Author: Barry O'Donovan

Look What We Just Made: TallyStick

[TallyStick Logo]
Are you like I once was with scribbles in your diary to track what you were doing for whom and for how long on any given day? When you manage to remember to scribble that is.

I was once a member of your club. And I had enough. So we built TallyStick. Necessity, as the saying goes, is the mother of invention.

At Open Solutions, we manage networks, build Internet infrastructure, consult and develop web applications for many customers. Tracking the time our engineers spent on different projects – especially those on the front line hopping from customer to customer – was becoming an issue.

We believe in web applications that are simple, beautiful and functional. And after an exhaustive search, we couldn’t find one to fit our needs… so we built it. And who better to build a time tracking application for IT and other consulting professionals than those same professionals!

TallyStick allows you to focus on what you love to do while it takes care of tracking and accumulating the time you spend on projects. We believe it’s simple, efficient and quick. And we hope you agree.

As of today, TallyStick is live and open for business. Please sign up, take advantage of the one month’s free trial (with no credit card details required) and tell us what you think.

Also, all users signing up during the beta period will receive a lifetime discount of 10% on that account!

Today’s Links – 2012-01-18

  • famfamfam.com: Silk Icons - “Silk” is a smooth, free icon set, containing over 700 16-by-16 pixel icons in strokably-soft PNG format.
  • Read the Docs - Read the Docs hosts documentation, making it fully searchable and easy to find. You can import your docs using any major version control system, including Mercurial, Git, Subversion, and Bazaar. We support webhooks so your docs get built when you commit code. There’s also support for versioning so you can build docs from tags and branches of your code in your repository.
  • Glue - Automatic Sprite (PNG+CSS) creation. Support for multi-sprite projects. Automatic crop of unnecessary transparent borders around source images. Configurable paddings per image, sprite or project. Optional .less output format. Automatic sprite images post-processing using OptiPNG. Sprite- and Project-level configuration via static config files. Configurable cache busting for sprite images.
  • scrollorama - The jQuery plugin for doing cool scrolly stuff.
  • FreshBooks - The fastest way to track time, organise expenses and invoice clients.

Asterisk with SS7 via Wanpipe, Dahdi and libss7 – with ISUP SAM support

A howto on installing Asterisk with SS7 supported via libss7 on Sangoma hardware along with support for ISUP SAM messages.

After much head banging in bringing up an SS7 link with SAM support, I am documented what worked here.

Firstly, what is SAM support? One end of an SS7 link initialises a new call by sending an Initial Address Message (IAM). All SS7 software stacks support this and usually it’s enough. One case where it’s not enough is when one wants to address a phone number with more than the E.164 standard max length of 16  (usually to pass additional information tacked on the start, end of or even replacing an A or B number). In this scenario, SS7 uses a Subsequent Address Message (SAM) to send the additional digits. Most / all mainstream Asterisk SS7 software stacks do not support this.

The platform and software used is as follows:

  • Ubuntu 10.04 LTS standard CLI install;
  • dahdi-linux-complete-2.4.0 from the archives (direct link);
  • a patched version of libss7 supporting SAM via SVN (see below);
  • a patched version of chan-dahdi via SVN (see below);
  • Asterisk 1.6.0.28 from the archives (direct link);
  • Asterisk Addons 1.6.0.6 from the archives (direct link);
  • Sangoma Wanpipe 3.5.24 (direct link).

Yes, I know some of the above are obsolete. Unfortunately it’s what’s required for everything to play nicely together. And, guess what, it works!

Before You Start

Ensure you have all the necessary packages for building the packages:

apt-get install build-essential libnewt-dev subversion    \
   libsqlite3-dev libsnmp-dev bison libtool flex          \
   autoconf2.13 libmysqlclient-dev

You can assume the working directory is /usr/local/src in the following.

Installing dahdi-linux-complete

Download and extract dahdi-linux-complete into /usr/local/src. Then, in the same directory, create some symbolic links:

ln -s dahdi-linux-complete-2.4.0+2.4.0/linux dahdi-linux
ln -s dahdi-linux-complete-2.4.0+2.4.0/tools dahdi-tools

Now build dahdi-linux:

cd dahdi-linux
make
make install

Now move onto dahdi-tools:

cd dahdi-tools
./configure
make menuconfig # (and select tools or accept defaults)
make
make install
make config

Installing libss7

There is a patched version of Digium’s libss7 referred to as Attila’s libss7 available via SVN. Download and install it:

svn co https://observer.router.hu/repos_pub/libss7/trunk alibss7
cd alibss7
make
make install

Installing Asterisk

Download and extract the Asterisk 1.6.0.28 package reference above.

cd asterisk-1.6.0.28

Now this next bit is very important and easy to miss – you also need a patched version of chan_dahdi.c that is compatible with the patched version of libss7. This is also available from SVN:

svn co https://observer.router.hu/repos_pub/chan_dahdi/trunk achan_dahdi

Then copy it to your Asterisk source:

cp achan_dahdi/chan_dahdi.c asterisk-1.6.0.28/channels/chan_dahdi.c

Now continue with the Asterisk installation:

./configure
make menuconfig
make
make install
make samples
make config

Install Asterisk Addons (optional)

Download and unpack the above referenced add ons package and build and install:

cd asterisk-addons-1.6.0.6
./configure
make menuconfig
make
make install
make samples

Sangoma Wanpipe

I’m using one of Sangoma’s E1 / T1 interface cards and so I need Wanpipe also. I’m using version 3.5.24 and preceed as follows after unpacking:

cd wanpipe-3.5.24./Setup install

During the install, follow these prompts:

  • select option 2 => Asterisk/Dahdi Support;
  • enter path /usr/local/src/dahdi-linux (for Zaptel path prompt);
  • select defaults for everything else;
  • you DO want to install start-up scripts;
  • you DO to configure wanpipe devices for DAHDI;
  • you DO want to generate /etc/asterisk/chan_dahdi.conf and:
    • select E1 / T1 as appropriate;
    • select line framing and encoding;
    • choose clock source;
    • select Zaptel/Dahdi – PRI CPE as signalling;
    • select National ISDN 2 as switch type;
    • do not enable hardware DTMF detection;
    • use all channels;
    • select dial plan context as appropriate;
  • and continue for other ports as necessary;
  • finally, choose Save cfg: Stop Asterisk & Wanpipe now
  • you would like wanrouter to start on system boot;
  • and you would like to execute ‘dahdi_cfg’ each time wanrouter starts.

Configuration Steps

We now need to set various options in Wanpipe, Dahdi and Asterisk for SS7 as it’s PRI/ISDN by default.

Edit all /etc/wanpipe/wanpipeX.conf files as necessary and change:

 TDMV_DCHAN              = 16

to

TDMV_DCHAN              = 0

Now edit /etc/dahdi/system.conf and change (for example):

span=1,1,0,ccs,hdb3,crc4
bchan=1-15,17-31
echocanceller=mg2,1-15,17-31
hardhdlc=16

to

span=1,1,0,ccs,hdb3,crc4
bchan=2-31
echocanceller=mg2,2-31
mtp2=1

which of course assumes signalling is on channel 1. If you have voice only links, you might need something like:

span=1,0,0,ccs,hdb3,crc4bchan=1-31
echocanceller=mg2,2-31

Lastly, we need to configure Asterisk. Replace lines such as:

;Sangoma A102 port 1 [slot:4 bus:5 span:1]
switchtype=national
context=from-pstn
group=0
echocancel=yes
signalling=pri_cpe
channel =>1-15,17-31

with an appropriate configuration. Mine follows below with some edits and some important notes at the end:

;Sangoma A102 port 1 [slot:4 bus:5 span:1]
switchtype=national
context=from-pstn
group=0
echocancel=yes

signaling=ss7
ss7type=itu
ss7_called_nai=dynamic
ss7_calling_nai=dynamic
ss7_internationalprefix=00
ss7_nationalprefix=0
ss7_subscriberprefix=
ss7_unknownprefix=
linkset=1
pointcode=1
adjpointcode=2
defaultdpc=3
networkindicator=national_spare
cicbeginswith=2
channel=2-31
sigchan=1
  • Set pointcode, adjpointcode and defaultdpc as appropriate;
  • set networkindicator as appropriate and ensure it matches the other end (you can see what you’re being sent and what you’re sending via ss7 debug;
  • cicsbeginwith is normally 1 but the telco on my end are starting at 2 – this was groping in the dark diagnostics and issues such as no audio, CICs not in service when both sides claim they are, etc may point to misaligned CICs;
  • make sure you have configured from-pstn or the appropriate context in yourextensions.conf.

Confirming Your Link Is Up

Now start wanrouter (/etc/init.d/wanrouter start); dahdi (/etc/init.d/dahdi start); and Asterisk (/etc/init.d/asterisk start). You should see your link come up via logs available with the dmesg command. Launch the Asterisk console and check the status of your links:

ast-deg1-1*CLI> ss7 show cics 1
  CIC   DPC  DAHDI        STATE   BLOCKING
    2    3      2         Idle
    3    3      3         Idle
    4    3      4         Idle
    5    3      5         Idle
    6    3      6         Idle
    7    3      7         Idle
    8    3      8         Idle
    9    3      9         Idle
   10    3     10         Idle
   11    3     11         Idle
   12    3     12         Idle
   13    3     13         Idle
   14    3     14         Idle
   15    3     15         Idle
   16    3     16         Idle
   17    3     17         Idle
   18    3     18         Idle
   19    3     19         Idle
   20    3     20         Idle
   21    3     21         Idle
   22    3     22         Idle
   23    3     23         Idle
   24    3     24         Idle
   25    3     25         Idle
   26    3     26         Idle
   27    3     27         Idle
   28    3     28         Idle
   29    3     29         Idle
   30    3     30         Idle
   31    3     31         Idle

You should now be okay to make test calls.

Do You Need Professional Support / Consultancy?

While I will try to respond to comments and questions on this blog, I don’t have the time to provide one on one assistance pro-bono. Professional consultancy on Asterisk and SS7 is available worldwide through my company, Open Solutions with contact details here.

References

For posterity, I have added Domjan Attila patched libss7 and chan_dahdi to GitHub:

2011-12-20 – Today’s Links

  • Jenkins is an award-winning application that monitors executions of repeated jobs, such as building a software project or jobs run by cron. Among those things, current Jenkins focuses on the following two jobs: (1) building/testing software projects continuously; and (2) monitoring executions of externally-run jobs - http://jenkins-ci.org/.
  • Hubot – GitHub, Inc., wrote the first version of Hubot to automate our company chat room. Hubot knew how to deploy the site, automate a lot of tasks, and be a source of fun in the company. Eventually he grew to become a formidable force in GitHub. But he led a private, messy life. So we rewrote him. Today’s version of Hubot is open source, written in CoffeeScript onNode.js, and easily deployed on platforms like Heroku. More importantly, Hubot is a standardized way to share scripts between everyone’s robots. http://hubot.github.com/.
  • Jenkins is a continuous integration server built on top of Jenkins, controlled by Hubot, and designed for GitHub. https://github.com/github/janky.

 

2011-12-19 – Today’s Links

Some interesting links I came across over the weekend:

2011-11-04 – Today’s Links

less - The dynamic stylesheet language.

LESS extends CSS with dynamic behavior such as variables, mixins, operations and functions. LESS runs on both the client-side (IE 6+, Webkit, Firefox) and server-side, with Node.js.

Ender – a full featured package manager for your browser.

It allows you to search, install, manage, and compile front-end javascript packages and their dependencies for the web. We like to think of it as NPM‘s little sister.

TWITTER BOOTSTRAP

Bootstrap is Twitter’s toolkit for kickstarting CSS for websites, apps, and more. It includes base CSS styles for typography, forms, buttons, tables, grids, navigation, alerts, and more.

Some New Nagios Plugins

Over the past ten years I have left many many new and hacked Nagios plugins on many servers around the globe. I’m now making a concerted effort to find them, clean them, maintain them centrally and release them.

To that end, I have created a repository on GitHub for the task with a detailed readme file:

As a starting point, there are four plugins available now:

  • check_chassis_cisco.pl – a script to poll a Cisco switch or router and check if the device was recently rebooted; its temperature sensors; its fans; its PSU; its CPU utilisation; and its memory usage.

 

  • check_chassis_server.pl – a script to poll a Linux / BSD server and check its load average; memory and swap usage; and if it has been recently rebooted.

 

  • check_portsecurity.pl – a script to check all ports on a Cisco switch and issues a critical alert if port security has been triggered resulting in a shutdown port on the device.

 

  • check_portstatus.pl – a script which will issue warnings if the port status on any Ethernet (by default) port on a Cisco switch has changed within the last hour (by default). I.e. a port up or a port down event.

So I’ve Made the Switch from SVN to Git…

…and I’m bloody delighted. 

The straw finally came when Nick forced my hand for a project we wanted to release through our work in INEX. I was pushing for Google Code but he had his heart set on GitHub. Now, in fairness, GitHub has some SVN bindings but after some research, I decided to dive right in.

Now, there’s both a steep learning curve but also a complete change of mindset required from centralised source code management (SCM) with SVN to the distributed model of Git. In the end, most projects will decide on a canonical Git repository anyway which pushes you slightly back towards centralised but there’s still a world of a difference.

So, what’s so good about Git? Well, lots. But first and foremost is it’s exceptionally powerful yet simple branching and merging that just works. And works fast – remember, with Git everything is local.

One work flow that used to kill me in SVN was that you’d be implementing feature X but someone needed bug Y fixed immediately involving some of the same code. Getting just the fix for Y in was tough and complicated. And branching in SVN isn’t quick or simple. In Git, I branch from the main development branch for every new feature, bug fix, etc and then merge what I need between them and back into develop when they’re ready to be pushed back to the agreed canonical repository.

I’ve been so impressed with Git that I’ve moved an open source project we created in Open Solutions over to Github: ViMbAdmin. I’ve also forced the rest of my team in Open Solutions over to Git and migrated a number of customer projects already. And we’re reaping productivity rewards!

How we work Git for projects was taken from this excellent post which I would fully recommend: A successful Git branching model.

Useful Git Links:

Three Rock Masts

Living below Three Rock mountain in Stepaside, I often look up the many communication masts. Today I trekked up on the bike and took a few (dark and bad) photos.