Local area network only ASL3 Configuration with a few nodes Help

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41

Well Sir, I believe I made major progress with your information. I appreciate the help on this and it appears the nodes can at least connect now.

Is the reason the [radio-control] stanza is not in the extensions.conf by default because this is mostly designed to connect to the als3 network and not normally being used as a standalone type of setup? I’m just curious.

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So, let’s say i pick up an HT and transmit to the node(radio) will it output that connection info for troubleshooting purposes in asterisk debug?

I’m just looking for next troubleshooting steps.

Thanks very much for the help. Its the most progress i’ve made yet! lol

42

Your referencing of a radio-control stanza is making me think you are trying to apply HamVOIP configs to ASL3. That won’t work as ASL is a completely modernized version of Asterisk with updated config structures. A config stanza like radio-control is just a naming label to tie stuff together between items like IAX and extensions. I think you’re trying to follow some HamVOIP doc that doesn’t work for ASL3.

Nodes don’t connect on-demand. I think you need to read the manual for the basic setups and watch some of the FreddyMac Ham Radio Crusader videos to get oriented.

I strongly recommend you start over with a clean config and work through the steps I enumerated above.

43

Here, I just threw this together. Restart from scratch with fresh ASL3 installs and un-boogered config files. Follow the steps. Enjoy.

How to Set Up a Private Network of 4 (or More) ASL3 Nodes on a LAN

1. Install ASL3 on All Nodes

  • Don’t manually edit anything yet.

2. Basic Initialization

  • Complete the basic required setup for each node per the ASL3 Manual
  • Change node number
  • Disable statposting for private nodes
  • Configure radio interface (if applicable)

3. Edit rpt.conf for Each Node

  • Private nodes are numbered from 1000-1999.
  • Assuming the following example LAN setup:
    • Router: 10.0.10.1
    • Node 1010: 10.0.10.10
    • Node 1011: 10.0.10.11
    • Node 1012: 10.0.10.12
    • Node 1013: 10.0.10.13

Node 1010 (rpt.conf)

[nodes]
; This (local) node - LAN IP = 10.0.10.10
1010 = radio@127.0.0.1:4569/1010,NONE

; Other nodes on our LAN that this (local) node needs to know how connect to
1011 = radio@10.0.10.11:4569/1011,NONE
1012 = radio@10.0.10.12:4569/1012,NONE
1013 = radio@10.0.10.13:4569/1013,NONE

Node 1011 (rpt.conf)

[nodes]
; This (local) node - LAN IP = 10.0.10.11
1011 = radio@127.0.0.1:4569/1011,NONE

; Other nodes on our LAN that this (local) node needs to know how connect to
1010 = radio@10.0.10.10:4569/1010,NONE
1012 = radio@10.0.10.12:4569/1012,NONE
1013 = radio@10.0.10.13:4569/1013,NONE

Node 1012 (rpt.conf)

[nodes]
; This (local) node - LAN IP = 10.0.10.12
1012 = radio@127.0.0.1:4569/1012,NONE

; Other nodes on our LAN that this (local) node needs know how to connect to
1010 = radio@10.0.10.10:4569/1010,NONE
1011 = radio@10.0.10.11:4569/1011,NONE
1013 = radio@10.0.10.13:4569/1013,NONE

Node 1013 (rpt.conf)

[nodes]
; This (local) node - LAN IP = 10.0.10.13
1013 = radio@127.0.0.1:4569/1013,NONE

; Other nodes on our LAN that this (local) node needs know how to connect to
1010 = radio@10.0.10.10:4569/1010,NONE
1011 = radio@10.0.10.11:4569/1011,NONE
1012 = radio@10.0.10.12:4569/1012,NONE

4. That’s It

  • Reboot each node
  • No need to modify other core files (iax.conf, extensions.conf, etc.)
  • Use ilink commands to link the nodes together.
  • Use asterisk -r and core set verbose 10, and watch the CLI for errors.
3 Likes
44

I would be more than happy to have a manual for this setup, but they don’t appear to exist for my application. Still searching though!

No configs, other than what I’ve posted have been altered. after removing the incorrect radio-secure entries i had and adding the radio-control stanza with the exten => 1500,1,rpt,(1500|P) line the 2 nodes are now able to connect.

I run backups frequently in case i need to revert.

now that i’ve been able to get these 2 nodes communicating now I can move onto the next steps so thanks for the tips.

So now back to reading!

45

Good Stuff! I’ve gotten pretty good at starting from scratch. :slight_smile:
so, I’ll do just that to be safe. Thanks!

46

Hope it helps. Sounds like you’re getting there.

For those following along, if this wasn’t clarified already - there is no reason to change the IAX port, unless you have more than one individual Asterisk server (physical machine) behind the same NAT, and each need to be accessible from outside of the NAT.

Also, you should basically never touch the extensions.conf file unless you are doing really advanced stuff like autopatch, SIP phones, etc.

And finally, any time you see the word “Hamvoip”, keep scrolling.

1 Like
47

lol that was my 2nd “jerk” strike eh? :slight_smile:

48

I’m just saying that anything pertaining to Hamvoip, whether an article, wiki, video, or whatever, is based on a 15 year old project with no real improvements or changes since then.

So if you’re using ASL3, then don’t go pasting stuff from someone’s Hamvoip blog post into your extensions.conf and hoping it will work.

49

Ya…so just to be clear everything i posted on this site was the info i received from this site…

50

Ok, re wrote 2 cards to start clean.

booted up then updated both units (only doing a 2-node setup until some success to keep it simple)

Went into rpt.conf on each device and added this node info only. Nothing else like you suggested.

Node 1 = 1000 192.168.10.10
Node 2 = 1001 192.168.10.11

rpt.conf

[NODE] ;Node 1
1000 = radio@127.0.0.1:4569/1000,NONE
1001 = radio@192.168.10.11:4569/1001,NONE

rpt.conf

[NODE] ;Node 2

1001 = radio@127.0.0.1:4569/1001,NONE
1000 = radio@192.168.10.10:4569/1000,NONE

Went into Interface tune CLI and tested rx and tx in the menu with no issues. Verified COS signal on rx both nodes. Toggled PTT and Tone on each node and both TX as they should.
To this point I have never had success with Echo ever working. The only way I’ve been able to get 2-way comms was from using iaxRPT connected to the node. I did not go this far because i didn’t want to touch the iax.conf at all.

So, I assume my audio card is fine to some extent. I’m using URI100’s connected to an HT with a COS modification which seems to be working well.

ran core set verbose 10

ran rpt cmd 1001 ilink 3 1000 from node 1001 with no error output but no connection unlike before I wiped out and started over.

Same results from node 1000

I’m not moving forward from here as to not “booger” up the configs. Done for now so if you have some recommendations on what to do next, I can get back at it tomorrow.

You stated to not worry about setting up the node yet so i only assumed i had to because running node1000*CLI> rpt cmd 1000 ilink 3 1001 only gave Unknown node number 1000 until i setup the node.

after setting up the node this error went away but still did not connect or give any errors.

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What are your suggestions?

51

If you’re trying to debug, always do two things:

  1. Run the CLI with asterisk -rvvv
  2. Use core set debug 7 app_rpt.so

Then run your link command and inspect both nodes.

1 Like
52

Thanks Much for the help. I actually was doing this and was just replying to @Mason10198 instructions. To avoid any corruption of files i did not want to take anything a step further until he defined my next step as his instructions where pretty clear.

He stated not to worry about configuration of the nodes which doesn’t make sense to me and i’m assuming this is why my debug is showing “unknown node number”

He specifically states nothing else is required but this isn’t the case with my setup.

I’m assuming I must define the nodes to even advance with troubleshooting. Am i correct on this? ( in the “add node” menu)

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I’m getting unknown node number on each of my test nodes running the commands suggested. Nothing further in the debug output.

53

That means your basics are not configured in rpt.conf. What does your [1000](node-main) and [1001](node-main) sections from your configuration say? At minimum you need to have:

[1000](node-main)
idrecording = |iCALLSIGN
duplex = 1
rxchannel = dahdi/pseudo
1 Like
54

Understood. And back to @Mason10198 instructions he only showed to input the node with this expample (he showed more nodes in his tutorial but i’m sticking to just 2 nodes until i get things working between 2.)

So this is all i have in rpt.conf at this moment:

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55

Have you run the documented setup at all? It sound like not. Please re-read the setup directions for using asl-menu: ASL3 Menu - AllStarLink Manual. You need to actually configure the system before it will do anything.

56

Actually, @Mason10198’s notes started off with :

Did you miss this step?

57

Yeah, the notes I threw together were in addition to the general setup. I never said not to set up the node or anything like that. I just said there’s no reason to go manually changing the node numbers in config files immediately upon first boot. The bare minimum setup is:

  • Install ASL3
  • Boot it up
  • Use asl-menu to set up your node number / radio interface per the manual. (I guess this is what you keep calling “setting up the node”)

The only thing I did miss, was that you should use asl-menu to change the local node number on each machine instead of just manually changing it in rpt.conf because it needs to be changed in a couple more places as well, and asl-menu does this for you. I have amended the notes I posted earlier.

58

FYI : I created the following GitHub issue / feature request a while back. It’s been on my TODO list for a while but, once implemented, it should help with configuring local nodes.

59

I’ve read it and implemented it successfully several times. And with your advice yesterday i was able to get the 2 nodes communicating. But then it was stated i should start over because my configs were corrupted.

As much as i didn’t agree that my radio-secure miss configuration hadn’t corrupted the whole installation i wanted to make sure and follow this new procedure as requested. So, i did just that.

The one item in his list i am not able to do. The “echo” test. But that would just be a whole other issue to troubleshoot. all the usb tune tests i did (other than the echo) indicate my sound card is functioning. I can send test tones out from connected HT and I the Rx testing looks to be fine.

I have successfully sent and received audio from a node with iaxRPT indicating my sound card is functional. (i realize echo not working is still an issue and needs to be resolved but getting the nodes to communicate have been my priority to this point) i’m trying to tacke one issue at a time.

60

I’m not sure why you keep bringing this up about “configuration of the nodes”. There is no configuration in the context of what I’m talking about beyond what I have described. All you’re doing is telling some devices on a LAN how to establish peer-to-peer connections with each other via their IPs. That’s what you’re doing in rpt.conf. The radio interface has nothing to do with the topic of establishing private connections.

The only “configuration” that needs to be done is open asl-menu and change the node number. Then go into rpt.conf and add the node number + IP combos for each LAN node you want to be able to link to.

Remember, “nodes” are arbitrary virtual entities. You then assign “channels” to those nodes in order to interface them to things in the real world.

I am talking about establishing a connection between “nodes”. The “channels” part is off-topic in this conversation.