Appendix B. Migrating from Asterisk to FreeSWITCH
Special thanks to Stefan Wintermeyer for his contribution to this appendix.
This appendix is for administrators and programmers who use Asterisk but want to learn how to switch their existing system to FreeSWITCH. Because this is a book about FreeSWITCH and not Asterisk, we will not describe the Asterisk examples in detail. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the Asterisk concepts of extensions, priorities, and applications.
The information in this appendix is not meant to be an exhaustive reference on how to convert every configuration item on your Asterisk system over to a FreeSWITCH installation. Rather, it is meant to get you started on such a conversion by comparing some of the basic things you do in Asterisk and how those would be done in FreeSWITCH. The topics presented here are:
Stopping and starting Asterisk and FreeSWITCH
Setting the debug verbosity levels
Reviewing the basic configuration file directory structures for each software
Setting up two SIP users in Asterisk and then in FreeSWITCH
Simple voicemail configuration in each software
You can find additional information on leveraging your existing Asterisk knowledge by consulting the "Rosetta Stone" found on the FreeSWITCH wiki: http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/Rosetta_stone.
Note
Use migration to FreeSWITCH not only to get a better software platform but also to tidy up your dialplan and setup. We all know the results of coding projects that are "improved" over time by a few new functions without taking the time to optimize the total system. A new conversion is an opportunity to start with a clean slate.
