We told you it was coming so here you go. The official launch of our 2.3 beta program packed with some great new enhancements and improvements to the online module update system that will allow patches to be downloaded online to the entire application. You can read more about this new release and instructions on how to download it next.
Summary of New Features
Some of the great new features introduced in 2.3 include:- Online update of core modules and the rest of the application framework (which is everything else that is not a module).
- VmX™ Locater, a new enhancement to the Voicemail/Follow-Me features that effectively provide each user (who has it enabled) a personal IVR (so to speak). It is controlled by the user in the ARI portal, where Follow-Me is also now exposed, and can work in conjunction with Follow-Me in a fully integrated manner.
- Control of Music on Hold classes based on inbound DID/Direct Did routing and/or Outbound routes.
- New Ring Strategies for Follow-Me and Ringgoups.
- Per extension ring time that overrides the global setting (after which the call is sent to voicemail).
- Day/Night Control Module
- Official Asterisk 1.4 support (as well as continued Asterisk 1.2 support)
Beta1 and Beta2+ Plans
The Beta program will be phased in with at least a 2.3.0beta2 following 2.3.0beta1. During beta1 we will review some of the low risk feature requests that have not yet been addressed with a goal of feature freeze by beta3 (if there is one) or entering the RC release candidate releases. There are a few key features that are not quite ready that we will be releasing with beta2, these are:- Release 0.27 of the Flash Operator Panel
- An improved FreePBX Landing Page with some useful status information
- Online Update Checker - to inform you of available updates without the need to actively check in Module Admin
Online Update of Core and Framework Code
FreePBX 2.3 should be a fairly stable release once up and functioning. One of the biggest changes is the move of the core modules to the online module repository, and the introduction of the framework module. The change represents a change to us, the developers, in how our build environment is structured. Once loaded on your system, it is just like it always has been. This may result in some installation and upgrade bumps at the begining. We will be responsive as bugs are reported. Once installed though, this change should have no impact on the stability of the release. We will also exercise this new facility liberally during this beta program to quickly supply you with bug fixes as they are fixed and in doing such, assure we stress the use of this facility during the program. Once 2.3 goes final, the facility will be used sparingly and conservatively to assure released versions remain stable.Installation Instructions
Installation should be no different than in the past, whether upgrading from an earlier release or installing from scratch:- Make sure you are logged in as root; get the tarball, unpack it and install it on your system with install_amp. Then make sure Asterisk is running.
- Go to Module Admin and install or upgrade any modules that need attention
- Start testing and reporting bugs as needed
su -
cd /usr/src/
wget http://mirror.freepbx.org/freepbx-2.3.0beta1.tar.gz
tar -zxvf freepbx-2.3.0beta1.tar.gz
cd freepbx-2.3.0beta1
./install_amp --force-version 2.2.2 # This is required if you were previously running svn/trunk
amportal start
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/amportal/freepbx-2.3.0beta1.tar.gz?modtime=1182713859&big_mirror=0
Keeping Track of Progress
In addition to regular updates at this news site, there is a Help link a the top of the FreePBX menu list that will take you to this status dashboard which we will use to post any important information and track bugs. You can also ask questions and discuss issues on the Beta Program Forum. Thanks for helping to get this new release flushed and out the door!