$Revision$
$Date$
Reference
Core Options
Core options are located in beginning of configuration file and
affect behavior of the server.
debug - Set log level, this is number between 0 and 9. Default
is 0.
fork - If set to yes, the server will spawn children. If set to no, the main
process will be processing all messages. Default is yes.
Disabling child spawning is useful mainly for
debugging. When fork is turned off,
some features are unavailable:
there is no attendant process, no pid file is generated,
and server listens only at one address. Make sure you
are debugging the same interface at which
ser listens.
The easiest way to do so is to set the interface using
listen option explicitly.
log_stderror - If set to yes, the server will print its debugging
information to standard error output. If set to no, syslog
will be used. Default is no (printing to syslog).
listen - list of all IP addresses or hostnames SER should listen on.
This parameter may repeat several times, then SER will
listen on all addresses. For example, the following
command-line options (equivalent to "listen" config
option) may be used:
ser -l foo -l bar -p 5061 -l x -l y
will listen on foo:5060, bar:5061 & x:5061 & y:5061
alias - Add IP addresses or hostnames to list of name aliases.
All requests with hostname matching an alias will satisfy the condition
"uri==myself".
dns - Uses dns to check if it is necessary to add a "received=" field to a via.
Default is no.
rev_dns - Same as dns but use reverse DNS. Default is no.
port - Listens on the specified port (default 5060). It applies to the last
address specified in listen and to all the following that do not have a corresponding "port" option.
maxbuffer - Maximum receive buffer size which will not be exceeded by
the auto-probing procedure even if the OS allows. Default value is MAX_RECV_BUFFER_SIZE,
which is 256k.
children - Specifies how many processes should be started
for each transport protocol.
Running multiple children allows a server to
server multiple requests in parallel when request processing block (e.g., on DNS
lookup). Note that ser typically spawns additional
processes, such as timer process or FIFO server. If FIFO server is turned on,
you can watch running processes using the serctl
utility.
check_via - Turn on or off Via host checking when forwarding replies.
Default is no.
syn_branch - Shall the server use stateful synonym branches? It is faster but not
reboot-safe. Default is yes.
memlog - Debugging level for final memory statistics report. Default is L_DBG --
memory statistics are dumped only if debug is set high.
sip_warning - Should replies include extensive warnings? By default yes,
it is good for trouble-shooting.
fifo - FIFO special file pathname, for example "/tmp/ser_fifo". Default is
no filename -- no FIFO server is started then. We recommend to set it so that
accompanying applications such as serweb or
serctl can communicate with
ser.
fifo_mode - Permissions of the FIFO special file.
server_signature - Should locally-generated messages include server's signature?
By default yes, it is good for trouble-shooting.
reply_to_via - A hint to reply modules
whether they should send reply
to IP advertised in Via.
Turned off by default, which means that replies are
sent to IP address from which requests came from.
user | uid - uid to be used by the server.
group | gid - gid to be used by the server.
mhomed -- enable calculation of
outbound interface; useful on multihomed servers,
see .
loadmodule - Specifies a module to be loaded (for example "/usr/lib/ser/modules/tm.so")
modparam - Module parameter configuration. The commands takes three parameters:
module - Module in which the parameter resides.
parameter - Name of the parameter to be configured.
value - New value of the parameter.
Core Commands
Route Blocks and Process Control
route[number]{...} - This marks a "route block" in configuration files.
route blocks are basic building blocks of ser scripts.
Each route block contains a sequence of
SER actions enclosed in braces. Multiple route blocks
can be included in a configuration file.
When script execution begins on request receipt,
route block number 0 is entered. Other route blocks serve as a kind of sub-routines and
may be entered by calling the action route(n),
where n is number of the block. The action break
exits currently executed route block. It stops script execution for
route block number 0 or returns to calling route block otherwise.
route
route[0] {
# call routing block number 2
route(2);
}
route[2] {
forward("host.foo.bar", 5060);
}
failure_route is used to restart request processing
when a negative reply for a previously relayed request is received. It is only
used along with tm module, which stores the original requests and
can return to their processing later. To activate processing
of a failure_route block, call the TM action
t_on_failure(route_number) before calling
t_relay. When a negative reply
comes back, the desired failure_route
will be entered and processing of the original request may
continue.
The set of actions applicable from within
failure_route blocks is limited.
Permitted actions are URI-manipulation actions, logging and
sending stateful replies using t_reply.
failure_route
failure_route[1] {
# for some reason, the original forwarding attempt
# failed, try at another URI
append_branch("sip:nonsense@iptel.org");
# if this new attempt fails too, try another failure_route
t_on_failure("2");
t_relay();
}
The action break exits currently executed route block.
It stops script execution for route block number 0 or returns to calling
route block otherwise.
We recommend to use break
after any request forwarding or replying. This practice
helps to avoid erroneous scripts that
continue execution and mistakenly send another reply or
forward a request to another place, resulting in
protocol confusion.
Example: break;
route(n) - call routing block route[n]{...};
when the routing block n finishes processing, control is passed
back to current block and processing continues.
if (condition) statement - Conditional statement.
Use of if
if (method=="REGISTER) {
log("register received\n");
};
if - else - If-Else Conditional statement.
Use of if-else
if (method=="REGISTER) {
log("register received\n");
} else {
log("non-register received\n");
};
Flag Manipulation
setflag - Set flag in the message.
Example: setflag(1);
resetflag - Reset flag in the message.
Example: resetflag(1);
isflagset - Test whether a particular flag is set.
isflagset
if (isflagset(1)) {
....
};
setavpflag(avp, flag_id) - Sets a flag in the
AVP(s). The command simply set custom flag of AVP. The flags
may be used in script using isavpflagset
or in a module to perform specific operation on marked AVPs.
Flag identifier must be declared via avpflags
statement.
setavpflag
avpflags
my_flag,
your_flag;
....
setavpflag($avp[1], "my_flag");
....
if (isavpflagset($avp2, "your_flag")) {
}
resetavpflag(avp, flag_id) - Same as command
setavpflag - only resetavpflag will be
called instead of setavpflag.
isavpflagset(avp, flag_id) - Test if the avp flag
is set or not.
Manipulation of URI and Destination Set
rewritehost | sethost | seth - Rewrite host part of the Request URI.
Example: sethost("foo.bar.com");
rewritehostport | sethostport | sethp - Rewrite host and port part of the Request URI.
Example: sethostport("foo.bar.com:5060");
rewriteuser | setuser | setu - Rewrite or set username part of the Request URI.
Example: setuser("joe");
rewriteuserpass | setuserpass | setup - Rewrite or set username and password part
of the Request URI.
Example: setuserpass("joe:mypass");
rewriteport | setport | setp - Rewrite or set port of the Request URI.
Example: setport("5060");
rewriteuri | seturi - Rewrite or set the whole Request URI.
Example: seturi("sip:joe@foo.bar.com:5060");
revert_uri - Revert changes made to the Request URI and use original Request URI.
Example: revert_uri();
prefix - Add prefix to username in Request URI.
Example: prefix("123");
strip - Remove first n characters of username in Request URI.
Example: strip(3);
append_branch - Append a new destination to destination set of the message.
Use of append_branch
# redirect to these two destinations: a@foo.bar and b@foo.bar
# 1) rewrite the current URI
rewriteuri("sip:a@foo.bar");
# 2) append another entry to the destination ser
append_branch("sip:b@foo.bar");
# redirect now
sl_send_reply("300", "redirection");
Message Forwarding
forward(uri, port) - Forward the request to given
destination statelessly. The uri and port parameters may take special
values 'uri:host'
and 'uri:port' respectively, in which case SER forwards to destination
set in current URI. All other elements in a destination set are
ignored by stateless forwarding.
Example: forward("foo.bar.com"); # port defaults to 5060
send - Send the message as is to a third party
Example: send("foo.bar.com");
Logging
log([level], message) - Log a message.
Example: log(1, "This is a message with high log-level set to 1\n");
Logging is very useful for troubleshooting or attracting administrator's
attention to unusual situations. ser
reports log messages to syslog
facility unless it is configured to print them to stderr
with the log_stderr configuration option. Log messages
are only issued if their log level exceeds threshold set with the
debug configuration option. If log level is omitted,
messages are issued at log level 4.
Miscellaneous
len_gt - If length of the message is greater than value given as parameter, the
command will return 1 (indicating true). Otherwise -1 (indicating false) will be returned. It may
take 'max_len' as parameter, in which case message size is limited
to internal buffer size BUF_SIZE (3040 by default).
Use of len_gt
# deny all requests larger in size than 1 kilobyte
if (len_gt(1024)) {
sl_send_reply("513", "Too big");
break;
};
Command Line Parameters
Command-Line parameters may be overridden by configuration
file options which take precedence over them.
-h - Displays a short usage description, including all available options.
-c - Performs loop checks and computes branches.
-r - Uses dns to check if it is necessary to add a "received=" field to a via.
-R - Same as -r but uses reverse dns.
-v - Turns on via host checking when forwarding replies.
-d - Turns on debugging, multiple -d increase debugging level.
-D - Runs ser in the foreground (it doesn't fork into daemon mode).
-E - Sends all the log messages to stderr.
-V - Displays the version number.
-f config-file - Reads the configuration from "config-file" (default ./ser.cfg).
-l address - Listens on the specified address. Multiple -l mean listening
on multiple addresses. The default behavior is to listen on all the ipv4 interfaces.
-p port - Listens on the specified port (default 5060). It applies to the last
address specified with -l and to all the following that do not have a corresponding -p.
-n processes-no - Specifies the number of children processes forked per
interface (default 8).
-b max_rcv_buf_size - Maximum receive buffer size which will not be exceeded by
the auto-probing procedure even if the OS allows.
-m shared_mem_size - Size of the shared memory which will be allocated (in Megabytes).
-w working-dir - Specifies the working directory. In the very improbable event
that will crash, the core file will be generated here.
-t chroot-dir - Forces ser to chroot after reading the config file.
-u uid - Changes the user id under which ser runs.
-g gid - Changes the group id under which ser runs.
-P pid-file - Creates a file containing the pid of the main ser process.
-i fifo-path - Creates a fifo, useful for monitoring ser status.
Modules
Module description is currently located in READMEs of
respective module directories. README-MODULES
lists all available modules, including their maturity status.
In the current ser
distribution, there are the following modules:
acc
-- call accounting using syslog facility.
RADIUS and mysql support can be compiled in.
Depends on tm.
auth, auth_db, auth_radius
-- digest authentication. Depends on sl and mysql.
domain -- checks URIs whether they belong
in a list of served domains or not.
ENUM -- E.164 phone number resolution using ENUM.
exec
-- execution of shell programs.
group, group_radius
-- checks membership of users in groups
jabber
-- gateway between SIMPLE and Jabber instant messaging. Depends
on tm and mysql.
maxfwd
-- checking max-forwards header field.
msilo
-- message silo. Store for undelivered instant messages. Depends on tm and mysql.
mysql
-- mysql database back-end.
nathelper
-- facilitates NAT traversal for symmetric SIP phones such as ATA.
pa
-- presence agent
registrar, usrloc
-- User Location database. Works in in-memory mode or with mysql persistence
support. Depends on sl, and on mysql if configured for use with mysql.
rr
-- Record Routing (strict and loose)
sl
-- stateless User Agent server.
sms
-- SIMPLE/SMS gateway. Depends on tm. Takes special hardware.
textops -- textual database back-end.
tm
-- transaction manager (stateful processing).
uri, uri_radius
-- checks digest identity against header URIs or a database list
The most frequently used actions exported by modules are summarized
in . For a full explanation of
module actions, see documentation in respective module directories
in source distribution of ser.
Frequently Used Module Actions
Command
Modules
Parameters
Comments
append_hf
textops
header field
append a header field to the end of request's header
check_from
uri
none
check if username in from header field matches authentication id
check_to
uri
none
check if username in To header field matched authentication id
exec_dset
exec
command name
execute an external command and replace destination set with
its output
exec_msg
exec
command name
execute an external command and pass received SIP request
to its input
is_user
uri
user id
returns true if request credentials belong to a user
is_user_in
auth
user, group
check if user is member of a group; user can be gained
from request URI ("Request-URI"), To header field ("To"),
From header field ("From") or digest credentials
("Credentials")
lookup
usrloc
table name
attempt to translate request URI using user location database;
returns false if no contact for user found;
loose_route
rr
none
process loose routes in requests
mf_process_maxfwd_header
maxfwd
default max_forwards value
return true, if request's max_forwards value has not
reached zero yet; if none is included in the request,
set it to value in parameter
proxy_authorize
auth
realm, subscriber table
returns true if requests contains proper credentials, false
otherwise
proxy_challenge
auth
realm, qop
challenge user to submit digest credentials; qop may be turned
off for backwards compatibility with elderly implementations
record_route
rr
none
record-route a request
replace
textops
RegExp, Substitute
find the first occurrence of a string matching the regular
expression in header or body and replace it with a substitute
replace_all
textops
RegExp, Substitute
find all occurrences of a string matching the regular
expression in header or body and replace it with a substitute
save
usrloc
table name
for use in registrar: save content of Contact header fields
in user location database and reply with 200
search
textops
regular expression
search for a regular expression match in request header of body
sl_send_reply
sl
status code, reason phrase
reply a request statelessly
t_relay
tm
none
stateful forwarding to locations in current destination set
t_on_failure
tm
failure_route number
set failure_route block which shall be entered if stateful
forwarding fails
t_replicate
tm
host, port number
replicate a request to a destination
FIFO Commands Reference
This section lists currently supported FIFO commands. Some of them are
built-in in ser core, whereas
others are exported by modules. The most important exporters are now
tm and usrloc module. tm FIFO commands allow users to initiate transactions
without knowledge of underlying SIP stack. usrloc FIFO commands allow
users to access in-memory user-location database. Note that that is the
only way how to affect content of the data-base in real-time. Changes
to MySql database do not affect in-memory table unless ser
is restarted.
FIFO Commands
Command
Module
Parameters
Comments
ps
core
none
prints running ser processes
which
core
none
prints list of available FIFO commands
arg
core
none
prints list of command-line arguments with which
ser was started
pwd
core
none
prints ser's working
directory
version
core
none
prints version of ser
uptime
core
none
prints ser's running time
sl_stats
sl
none
prints statistics for sl module
t_stats
tm
none
print statistics for tm module
t_hash
tm
none
print occupation of transaction table (mainly for debugging)
t_uac_dlg
tm
method, request URI, outbound URI (if none, empty line with a single dot),
dot-line-terminated header fields, optionally dot-line terminated message
body.
initiate a transaction.
From and To header fields must be present in header field list,
so does Content-Type if body is present. If CSeq, CallId and From-tag
are not present, ephemeral values are generated. Content_length is
calculated automatically if body present.
ul_stats
usrloc
none
print usrloc statistics
ul_rm
usrloc
table name, user name
remove all user's contacts from user-location database
ul_rm_contact
usrloc
table name, user name, contact
remove a user's contact from user-location database
ul_dump
usrloc
none
print content of in-memory user-location database
ul_flush
usrloc
none
flush content of in-memory user-location cache in
persistent database (MySQL)
ul_add
usrloc
table name, user name, contact, expiration, priority (q)
insert a contact address in user-location database
ul_show_contact
usrloc
table, user name
show user's contact addresses in user-location database
Used Database Tables
ser includes MySQL support
to guarantee data persistence across server reboots and storage
of users' web environment. The data stored in
the database include user profiles, access control lists, user location,
etc. Note that users are not supposed to alter the data directly, as it
could introduce inconsistency between data on persistence storage and
in server's memory.
The following list enumerates used tables and explains their purpose.
subscriber -- table of users. It includes user names and
security credentials, as well as additional user information.
reserved -- reserved user names. serweb
does not permit creation of accounts with name on this list.
phonebook -- user's personal phonebooks. Accessible via
serweb.
pending -- table of unconfirmed subscription requests. Used by
serweb.
missed_calls -- table of missed calls. Can be fed by acc modules
if mysql support is turned on. Displayed by serweb.
location -- user contacts. Typically updated through
ser'r registrar
functionality.
grp -- group membership. Used by auth module to determine
whether a user belongs to a group.
event -- allows users to subscribe to additional services.
Currently unused.
aliases -- keeps track of alternative user names.
active_sessions -- keeps track of currently active web sessions.
For use by serweb.
acc -- keeps track of accounted calls. Can be fed by acc module
if mysql support is turned on. Displayed by serweb.
config -- maintains attribute-value pairs for keeping various information.
Currently not used.
silo -- message store for instant messages which could not have been
delivered.
version -- keeps version number of each table definition.
domain -- maintains list of served domains.
server_monitoring-* -- reserved for persistent monitoring of
server's operation
uri -- used to keep lists of URIs "owned" by a user
(as identified by digest identity); good for some
PSTN interworking scenarios