2025-08-28 15:11:49 +00:00
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<html><head><title>Readme for asterisk-22.5.2</title></head><body>
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2025-03-20 18:34:12 +00:00
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<h1>The Asterisk(R) Open Source PBX</h1>
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<pre><code>By Mark Spencer <markster@digium.com> and the Asterisk.org developer community.
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Copyright (C) 2001-2025 Sangoma Technologies Corporation and other copyright holders.
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</code></pre>
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<h2>SECURITY</h2>
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<p>It is imperative that you read and fully understand the contents of
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the security information document before you attempt to configure and run
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an Asterisk server.</p>
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<p>See <a href="https://docs.asterisk.org/Deployment/Important-Security-Considerations">Important Security Considerations</a> for more information.</p>
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<h2>WHAT IS ASTERISK ?</h2>
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<p>Asterisk is an Open Source PBX and telephony toolkit. It is, in a
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sense, middleware between Internet and telephony channels on the bottom,
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and Internet and telephony applications at the top. However, Asterisk supports
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more telephony interfaces than just Internet telephony. Asterisk also has a
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vast amount of support for traditional PSTN telephony, as well.</p>
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<p>For more information on the project itself, please visit the <a href="https://www.asterisk.org">Asterisk
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Home Page</a> and the official
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<a href="https://docs.asterisk.org">Asterisk Documentation</a>.</p>
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<h2>SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEMS</h2>
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<h3>Linux</h3>
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<p>The Asterisk Open Source PBX is developed and tested primarily on the
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GNU/Linux operating system, and is supported on every major GNU/Linux
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distribution.</p>
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<h3>Others</h3>
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<p>Asterisk has also been 'ported' and reportedly runs properly on other
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operating systems as well, Apple's Mac OS X, and the BSD variants.</p>
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<h2>GETTING STARTED</h2>
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<p>Most users are using VoIP/SIP exclusively these days but if you need to
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interface to TDM or analog services or devices, be sure you've got supported
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hardware.</p>
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<p>Supported telephony hardware includes:
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* All Analog and Digital Interface cards from Sangoma
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* Any full duplex sound card supported by PortAudio
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* The Xorcom Astribank channel bank</p>
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<h3>UPGRADING FROM AN EARLIER VERSION</h3>
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<p>If you are updating from a previous version of Asterisk, make sure you
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read the Change Logs.</p>
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<!-- CHANGELOGS (the URL will change based on the location of this README) -->
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2025-08-28 15:11:49 +00:00
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<p><a href="ChangeLogs/ChangeLog-22.5.2.html">Change Logs</a></p>
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2025-03-20 18:34:12 +00:00
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<!-- END-CHANGELOGS -->
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<h3>NEW INSTALLATIONS</h3>
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<p>Ensure that your system contains a compatible compiler and development
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libraries. Asterisk requires either the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) version
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4.1 or higher, or a compiler that supports the C99 specification and some of
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the gcc language extensions. In addition, your system needs to have the C
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library headers available, and the headers and libraries for ncurses.</p>
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<p>There are many modules that have additional dependencies. To see what
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libraries are being looked for, see <code>./configure --help</code>, or run
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<code>make menuselect</code> to view the dependencies for specific modules.</p>
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<p>On many distributions, these dependencies are installed by packages with names
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like 'glibc-devel', 'ncurses-devel', 'openssl-devel' and 'zlib-devel'
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or similar. The <code>contrib/scripts/install_prereq</code> script can be used to install
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the dependencies for most Debian and Redhat based Linux distributions.
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The script also handles SUSE, Arch, Gentoo, FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD but
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those distributions mightnoit have complete support or they might be out of date.</p>
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<p>So, let's proceed:</p>
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<ol>
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<li>
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<p>Read the documentation.<br>
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The <a href="https://docs.asterisk.org">Asterisk Documentation</a> website has full
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information for building, installing, configuring and running Asterisk.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Run <code>./configure</code><br>
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Execute the configure script to guess values for system-dependent
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variables used during compilation. If the script indicates that some required
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components are missing, you can run <code>./contrib/scripts/install_prereq install</code>
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to install the necessary components. Note that this will install all dependencies
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for every functionality of Asterisk. After running the script, you will need
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to rerun <code>./configure</code>.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Run <code>make menuselect</code><br>
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This is needed if you want to select the modules that will be compiled and to
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check dependencies for various optional modules.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Run <code>make</code><br>
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Assuming the build completes successfully:</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Run <code>make install</code><br>
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If this is your first time working with Asterisk, you may wish to install
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the sample PBX, with demonstration extensions, etc. If so, run:</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Run <code>make samples</code><br>
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Doing so will overwrite any existing configuration files you have installed.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Finally, you can launch Asterisk in the foreground mode (not a daemon) with
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<code>asterisk -vvvc</code><br>
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You'll see a bunch of verbose messages fly by your screen as Asterisk
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initializes (that's the "very very verbose" mode). When it's ready, if
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you specified the "c" then you'll get a command line console, that looks
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like this:<br>
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<code>*CLI></code><br>
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You can type <code>core show help</code> at any time to get help with the system. For help
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with a specific command, type <code>core show help <command></code>.</p>
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</li>
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</ol>
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<p><code>man asterisk</code> at the Unix/Linux command prompt will give you detailed
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information on how to start and stop Asterisk, as well as all the command
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line options for starting Asterisk.</p>
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<h3>ABOUT CONFIGURATION FILES</h3>
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<p>All Asterisk configuration files share a common format. Comments are
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delimited by <code>;</code> (since <code>#</code> of course, being a DTMF digit, may occur in
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many places). A configuration file is divided into sections whose names
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appear in <code>[]</code>'s. Each section typically contains statements in the form
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<code>variable = value</code> although you may see <code>variable => value</code> in older samples.</p>
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<h3>SPECIAL NOTE ON TIME</h3>
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<p>Those using SIP phones should be aware that Asterisk is sensitive to
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large jumps in time. Manually changing the system time using date(1)
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(or other similar commands) may cause SIP registrations and other
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internal processes to fail. For this reason, you should always use
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a time synchronization package to keep your system time accurate.
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All OS/distributions make one or more of the following packages
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available:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>ntpd/ntpsec</li>
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<li>chronyd</li>
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<li>systemd-timesyncd</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Be sure to install and configure one (and only one) of them.</p>
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<h3>FILE DESCRIPTORS</h3>
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<p>Depending on the size of your system and your configuration,
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Asterisk can consume a large number of file descriptors. In UNIX,
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file descriptors are used for more than just files on disk. File
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descriptors are also used for handling network communication
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(e.g. SIP, IAX2, or H.323 calls) and hardware access (e.g. analog and
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digital trunk hardware). Asterisk accesses many on-disk files for
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everything from configuration information to voicemail storage.</p>
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<p>Most systems limit the number of file descriptors that Asterisk can
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have open at one time. This can limit the number of simultaneous
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calls that your system can handle. For example, if the limit is set
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at 1024 (a common default value) Asterisk can handle approximately 150
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SIP calls simultaneously. To change the number of file descriptors
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follow the instructions for your system below:</p>
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<h4>PAM-BASED LINUX SYSTEM</h4>
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<p>If your system uses PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) edit
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<code>/etc/security/limits.conf</code>. Add these lines to the bottom of the file:</p>
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<pre><code class="language-text">root soft nofile 4096
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root hard nofile 8196
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asterisk soft nofile 4096
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asterisk hard nofile 8196
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</code></pre>
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<p>(adjust the numbers to taste). You may need to reboot the system for
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these changes to take effect.</p>
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<h4>GENERIC UNIX SYSTEM</h4>
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<p>If there are no instructions specifically adapted to your system
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above you can try adding the command <code>ulimit -n 8192</code> to the script
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that starts Asterisk.</p>
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<h2>MORE INFORMATION</h2>
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<p>Visit the <a href="https://docs.asterisk.org">Asterisk Documentation</a> website
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for more documentation on various features and please read all the
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configuration samples that include documentation on the configuration options.</p>
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<p>Finally, you may wish to join the
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<a href="https://community.asterisk.org">Asterisk Community Forums</a></p>
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<p>Welcome to the growing worldwide community of Asterisk users!</p>
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<pre><code> Mark Spencer, and the Asterisk.org development community
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</code></pre>
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<hr>
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<p>Asterisk is a trademark of Sangoma Technologies Corporation</p>
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<p>[<a href="https://www.sangoma.com/">Sangoma</a>]
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[<a href="https://www.asterisk.org">Home Page</a>]
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[<a href="https://www.asterisk.org/support">Support</a>]
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[<a href="https://docs.asterisk.org">Documentation</a>]
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[<a href="https://community.asterisk.org">Community Forums</a>]
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[<a href="https://github.com/asterisk/asterisk/releases">Release Notes</a>]
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[<a href="https://docs.asterisk.org/Deployment/Important-Security-Considerations/">Security</a>]
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[<a href="https://lists.digium.com">Mailing List Archive</a>] </p>
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</body></html>
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