Solution for FreePBX 17 Installation on Debian 12 Failing After Debian 13 Release

Hello everyone,

I’ve been working through an issue with the FreePBX 17 installation script (sng_freepbx_debian_install.sh) on Debian 12. The installation was failing with dependency conflicts, specifically involving core packages like libc6.

The root cause of the problem is that the FreePBX script was adding a repository for stable Debian packages. With the recent release of Debian 13 “Trixie”, the stable repository automatically switched to the new release, causing the system to attempt a partial, incompatible upgrade.

I found a temporary solution that allows the installation to complete successfully. This fix involves editing the script to explicitly use the bookworm codename instead of stable.

The Fix

Before you run the installation script, you must edit it to correct the repository definition.

Open the script in a text editor:
vi sng_freepbx_debian_install.sh

Find the following section of code:

if [ ! “$noaac” ] ; then
add-apt-repository -y -S “deb $DEBIAN_MIRROR stable main non-free non-free-firmware” >> “$log”
fi

Change the word stable to bookworm within the add-apt-repository line. The corrected code should look like this:

if [ ! "$noaac" ] ; then
	add-apt-repository -y -S "deb $DEBIAN_MIRROR bookworm main non-free non-free-firmware" >> "$log"
fi

Save the file and exit the editor (Ctrl + X, then Y, then Enter).

You can now run the modified script on a clean Debian 12 system, and it will install successfully without the dependency conflicts.

This workaround ensures that the script uses the correct Debian 12 packages. Hopefully, this helps others who are facing the same issue until an official update to the script is released.

1 Like

Thanks @intrabasic and welcome to the forums!

There’s a GitHub issue about the install issue (yours ?) and another GitHub issue regarding a suggested fix for existing systems that you can run before the next apt update, along with an associated forum post regarding the latter for those about to upgrade their FreePBX 17 systems.

Script was updated with the fix – new installs now stick to bookworm – but previous installs may need some manual adjustment before your next system-level package apt update (which is different process than FreePBX module updates in the web GUI.)