Heqet ISO - FreePBX 17 on Debian 12 with IN1CLICK

FreePBX Installation / Upgrade
1

Hi All,

I have released a beta version of the alternative Heqet ISO for low-touch installs, which you are welcome to try out. It’s free, and code for the build has been uploaded to @20telecom’s GitHub.

The Heqet ISO seamlessly installs FreePBX 17, Debian 12, Asterisk 22, MariaDB 10, with the most recent IN1CLICK installer. It is deliberately designed for bare minimum user interaction: choose en_US or en_GB region, UTC, this is full disk only, and you must have internet access.

heqet-logo
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You can download the latest version here :backhand_index_pointing_right: https://heqet.in1.click/beta/freepbx17.iso

There are some improvements to be made, but I wanted to get something out sooner rather than later. I have been working on this for a few weeks and it should now be suitable for wider testing.

  1. Hit enter at the initial boot screen
  2. Copy the random root password
  3. Choose en_US or en_GB, or Abort.
  4. Eject media after Debian installation
  5. IN1CLICK runs automatically on boot
  6. Welcome to FreePBX 17

Please share any suggestions, keeping the spirit of “in one click” in mind. It isn’t meant for everyone, but I hope it will suit newbies and those needing rapid, regular deployment alike.

I hope it helps,

Kieran

P.s. You can change timezone in the GUI later.

2

Hi guys,

The preseed config is overwriting locale selection at the Heqet gate, which I don’t have time to fix and test extensively today.

It defaults to en_US regardless. No big deal for most of you anyway and I know exactly why it’s doing it.

Locale selection was a last-minute addition when I had intended on forcing en_US upon all of you, lol.

If you want to change locale after the installation completes, log in as root and run the following:

dpkg-reconfigure locales
  • Select en_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8 with the space bar

Screenshot 2026-02-12 111238
Screenshot 2026-02-12 1112381309×816 9.27 KB

  • Untick en_US.UTF-8 (optional) with space bar
  • Tab > Ok (Enter)
  • When prompted for default locale > example en_GB.UTF-8

Screenshot 2026-02-12 111304
Screenshot 2026-02-12 1113041306×824 6.78 KB

  • reboot
  • Log in with the overly complicated random password
  • Check it again with locale

Screenshot 2026-02-12 111451
Screenshot 2026-02-12 111451270×285 2.2 KB

You can select any locale from here, so it may be useful for future reference. I might just create ISO configurations for everywhere, who knows. I am trying to make it fast and seamless, there is already an ISO if customisation is what you need.

Sorry about this, I am annoyed with myself. It is in beta and there are a few things that can’t be easily spotted in testing, despite creating and running at least 150 versions. Imagine how long that takes!

If you are a newbie, don’t be alarmed by these screenshots and having to do this. You would have had to do this anyway after initial boot-up. I am trying to minimise the required interactions.

You can change the root password with passwd and ssh access is disabled by default.

If you spot anything else, please let me know here or in a private message.

Kieran

3

Locales has always been an Achilles heel in Debian 12 to start with. Every fresh install whether that’s an iso or cloud image has always had me setting locales. I will give this a spin

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