Part 3 - FreePBX logging into the operating system remotely via terminal access

Before we start exploring the system, menu & configurations to gain a glimpse of just how comprehensive our new telephone system really is, lets consider the way we actually make direct modifications to our telephone system server operating system.

Currently if we want to make operating system command line level modifications we have to be at the server with a monitor and keyboard set up. This is not currently a problem as we have recently set this up and have probably left it as such. This is OK & will work fine for most of the work we will be doing to configure our new telephone system.

However for convenient easy modifications it may be advantageous to set things up so that we can access our telephone system at the operating system level from the same computer that we have been using to remote access the administration Graphical User Interface.

This can be achieved with an SSH client (Secure SHell), SSH is a UNIX-based command line interface and protocol for securely gaining access to a remote computer. It is by default available on many Linux distributions as well as Apple IOS based operating systems. However if you are using a non windows 10 Microsoft operating system you will probably have to install a separate SSH client such as PUTTY, in windows 10 you will need to enable ssh.

For the purposes of this part of the tutorial our focus will be about addressing the remote access features rather than that of the security. Having set up our preferred method of remote access to our telephone system at the operating system level we now have the ability to quickly solve some problems and make both operating system and application level modifications.

In our example we will simply open a terminal window & remotely log in using the root user & the root user password as follows:-

ssh user@ipaddress ie ssh root@192.168.1.72

Accept the certificate / RSA key & enter the root password followed by hitting return or enter, we now have full remote access to our telephone system OS & applications as required.

This will put us in good stead to solve some of our dashboard errors & to becoming familiar with the various configuration menus available to us, eventually leading to the understanding that we have full access to a system that encompasses far more than just a telephone system.

• Telephone System Built From Your Old Computer Part 1
• Telephone System Built From Your Old Computer Part 2

If you are in the Greater Manchester area and need some help wiring or setting up your FreePBX telephone system then contact Peter at Burytec Telephone Engineer Manchester service.