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 traditional 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 completion, 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  properly.  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 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 alwaysfork = 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, 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 secure  authentication
              during startup.

       -I     Enable internal timing if DAHDI timing is available.  The default behaviour is that
              outbound packets are phase locked to inbound 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 astcanary stops running or
              is killed, asterisk 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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.