Read This Tutorial To Learn How To Install FREEPBX 15 On VirtualBox 6.1 In A Few Simple Steps.
FreePBX is a widely used open source phone system that can be used to deploy multiple phone extensions in a multi office environment. It a is web based system that is built on the ASTERISK system that is FREE! to download and use. As an open source system it comes with no limitations on features and functions such as the number of extensions that you can create, number of users users, queues, trunks, IVR’s and more. FREEPBX also comes with enterprise features such as Calling Queues, Conference bridge, Ring groups, Wake up calls, Announcements, Calendar with third-party integration, Secure communications, Voicemail blasting, Video calling support, Follow me / find me calling, Text to speech, Fax–to–email and alot more! Unlike many open source solutions, FREEPBX is a secure system that is developed, tested and maintained by the SANGOMA QUALITY ASSURANCE AND DEVELOPMENT teams. It is also a customizable system that can be installed on almost any bare metal or virtual platform. Continue reading this tutorial to learn how to download and install FREEPBX 15 on Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.2 in just a few simple steps. Click on the butto below to watch the FREE video tutorial
REQUIREMENTS
In order to complete this tutorial successfully the following items are required. Please ensure to have some or all of the items available before taking implementation action on this tutorial:
1) The FREEPBX 15 disk image file (ISO file)
2) VirtualBox version 6.1 or newer
3) A desktop or laptop with a dual core processor, 4 GB of RAM and atleast 50GB of free disk space
4) Windows 7, 8, 10 , MacOS 10.13.6 High Sierra and up or any linux distro that can run virtualbox
5) Intel VT-x or AMD-V virtualization technology supported and enabled in the system bios.
OVERVIEW
1) Read through the FREEPBX 15 minimum system requirements then check and enable virtualization technology in your system BIOS.
2) Start by Downloading the FREEPBX 15 disk image file then download and install VirtualBox 6.1 on your computer
3) Open VirtualBox and create a new virtual machine with atleast 2GB of RAM and a 50GB virtual hard disk
4) Attach the FREEPBX 15 disk image file and start the virtual machine.
5) Start the virtual machine and install FREEPBX 15.
6) Login to the FREEPBX 15 web console and complete the FREEPBX post installation wizard.
7) Set a static IP address for the FREEPBX 15 virtual machine then download and install updates.
FREEPBX 15 Minimum System Requirements.
1) The following are the minimum system requiremements needed to run FREEPBX 15 on a physical computer or virtual machine:
1) An Intel (x86_64) or AMD64 processor with virtualization technology support.
2) Atleast 2GB or RAM though 4GB is the official recommended amount of memory.
3) 100GB of disk space allocated to FREEPBX
4) Atleast 1 x 100Mbps network interface card (NIC)
FreePBX 15 can also be installed but not limited to the following virtualization platforms:
1) VMware ESXi (5.1 or greater)
2) VMware Workstation (10 or greater)
3) OpenStack
4) Proxmox VE
5) Hyper-V
6) Amazon AWS
Check For And Enable Virtualization Technology In The System BIOS.
2) The process of checking if virtualization technology is enabled on your computer is not the same and varies by hardware vendor and operating system in use. However below are a few pointers on how to check if vitualization is enabled on common operating systems:
A) If using a Windows 10 device, right click on the task bar and click on TASK MANAGER. Click on the PERFOMANCE tab and check if VIRTUALIZATION is set to enabled.
B) To find out if Intel VTx or AMD-v technology is enabled on a computer running a linux based operating system open the terminal application and run the command lscpu
3) If you are using a Mac device such as a macbook pro, mac mini or iMac to check if virtualization is supported and enabled open the TERMINAL application by clicking on APPLICATIONS > UTILITIES > TERMINAL.
Run the following command to get information about features on the CPU on your Mac:
sysctl -a | grep machdep.cpu.features
On the output that is returned, if you see VMX then virtualization technology is supported and enabled on your MAC.
4) In the event that virtualization technology is supported but not enabled on your computer, go into the system bios and enable it. The following is an example of how to do so on a dell optiplex 7010 desktop.
Power on the dell desktop and press F12 on your keyboard. On the list of options that appear select BIOS SETUP.
5) Expand the VIRTUALIZATION SUPPORT option, click on VIRTUALIZATION and click on the ENABLE VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGY checkbox.
Step 1: Download The FreePBX 15 Disk Image File (ISO) And VirtualBox 6.1
6) Go to freepbx.org and click on the DOWNLOAD FREEPBX button on the home page. A popup windows will be shown asking you to enter details such as your name and email. Type your details as requested and click on DOWNLOAD FREEPBX.
Please note that the disk image file is about 2.3GB in size.
7) Click HERE to go to the official virtualbox download page. On the VIRTUALBOX 6.1 platform packages, click on the appropriate link for your operating system and once the download is complete, install and open the VIRTUALBOX app.
Step 2: Open VirtualBox 6.1 And Create The FreePBX 15 Virtual Machine.
8) Open the VirtualBox application and click on MACHINE > NEW to open the new virtual machine creation wizard. Change the virtual machine creation mode from GUIDED TO EXPERT by click on ther EXPERT MODE button
9) On the NAME AND OPERATING SYSTEM section, type in a name for the virtual machine on the NAME input box, choose a folder to save virtual machine files on the MACHINE FOLDER file selection box and set the TYPE option to LINUX.
Select RED HAT (64-BIT) on the version drop down menu and type 2048 on the MEMORY SIZE input box. Click on the CREATE A VIRTUAL HARD DISK NOW radio button and click on CREATE.
10) A virtual hard disk creation window will appear, type in the size of the virtual hard disk on the FILE SIZE input box and click on the DYNAMICALLY ALLOCATED radio button. The DYNAMICALLY ALLOCATED option ensures that the virtual hard disk only uses up physicall hard disk space as needed untill it grows its allocated size.
Click on the CREATE button to complete the virtual machine creation process.
Step 3: Attach The FREEPBX 15 Disk Image File And Start The Virtual Machine.
11) Right click on the newly created virtual machine and click on SETTINGS. Click on the STORAGE tab and on CONTROLLER: IDE click on the ADD OPTICAL DRIVE button
12) Click on the ADD button and a file selection window will open. Browse to the folder folder where the FREEPBX 15 disk image file is located, double click on it and click on the CHOOSE button.
Click on the OK button to apply changes on the FREEPBX VIRTUAL MACHINBE storage settings page.
13) Right click on the FREEPBX 15 virtual machine and click on START > NORMAL START.
14) Use the UP or DOWN key on your keyboard to select FREEPBX 15 INSTALLATION (ASTERISK 16) – RECOMMENDED and press ENTER.
15) Select GRAPHICAL INSTALLATION – OUTPUT TO VGA and press ENTER then press ENTER on FREEPBX STANDARD.
16) During the installation process, an option to set a password for the FREEPBX 15 system root user will be shown. Click on the ROOT PASSWORD button and type any password of your choice on the spaces provided.
We recommend setting a password that contains a captial letter, small letter, number and special character such as an exclamation mark. Alternatively you can use the AVAST PASSWORD GENERATOR to generate a secure password.
17) Once the installation process is complete, Power OFF the virtual machine.
18)Right click on the FREEPBX 15 virtual machine and click on SETTINGS. Click on STORAGE, right click on the FREEPBX 15 B disk image file and click on REMOVE ATTACHMENT.
Once removed click on OK and START the virtual machine.
20) Open a new browser tab, type in the IP address of the FREEPBX 15 virtual machine on the browser address bar and press ENTER. If you get a POTENTIAL SECURITY RISK or SELF SIGNED SSL CERTIFICATE error message, click on any of the available options that will allow you to proceed to the FREEPBX 15 web console.
On the FREEPBX 15 welcome page, type in your desired system administration username and password. Also type in a notifications email, system identifier and choose system and module update options.
Click on the SETUP SYSTEM button to proceed.
21) Click on FREEPBX ADMINISTRATION, enter your username and password on the spaces provided and click on the CONTINUE button.
22) A welcome message will be displayed welcoming you to your new FREEPBX 15 server. You will also be asked if you would like to activate the system. Click on the ACTIVATE button to proceed.
The activation process involves creating a portal account on the FREEPBX website. Enter your EMAIL ADDRESS on the space provided and press ENTER. The activation system will check if your email address is already registered. If it is not you will see options for specifying a username, password, location and more. Enter your details on the spaces provided and click on the CREATE button.
23) Type in an optional LOCATION NAME for the FREEPBX virtual machine that will be displayed on the dashboard as well as FREEPBX PORTAL. The LOCATION NAME helps you to identify the PBX and once your have typed in a name click on the ACTIVATE button.
24) Set the SOUND PROMPTS LANGUAGE to ENGLISH, SYSTEM LANGUAGE to ENGLISH (UNITED STATES) and the TIMEZONE to your local time zone then click on SUBMIT.
26) The next step is to choose whether to enable to SANGOMA SMART FIREWALL or not. If you would like to enable it, click on the CONTINUE button.
27) To prevent the computer that you are using to configure FREEPBX from being locked out by the SANGOMA FIREWALL, it needs to be set as a trusted client. Simply click on YES to set your computer as a trusted client.
28) The next step is to set your current network to be trusted by the SANGOMA SMART FIREWALL. Click on YES to proceed.
29) Next, click on YES to enable the RESPONSIVE FIREWALL so as to allow remote clients to securely register to the PBX without having to whitelist them.
30) FREEPBX has that capability of automatically configuring ASTERISK IP SETTINGS. Allowing this will ensure that NAT settings will be automatically configured by the PBX without having to do it manually. Click on YES to proceed.
31) SIP STATION is a built in FREEPBX service that makes it possible for your to et a SIP trunk within seconds. The normal process would be for you to put in a request for a SIP trunk at your local service provider however with SIPSTATION you can get a SIP trunk in just a few clicks. However at the time of writing this tutorial the SIP STATION service is available in the U.S and CANADA.
If you would like to use SIPSTATION, click on the SIGN ME UP button and if not click on the NOT NOW button.
32) To complete the post installation setup process, click on the APPLY CONFIG button that is at the top left corner of the FREEPBX 15 dashboard.
Step 5: Set A Static IP Address For The FREEPBX 15 Virtual Machine Then Download And Install Updates.
33) To set a static IP address on the FREEPBX virtual machine from the dashboard click on ADMIN > SYSTEM ADMIN. Click on NETWORK SETTINGS and set the IP ASSIGNMENT option to STATIC. Typw in an IP ADDRESS, NETMASK and DEFAULT GATEWAY on the appropriate fields and set the START AUTOMATICALLY option to YES.
Click on SAVE INTERFACE then click on SAVE AND APPLY.
34) Type in the new IP address that you have set on the web browser address bar and press ENTER. Type in your freepbx credentials on the login page and once you have regained access to the FREEPBX dashboard click on ADMIN . MODULE ADMIN.
Click on the SYSTEM UPDATES tab and click on CHECK ONLINE. A list of available updates will be shown click on the UPDATE SYSTEM button to install them.
