Asterisk 12? or 13? Upgrade or Re-Install?

Distro Discussion & Help
1

We recently updated to FreePBX-12 on our original FreePBX-2.11 distro. Everything went fine so far as we can tell. I have been reading about the upcoming move to Asterisk 12 as well. But when I go to the Distro download page I see this:

Stable-6.12.65
Release Date-2014
FreePBX 12, Linux 6.5
Asterisk 11 or 13

There is no Asterisk 12 listed there at all. I infer that 12 has morphed to 13 as the latter is the Long Term Support release of Asterisk, but I would like to have my conclusion either confirmed or corrected.

I am also wondering if there is an upgrade path from Asterisk 11 to Asterisk 13 or if one has to download the ISO and do a fresh install.

2

Yes, 12 has been removed, and we’re targeting 13 now. Changing versions is as simple as running ‘asterisk-version-switch’ on the command line. You can jump back and forwards between 1.8, 11 and 13 as much as you want without needing to re-install.

We’re 100% sure that that is safe, as that’s what we - the devs - use to switch back and forward between versions to make sure we haven’t broken anything.

You’ll also notice that 13 is marked as Experimental. This is - and I emphasize, this is my personal opinion, and not the opinion of anyone else - due for removal. The only thing left that’s a bit strange is CDRs. Everything else is as solid as a rock.

3

Is FreePBX 6.12.65 is still Experimental with Asterisk 13 when we update it to 6.12.65-27? Could I use it in operational environment?

Thanks

4

Hanie,

FYI, I updated to FreePBX 6.12.65-27, and am still running Asterisk 11.17.1, without any apparent issues.

I went through the process of upgrading to 12 but only saw 13 as an option, so I stayed on 11.

(I also am wondering about Asterisk 13).

Mike

5

Hi Rob,

Jumping onto an old post, as this is something I was also considering. When I installed last week I was inclined to go with the latest stable version. But The work “experimental” threw me off track, so I decided to go with 11.

To make sure I’m understanding correctly - you’re saying that the command you referenced (“asterisk-version-switch”) will put me up to v.13 with no risk to the current configuration? Only reason I’m thinking about making the switch is the inclusion of pjsip. Not sure if that’s really a compelling reason. But some of the tutorials I’ve been following use pjsip instead of sip in several scenarios.

Thanks!
Brian

6

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. If you have dramas (which you may if you’re doing specific stuff with CDRs that’s not using FreePBX code), you can switch back straight away, again with no issues.

Obviously, anything pjsip will be hidden and inaccessible while you don’t have an Asterisk that supports pjsip, but as soon as you do it’ll become visible again.