PIONEERS Incredible PBX for VirtualBox

wardmundy

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Our first two Incredible PBX VirtualBox images based on Ubuntu 14 are now available on SourceForge. These will run on any Linux, Mac, or Windows computer running Oracle's VirtualBox. The only difference in the two images is your choice of FreePBX 2.11 or FreePBX 12.

Previous Nerd Vittles tutorial may be helpful if you haven't used VirtualBox before. Feature set of Incredible PBX with Ubuntu is virtually identical to CuBox-i so read that tutorial for details. Same locked down security whitelist methodology with PortKnocker and TM4 as the other new Incredible PBX builds.

Step #1: Download and Install VirtualBox for your desktop operating system. It's free!

Step #2: Download image from SourceForge (FreePBX 2.11 and FreePBX 12 versions available)

Step #3: Double-click on the .ova file you downloaded to begin the install procedure and load VirtualBox. When prompted, be sure to check the Reinitialize the Mac address of all network cards box. Read and accept the license agreement. Then click the Import button. Once the import is finished, you’ll see a new IncrediblePBX11 virtual machine in your VM List on the VirtualBox Manager Window. Import takes about 2 minutes.

Step #4: You need to make a couple of one-time adjustments to the Incredible PBX Virtual Machine configuration to account for differences in sound and network cards on different host machines. Click on Incredible PBX Virtual Machine in the VM List. Then click Settings -> Audio and check the Enable Audio option and choose your sound card. Save your setup by clicking the OK button. Next click Settings -> Network. For Adapter 1, check the Enable Network Adapter option. From the Attached to pull-down menu, choose Bridged Adapter. Then select your network card from the Name list. Then click OK to save your setup. Finally, click Settings -> System, uncheck Hardware clock in UTC time, and click OK. That’s all the configuration that is necessary for Incredible PBX Virtual Machine. If you blinked, you probably missed it.

Step #5: Now double-click on the Incredible PBX VM and click Start. Username: root Default Password: password

Log in as root and let the setup procedure complete. After reboot, log in again to finish setup. Then...

In the /root folder, do the following:

1. Change root password: passwd
2. Change FreePBX admin password: ./admin-pw-change
3. Set time zone: ./timezone-setup
4. Run fax installer, if desired
5. Set AvantFax password


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Jay Deal

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How does performance of a VirtualBox VM running IPBXU14 on a dual core (lets say Win7, 2.0Ghzish, 4GB Ram) Windows host box compare to a say Atom box running same OS and IPBX? Also, for the VM, are there any issues as far as port access or any other impact on I/O functionality? Never experienced this so I would like to know before I dive in.
 

wardmundy

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Jay Deal: Not sure if I understand the hypothetical. I think what you're asking is how would performance compare between a Windows machine running Incredible PBX in a VirtualBox window versus Incredible PBX running on a dedicated dual-core Atom box. The answer, of course, is it would depend upon the mix of applications running simultaneously on the Windows machine. 4MB of RAM doesn't provide a lot of breathing room for Windows if you're also running other processor-intensive applications. Obviously a stand-alone setup would be the better performer. DAHDI also is a non-starter on VirtualBox so you'd need external hardware (OBi110, for example) if you wanted to connect to a Ma Bell POTS line.

The good news is all the components are free so you probably should spend an hour setting it up and taking Ubuntu for a spin yourself. We're moving our entire SOHO operation to VirtualBox running on an iMac. We've seen no noticeable performance hit but it is a somewhat beefier platform with 8GB of RAM. The really good news from our vantage point is you can make a VirtualBox backup of your entire setup in less than 5 minutes and store it anywhere you like or move it to another desktop with just a few button clicks. Backing up traditional Linux servers is a painful process on the best of days.
 

Dave Gray

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This is basically how I started - installing PIAF in a virtualbox machine, on my Linux based laptop. It's good to play with, but it becomes an issue with using the laptop for anything else - need to reboot? Oops, don't forget the PBX. Need to take that laptop on the road? Oops no PBX at the house, etc.

If you have a desktop, that you can dedicate at least partially, I guess it's OK, but it didn't take long for me to find a small box I could dedicate completely.
 

wardmundy

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The Adventure Continues...

In addition to yesterday's new 5-minute VirtualBox VM installers using Incredible PBX images with Ubuntu 14 and your choice of FreePBX 2.11 or 12, today we're introducing the Scientific Linux 6.5 virtual machine images with your choice of FreePBX 2.11 or 12 for all of the :alucard: fanboys.

Except for new SourceForge download location, use same setup steps as documented above.

You can run these turnkey virtual machines on any Windows, Mac, or Linux desktop. Just install the free VirtualBox app and you're good to go.

Regardless of your OS preference, please give FreePBX 12 a healthy workout! It's in RC status and still needs some hands-on testing and TLC.

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wardmundy

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If you have a desktop, that you can dedicate at least partially, I guess it's OK, but it didn't take long for me to find a small box I could dedicate completely.


Good point on the notebook issue. What we really like about the VirtualBox solution is the ease with which you can make backups and migrate to a different machine in minutes. That's still a pipe dream on dedicated servers unfortunately.
 

Dave Gray

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Hmm, also occurs to me that Virtualbox in a laptop, would be great for a roadwarrior type setup, you get your PBX and still can use the laptop (in my Dell L-502X, intel i7) the load from the PBX was negligible, never noticed it even when editing video and the like.

Add a WAN card to the laptop, and you don't even have to worry about hotel Wifi - which can be a real pain in the neck, depending.
 

centoasa

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As you say on first post "Run fax installer, if desired", I've run fax installed and installed efax: how can I use it? where is it? Now I've only the freepbx12 dashboard.
Is there also avantfax? It's good to use freepbx built-in fax function? Can you explain it how can I setup it?
 

centoasa

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