Changes

ASL-AsteriskNG is the next generation app_rpt client based on the KG7QIN's port to Asterisk 1.8.

ASL-AsteriskNG is the next generation app_rpt client based on the KG7QIN's port to Asterisk 1.8.

== Current Status ==

== Current Status ==

WIP.  app_rpt does run.  This is the code that powers the PTTLink phone portal and powered (powers?) the AllStarLink phone portal.  Refer to the issues section in the repo and the README for more information.

WIP.  app_rpt does run.  This is the code that powers the PTTLink phone portal and powered (powers?) the AllStarLink phone portal.  Refer to the issues section in the repo and the README for more information.

== Downloads ==

== Downloads ==

===Github===

===Github===

You can download the source on GitHub at https://www.github.com/pttlink/ASL-AsteriskNG

You can download the source on GitHub at https://www.github.com/pttlink/ASL-AsteriskNG

===Using setup.sh script===

===Using setup.sh script===

To automatically build and install the port and all associated files:

To automatically build and install the port and all associated files:

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<pre>

The port was done at the beginning of October 2015.  The initial porting took 1 1/2-2 weeks to complete during which I spent a fair amount of time on this (mostly in figuring out program flow and fixing differences in how Asterisk routines are called between the 1.4 and 1.8 code base).  I chose this as a project for something to keep me busy as I was retiring after a 20 year career in the US Navy and had just started terminal leave (I had a lot of leave saved up and my official retirement date was 1 December 2015).  Heck of a project too since I learned quite a bit about app_rpt and how it functions.   

The port was done at the beginning of October 2015.  The initial porting took 1 1/2-2 weeks to complete during which I spent a fair amount of time on this (mostly in figuring out program flow and fixing differences in how Asterisk routines are called between the 1.4 and 1.8 code base).  I chose this as a project for something to keep me busy as I was retiring after a 20 year career in the US Navy and had just started terminal leave (I had a lot of leave saved up and my official retirement date was 1 December 2015).  Heck of a project too since I learned quite a bit about app_rpt and how it functions.   

This started as me wanting to compile the then ACID code base on a 3.x+ Linux kernel and there were some issues out of the box at attempting to do this.  After a fair amount of searching and research, I found that there was a really old version of the app_rpt code (0.100) sitting unmaintained in the Astersik 1.8.32.3 distribution.  I used this as a basis to figure out what I needed to do to port the newer client and it's significant additions to the Asterisk 1.8.32.3 code.  Asterisk 1.8 brings a lot of new features to app_rpt, one of which is the ability to make sure app_rpt supports IPv6 addresses.

This started as me wanting to compile the then ACID code base on a 3.x+ Linux kernel and there were some issues out of the box at attempting to do this.  After a fair amount of searching and research, I found that there was a really old version of the app_rpt code (0.100) sitting unmaintained in the Asterisk 1.8.32.3 distribution.  I used this as a basis to figure out what I needed to do to port the newer client and it's significant additions to the Asterisk 1.8.32.3 code.  Asterisk 1.8 brings a lot of new features to app_rpt, one of which is the ability to make sure app_rpt supports IPv6 addresses.

After the initial port was done, I reached out to several points of contact on the original AllStarLink website.  Jim Dixon (WB6NIL) replied back to me and was excited and happy that I had done this to help keep app_rpt alive.  This resulted in several long phone calls with Jim in which we discussed quite a bit about the history of app_rpt and the people and organizations around it and Asterisk.

After the initial port was done, I reached out to several points of contact on the original AllStarLink website.  Jim Dixon (WB6NIL) replied back to me and was excited and happy that I had done this to help keep app_rpt alive.  This resulted in several long phone calls with Jim in which we discussed quite a bit about the history of app_rpt and the people and organizations around it and Asterisk.

With advice of and some help from Jim, I was able to successfully get app_rpt working within Asterisk 1.8 with some notable issues including: channel drivers were still in a bad state and were prone to crashing or didn't work at all.

With advice of and some help from Jim, I was able to successfully get app_rpt working within Asterisk 1.8 with some notable issues including: channel drivers were still in a bad state and were prone to crashing or didn't work at all.

The code then sat for a few months on my laptop's hard drive as other things became a priority.  Since I didn't want to see the work I'd done go to waste, I opened up a GitHub Repo and made an announcement to the app_rpt-users mailing list about the code's availability.  You can see this announcement here: http://lists.keekles.org/pipermail/app_rpt-users/2016-April/014958.html.

The code then sat for a few months on my laptop's hard drive as other things became a priority.  Since I didn't want to see the work I'd done go to waste, I opened up a GitHub Repo and made an announcement to the app_rpt-users mailing list about the port and availability of the source code.  You can see this announcement here: http://lists.keekles.org/pipermail/app_rpt-users/2016-April/014958.html.

Since then I've done some updates to the app_rpt code and associated modules, mainly porting the changes between the version of app_rpt that I based the port off of and what the current version is/was.  This code does work but it is very much alpha quality.  I also added some extra tidbits to the code to aid with debugging that will need to be removed at some point.  These are in the form of some additional C macros for printing debug information that were/are used to determine flow control as the code was being ported.

Since then I've done some updates to the app_rpt code and associated modules, mainly porting the changes between the version of app_rpt that I based the port off of and what the current version is/was.  This code does work but it is very much alpha quality.  I also added some extra tidbits to the code to aid with debugging that will need to be removed at some point.  These are in the form of some additional C macros for printing debug information that were/are used to determine flow control as the code was being ported.

I am excited that this version of app_rpt is continuing to mature and become a viable client for use by the amateur radio community.

I am excited that this version of app_rpt is continuing to mature and become a viable client for use by the amateur radio community.