to an installation file, aka .exe file. There are two ways you can do that: 

 

• • Use CD/DVD Drive: If you are using the latest Windows, you can follow the following step to convert the FreePBX Distro ISO file to a CD/DVD. 

 

• • • Insert a blank disc in your DVD drive. 
    • Open the folder where you downloaded the ISO file. 
    • Select and right click on the .ISO file of FreePBX Distro SNG7. 
    • From the drop down menu, select Burn Disc Image. 
    • Windows Disc Image Burner toolbox will open. 
    • Select Disc Burner and choose Drive Location.
    • Finally, click on Burn. 

Congratulations! You are done with the conversion of the ISO file to a DVD drive. 

If you are using macOS, you can follow the following steps to convert the FreePBX Distro ISO file to a CD/DVD. 

• • • Insert a blank disc in your DVD drive.
    • Download the ISO file of the official FreePBX Distro. 
    • Open the Terminal and type the command – hdiutil burn ~/PathToYourISO/filename.ISO

Or, 

You can use the Disk Utility to convert the ISO file. 

• • Use USB Drive: If you plan to convert your downloaded ISO file of FreePBX Distro into a USB thumb drive, you can follow the steps to copy the ISO file to a USB drive.  

3. Select Your Device (Desktop Computer or VMWare) to Install FreePBX Distro: At this stage, you need to choose your computer to install the ISO file. Warning: All the computer files will be deleted and replaced with SNG7 Distro when installing the ISO file.

• • Make sure that you are connected to the internet to run the installer successfully. 
  • Go to the Boot Option and choose the required boot option (from CD or USB Key)

 

4. Run the Installer to Select the Version: After booting from your DVD or USB drive, you will get the installer to select your supported Asterisk and FreePBX Version. Use the following recommended option to install the ISO file on your computer:

 

• • FreePBX Installation (Asterisk): This is the basic option. It will be best to have two hard disks on your computer when installing FreePBX and Asterisk. If one hard disk fails somehow, your system will keep running with another hard disk to install FreePBX distro. Both drives will be wiped, and SNG7 will automatically set up a RAID 1 mirror using the two drives. 
  • FreePBX Advanced Installation: If you want to install FreePBX Distro with your own custom features such as remove LVMs, you can use this option. You can even set up your custom hard disk and raid. With the DHCP, you can create or customize your network settings. 
  • Advanced and Troubleshooting Options: Use this option to find bugs or issues by running a memory test on your Linux when you are ready to install FreePBX Distro. 

 

 

 

5. Installation of Prefered Video Method: After selecting the installation method, you need to choose your preferred video method to move forward. 

• • Output to VGA:  Use this option if you are installing on a machine that only has a VGA, DVI, or HDMI video output.
  • Installation via VNC – Output to Serial Console – Use this option if you are installing on a machine that only has a Serial Console port, such as Sangoma PBX 300 and 1000s. In that case, you need to connect a VNC client such as TightVNC when the installer starts to finish through the installer guide. As there is a bug currently in the Linux system, you cannot install through Serial Console alone, but you can still set your root password to install FreePBX distro.
  • Installation via VNC – Output to Serial and VGA: Use this option if you are installing on a machine that only has a Serial Console port and a Video Port such as VGA, DVI, or HDMI, and you want the system to output to both video sources such as Sangoma PBX 40, 60, 100 and 400’s.  

In this mode, you need to connect the VNC client like the last option, as Linux is making some trouble. After selecting the option, you can see a significant change in your video output. With this option,  Serial Console and Video port get the output from the video source. It would be best to use the VNC client for the entire installation process to get both outputs after the installation. 

• • Automatic Textmode Install – If you select automatic textmode install, the root password will set to SangomaDefaultPassword.
  • Automatic Textmode Install (Serial): You can also select Automatic Textmode Install with the serial console port such as Sangoma PBX 300 and 1000s. 

6. Installation Output VGA: This is the last option before starting the installation process. You need to choose either FreePBX Standard or install it in our Enhanced Mode, which will setup the SNG7 to handle proper FreePBX solution and PBXact High Availability. If you choose the second option, you need to purchase the premium version. 

7. Start the Installation Process: Finally, the installation process will start. But it requires the root password to start the installation process. So, you need to insert the root password; otherwise, it won’t start. 

8. Confirm the Root Password: Now, you need to confirm the root password. After that, click on Done from the upper left corner to proceed with the installation.

 

9. Installation Process Begins: When you complete the prerequisite, the installation process will start automatically. It will install all of the FreePBX packages and assorted dependencies. It can take up to 15 minutes to complete the installation. The time depends on the internet speed of yours. Note that: Make sure your computer is connected to the internet to install freepbx distro.

 

10. Reboot Your System: Once you successfully install, your computer asks for a reboot. Reboot the system to move forward.

 

11. Login to Linux console/command: After rebooting, you need to login to Linux console/command with the username root and the password you set earlier as a root password.

 

12. Collect IP Address: After you logged in, you can see a FreePBX logo. Under the logo, you can see the IP address of your FreePBX Distro, as shown below. Note down the IP address as we need it for the next step. This is one of the core steps to install FreePBX Distro.
    

13. Create Admin Credentials: Go to another computer with the same network and use the IP address to access your FreePBX server. Create an admin username and admin password to enter the FreePBX configuration screen in the future. Note that: the admin credential is different than the root credential. You will use the admin credential only to get access to the web interface of FreePBX Distro. 

 

14. Enter the Main FreePBX Screen: When you enter into the main FreePBX screen, you will notice the following four options to choose from the menu. 

 

• • FreePBX Administration: It will allow you to configure your FreePBX. You have to use your admin credentials to get access to FreePBX Administration. 
  • User Control Panel: It is for the user who can control and set up their phone buttons, check voicemails, send and receive faxes, use SMS & XMPP messaging, view conferences, make web calls, and more. The role of the user depends on what you have enabled for the user. 
  • Operator Panel: It is for the call operators to track and monitor the calls. 
  • Get Support: If you have any queries or need support to install Freepbx distro or any technical issues, you can use this option to get support from the official FreePBX. 

Congratulations! You now have a complete instruction to install FreePBX Distro SNG7. Check our other FreePBX guides to know how you can install FreePBX Distro on VMWare or VPS. After the installation, you can check the FreePBX First Steps After Installation from here: