[Asterisk-Dev] 1.0.7 Release Candidate

[Harald Milz]

Chris Parker <cparker at segv.org> wrote:

> http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-vovida.org+STUN+server
> No need to plug-in STUN to Asterisk, it exists separately.

I know about this software. Wrong answer, though.  The above wiki link
does not explain how to run your Asterisk behind a NAT using the STUN
server.

Apart from the fact that the license for the software is not GPL
or similar, I tried to reach the original authors about whether they
would re-release it under the GPL so that one could include the code in
Asterisk directly. Never got an answer. So although the source code is
there I'd consider the stuff proprietary. Apart from that - running a
separate STUN _server_ when all you need is a _client_ is not what I'd
expect e.g. for people migrating from other operating systems, even if
it worked. There's an alternative STUN server named mystun, but "This
Project Has Not Released Any Files". Since the project was registered
2003-Aug-30, I don't expect it to release any file ever.

So - what Asterisk needs is an easy to set up _client_ to somehow determine
the external NAT IP address, e.g. by 

- querying an external STUN server
- gethostbynaming your DynDNS name (which the current CVS does nicely)
- querying the DSL router's web interface
- querying an external web page returning REMOTE_ADDR
- whatever you can make up

The easiest thing to do would be to integrate a scripting interface instead
of / in addition to the externhost code. This way, one could run whatever
returns the external IP address every couple of minutes or so. 

I guess I'll write some code and some sample scripts to get this handled.
This will answer the FAQ "how do I run Asterisk behind a NAT" once and
forever I hope... :-)) 

Again - is there any timeline to release an Asterisk version with new
features? 


-- 
How wonderful opera would be if there were no singers.