System information

Start by opening the hidden file .bash_profile located within the asteriskpbx home di-
rectory with an editor. We’re then going to append :/usr/sbin:/sbin to the end of the
line starting with PATH:
$ vim ~/.bash_profile
PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
As previously, save the file by pressing Esc
and then typing :wq and pressing Enter .
With the operating system installed, you’re ready to install the dependencies required
for Asterisk. The next section deals with Ubuntu, so you can skip ahead to the section
“Software Dependencies” on page 44, which provides an in-depth review of the in-
stallation process. Alternatively, if you’ve already reviewed the information in that sec-
tion, you may want to refer back to the “Installation Cheat Sheet” on page 31 for a
high-level review of how to install Asterisk.
Ubuntu Server
Ubuntu Server is a popular Linux distribution loosely based on Debian. There is also
a popular desktop version of the software. The Ubuntu Server package contains no GUI
and is ideal for Asterisk installations.
To get the latest version of Ubuntu Server,
‖
visit http://www.ubuntu.com and select the
Server tab at the top of the page. You will be provided with a page that contains infor-
mation about Ubuntu Server Edition. Clicking the orange Download button in the
upper-right corner will take you to a page where you can select either the 32-bit or 64-
bit version of Ubuntu Server. After selecting one of the options, you can press the Start
download button.
Once you’ve downloaded the ISO file, burn it to a CD and start the installation process.
If you’re installing into a virtual machine (which we don’t recommend for production
use, but can be a great way to test out Asterisk), you should be able to mount the ISO
file directly and install from there.
Base system installation
Upon booting from the CD, you will be presented with a screen where you can select
your language of choice. By default English is the selected language, and after a timeout
period, it will be automatically selected. After selecting your language, press Enter
.
The next screen will give you several options, the first of which is Install Ubuntu
Server. Select it by pressing Enter .
You will then be asked which language to use for the installation (yes, this is slightly
redundant). Select your language of choice (the default is English), and press Enter .
‖ Of course, projects can change their websites whenever they want. Hopefully the instructions we’ve provided
here are accurate enough to help guide you through the site even in the event of changes.
40 | Chapter 3: Installing Asterisk