As part of my VoIP adventure game, I need to set up a VoIP number, but thankfully my ISP (iiNet) provides a free VoIP number to NBN customers, so that was covered. Next up I needed a virtual PBX, I went with Asterisk. This was an easy install on Ubuntu 18.04, just:

sudo apt install asterisk

Of course, installing software is much different from configuring it for use, so let me just preface this with describing some of my experience:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Most of the frustration really just comes from getting my VoIP number registered. For iiNet users, there’s some settings you can use available on their website. However be warned, getting them into Asterisk is slightly harder. You’ll want to modify /etc/asterisk/sip.conf and add the following straight under your [general] line:

register => XXXXXXXXXX@iinetphone.iinet.net.au:YYYYYYYY:XXXXXXXXXX@iinetphone/XXXXXXXXXX

Make sure to replace the XXXXXXXXXX with your Netphone number (including state code) and the YYYYYYYY with your Netphone password.

Then at the bottom of sip.conf add the following:

[iinetphone]
host=sip.wa.iinet.net.au
fromdomain=iinetphone.iinet.net.au
fromuser=XXXXXXXXXX
username=XXXXXXXXXX
defaultuser=XXXXXXXXXX
context=inbound
disallow=all
;allow=g729
allow=ulaw
allow=alaw
insecure=port,invite
canreinvite=no
secret=YYYYYYYY
type=friend
nat=yes
qualify=yes

Make the same replacements, but also change sip.wa.iinet.net.au, replacing the state (second section) with your home state.

Now open up /etc/asterisk/extensions.conf and find the section labelled [default] and change it to the following:

[default]
include => inbound

Then append the following to the end of the file:

[inbound]
exten => XXXXXXXXXX,1,Answer()
exten => XXXXXXXXXX,1,Wait(5)

Replace XXXXXXXXXX with your Netphone number once more.

Make sure you restart Asterisk (systemctl restart asterisk.service) and you should be able to call the number. Expect it to answer, wait 5 seconds, then immediately disconnect.

Now you can do whatever you want to configure it to answer, send to a softphone extension or a VoIP handset, etc.