Provided by: asterisk_11.7.0~dfsg-1ubuntu1_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.

       -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.  This can be useful if You  want
              to do #exec 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://issues.asterisk.org

SEE ALSO

       http://www.asterisk.org - The Asterisk Home Page

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

       http://wiki.asterisk.org - The Asterisk Wiki

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

AUTHOR

       Mark Spencer <markster@digium.com>

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