[Asterisk-Users] The Evil of type=friend explained, again (was Re: [Asterisk-Users] Minor Registration Problem With Polycom Soun dpoint IP 500)

[Jeremy McNamara]

David Liu wrote:

>Could you tell us a little bit how exactly it works?  The wiki pages don't
>say much about type=friend, user, and peer.  I tried using type=user but
>can't seem to register.
>  
>

A type=friend is simply both a type=user and type=peer using the same 
set of config directives. While a type=friend makes things almost 
trivial to get calls working in both directions, it will limit the 
flexibility of your config and even hinder some of the more advanced 
uses of Asterisk.

For example: Say you want to use the same 'user' across many different 
Asterisk boxes, which of course will have different IP addresses. In 
this situation, you cannot have a host keyword in your Asterisk config 
stanza for the type=user, but the type=peer requires some host keyword. 
Thus, if you use a type=friend you will limit the use of that one 
username to whatever IP address is contained in the host keyword. 

You only need to register to Asterisk if you have a dynamic IP address 
or you need to blow thru a firewall/NAT device. To register you need to 
have a type=peer with a host=dynamic. Since in your type=friend config 
directive you had host=some.ip.address, while this may be this is fine 
to for the type=user, this same value also gets used for the type=peer, 
which makes it so you cannot register since the IP address is hard coded.

So, either you do not need to register and things will Just Work(tm) or 
you will need to use separate type=user and type=peer config directives.

I smell the beginnings of a Whitepaper here.



Jeremy McNamara





>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Jeremy McNamara" <jj at nufone.net>
>To: <asterisk-users at lists.digium.com>
>Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2004 2:47 AM
>Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Minor Registration Problem With Polycom Soun
>dpoint IP 500
>
>
>  
>
>>mattf wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>I have all of my Polycom's set to friend so I know that's not your
>>>      
>>>
>problem.
>  
>
>>>      
>>>
>>One day you too will get bitten by the type=friend's EVIL and you will
>>see the light.
>>
>>Trust me,
>>
>>Jeremy McNamara
>>
>>
>>
>>
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