The Road to AsteriskNOW 1.5

AsteriskNOW is one of the Linux-based IP-PBX distros that is listed on this site. In the words of Steve Sokol, AsteriskNOW gives you all the tools you need to “transform an ordinary PC into an extraordinary communications platform”. The current stable, downloadable version is AsteriskNOW 1.0.2.

The first beta of AsteriskNOW 1.5 was just released, and Steve Sokol has written about some of the changes in the new line. Here’s part of the article:

AsteriskNOW 1.5 accomplishes the same goal (easy-to-install Asterisk) as AsteriskNOW 1.0 did, but that’s where the similarity ends. We’ve been collecting feedback from users since the launch of 1.0 and the changes in 1.5 reflect the general consensus.

CentOS Linux 5.2

We’ve replaced the original rPath Linux distribution with CentOS 5.2. While rPath has some amazing capabilities its focus is on building fixed-function appliances, which makes it complex and sometimes awkward for end users to add packages or customize the system. CentOS is an Enterprise-class Linux distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor.

Yum Package Management / Updates

With CentOS 5.2, the native ‘yum’ package management tool handles software updates and customizations, making AsteriskNOW 1.5 simple to manage. Digium has launched its own yum software repository so updates to Asterisk, LibPRI, DAHDi and other core packages are as simple as “yum update asterisk”. We’ve also drastically simplified the process of upgrading Asterisk. Want to go from 1.4 (and associated packages) to 1.6 (and associated packages)? No problem. Install an upgrade package and the system will be reconfigured to run the latest stable version of 1.6.

FreePBX GUI
Another key change in AsteriskNOW 1.5 is the addition of the FreePBX graphical user interface (GUI)

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