Switching to VoIP

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Compiling and Installing Asterisk

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Finally, you’ll need to adjust the safe_asterisk script so that it uses the new user

account to launch Asterisk, rather than root. To do this, open /usr/sbin/safe_asterisk

in Pico or your favorite text editor, and add

su asterisk –c before each instance of an

asterisk command. Be sure to leave the commands unchanged, aside from prefixing

them with the

su command.

Once these steps are taken, Asterisk will have only as much power as you grant the

“asterisk” user. Would-be attackers may be able to crash Asterisk, but in so doing,

they won’t be able to gain access to root’s credentials.

Asterisk on Mac OS X

Besides Linux, Asterisk will run on some commercial Unixes, including the most

popular of those, Mac OS X. A binary (already-compiled) distribution is available

from http://www.macvoip.com. The configuration examples described earlier won’t

work on OS X, because it’s a totally different flavor of Unix than Red Hat Linux. If

you are looking for a good reference for learning the Mac’s flavor of Unix, try Mac

OS X Panther for Unix Geeks (O’Reilly).

As of this writing, drivers for legacy interface cards have not been ported to OS X,

but with IP phones, the Mac port is fully functional. Indeed, with Applescript, iCal,

and iTunes at every Mac user’s disposal, ...