BUG FreePBX Update Woes

You might want to hold off installing any FreePBX updates for a bit...

http://community.freepbx.org/t/web-interface-blank-after-update/28859

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r30023491-WARNING-FreePBX-module-updates-are-breaking-the-GUI

To be honest, I NEVER update a working system. Not even the security updates because it's behind a firewall. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I had to learn this over many broken phone systems.

Ward and friends, is there really ever a reason to update anything, if the PBX is in a secure environment and everything is working?

If you've got a firewall with a restrictive whitelist of allowable IP addresses, it would take a catastrophic vulnerability in the firewall itself to compromise a server that had not been updated.

lowno said:

To be honest, I NEVER update a working system. Not even the security updates because it's behind a firewall. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I had to learn this over many broken phone systems.

Ward and friends, is there really ever a reason to update anything, if the PBX is in a secure environment and everything is working?

Click to expand...

It's why I was running an system with Asterisk 1.4 and FPBX 2.6 forever.

A hardware failure finally gave me the nudge to upgrade to PIAF-Green.

According to DSL Reports:

The solution was to delete the folder:
/var/www/html/admin/modules/sipstation/

Now everything is back to normal again.

Thanks for the response on updating a system behind a firewall.

More SIPStation News on Nerd Vittles today. FYI: Most Incredible PBX builds do not include the SIPStation module. Now you know why.

Might want to rethink your long-term FreePBX update strategy, too...



A sampling of threads in just the last 24 hours on their forum:

Some firstboot error occured - 64bit Distro

WebRTC option missing from UCP

Blank admin page after new install - 10.13.66

Blank page after update
Latest update stalled Mysql Wont Start
FreePBX 13 update modules now can’t log on
“I’m sorry”, then hangs up
Lost license after last updates
FreePBX Administration GUI Blank Page

No action bar when adding users
Blank page after update to 6.12.65-27
Web interface blank after update

White Page after Module Admin update
6.12.65 Distro installs but with broken modules

Oh, the irony...

hehe well long time in coming anybody reminded of a similar process?

GREEN Open Source Version >> GREEN Open Source Version bought by commercial concern >> GREEN Community Edition replaces Open Source Version >> GREEN Professional Edition Released all new coding takes place on this version >> KILL GREEN Community Edition >> USERS must switch to COMMERCIAL Version


Could the orange guys be far behind?

ORANGE Open Source Version >> ORANGE Open source version bought by commercial concern - ownership changed hands several times >> ORANGE Disto Released >> ORANGE Amalgamates proprietary PBX with ORANGE open source. Adds commercial modules (think hybrid model) >> ORANGE Hybrid (open and closed commercial source) sold to a different commercial concern >> Where to next?

Being able to look back on the Green fiasco and compare it to the current goings on of Orange has been fascinating. I especially like the picture of our dear friends above bashing on alternative GUI's as it seems to me the Greens did something similar to the Orange when they forked the original Orange Open Source GUI (notice the hammer has two claws? Remind you of Janus?) . That being said competition fosters innovation! This is why PIAF was created in the first place! Originally the Greens just did not like our vision so a few of us got together and PIAF was born. Continuing down the path I am quite hopeful the PIAF 4 will be as orange free as possible and you will get to choose the flavor of GUI you want.

Of course removing the Orange stuff from our offerings is something that they want so we may not and keep it just for the "pot stirring effect"


Now where did I put my asbestos underwear...............


Tom

"Alternative GUI" is officially declared dead by the original authors: http://forums.asterisk.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=94796&sid=ca10aa6f3ed347dd94915aa872c94bf8

My associate was rebuked on DSL reports for questioning the Smooze/Sangoma mentality. I.e., do not cause controversy by posting update issues, and requesting a discussion of alternative strategies.

Remember, "When we want your opinion,"come to our forum, "and we will give it to you"

billsimon said:

"Alternative GUI" is officially declared dead by the original authors: http://forums.asterisk.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=94796&sid=ca10aa6f3ed347dd94915aa872c94bf8

Click to expand...

Is that not how git works?

Asterisk-GUI is being pulled from Digium and Asterisk download servers.

Click to expand...

That's not the point. The point is, who is wiling to provide help with Asterisk GUI? Who else is forking and using Asterisk GUI? Now that Digium is officially saying, "it's dead," the answer should be obvious.

If the PIAF team were to say that Asterisk GUI was the PIAF platform going forward, and all support and development were focused on Asterisk GUI, then you'd have a considerable force keeping it going. But currently, the PIAF team has a lot of different projects going on:

* PIAF 3 (FreePBX/Asterisk) in production/support
* IncrediblePBX for FreePBX
* IncrediblePBX for Elastix 2.5
* IncrediblePBX for Ast-GUI
* Super secret project that looks and smells like ThirdLane
* PIAF 4 in development

How much Asterisk GUI do you see in that list?

I'm told that Malcolm's comments were directed toward at least one hardware vendor rather than us. You can draw your own conclusions based upon some of those pictured in the tweets above. Always surprising to watch a company bad mouth their own product, but I fully appreciate that it's code they no longer wish to support.

Nevertheless, we are comfortable with our Incredible PBX 11 for Asterisk-GUI builds and the security provided to end-users. We had anticipated this development for quite a while so an alternative download site already was built into our installers except for the Raspberry Pi. That build now has been updated.

We are in the process of migrating Asterisk-GUI to GitHub, and then we hope to directly enhance the software as time permits. Help is always welcomed! It's an excellent platform both for development and for learning about Asterisk. We have no plans to scrap it despite Digium's reservations. It has some other advantages that you can read about elsewhere in this thread.

Nice to hear this continued enthusiasm. I'd suggest trying to find some more partners who are into Asterisk GUI. Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but my feeling is that Digium's statement is hurtful even to a forked project. Makes it seem defective.

Other than not having been tested by Digium with Asterisk 11, the only other comment concerned reliance upon users.conf. If you look in that file, you will see that it is totally innocuous in the Incredible PBX implementation.

I can't help but lament this situation - at the near pinnacle, at least in my observation, of the Asterisk / FreePBX combo aesthetic, functionality, reliability and open development along comes a hurricane and the landscape is changed dramatically. Less cooperation, more "siloing" of the programs and most disappointingly less "open source" and less open cooperation. I acknowledge the warts and bugs and security issues. And I wasn't there from the beginning to see all that truly went into delivering the experience (that I enjoyed) with the combo over the last couple years. But it seems to me that it had sure come along way from it's humble origins and lent itself to newbies getting into VOIP (which is how I came into the fold).

And I have to say, while I am not a VOIP professional I do have some decent knowledge of Asterisk but find myself slightly resistant to going "backwards" by using the * GUI.

...........Or maybe I'm just lazy ...............

Unfortunately history repeats itself as some open source projects split into Community Edition and Paid edition. Some projects get it right while others use the community edition as free labor to develop their commercial side. Once interest or development falls off on the CE side they close it for further development and then scuttle it absorbing all of the free stuff into there commercial offerings. Course we all gotta eat! Does not seem to matter about all of the various licenses that prohibit things as there are always ways around it. I have developed software for years both commercial and non commercial just like most of the PIAF Dev Team. Made a lot of money off the commercial stuff and usually nothing off the open source side. The non commercial I do for fun. Lately with all the drama surrounding the Orange camp I was reluctant to invest time in something I saw heading the wrong way. So here at the crossroads we have to take a step back however I suspect the future is now brighter for PIAF as we can chart our own path and not rely on others. That being said all of the PIAF Dev team are excited at the prospect of new UI's sans all of the trolls and the soap opera. I for one smile more nowadays.

Tom

Anatomy of a Trainwreck

Looking on the bright side, it certainly increased visitation to their forums.