Asterisk Installation & Setup on Ubuntu (Beginner-Friendly Tutorial)

✅ Requirements:

• Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 (works on most recent LTS versions)
• Root or sudo access
• Basic Linux command-line knowledge

🥇 Step 1: Update the System

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

🥈 Step 2: Install Dependencies

sudo apt install -y build-essential git wget subversion \
  libxml2-dev libncurses5-dev uuid-dev libjansson-dev \
  libssl-dev libsqlite3-dev

🥉 Step 3: Download and Compile Asterisk

cd /usr/src
sudo git clone -b 20 https://github.com/asterisk/asterisk.git
cd asterisk
sudo contrib/scripts/install_prereq install
sudo ./configure
sudo make menuselect

• In menuselect, you can choose modules like res_srtp, chan_sip, pjproject, etc.
• Press Save & Exit

Then compile and install:

sudo make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install
sudo make samples
sudo make config
sudo ldconfig

🏁 Step 4: Start Asterisk

sudo systemctl start asterisk
sudo systemctl enable asterisk

Test the CLI:

sudo asterisk -rvvv

📁 Key Configuration Files

☎️ Simple Example: Adding Two SIP Extensions

sip.conf

[general]
context=default
bindport=5060
bindaddr=0.0.0.0

[1000]
type=friend
secret=pass1000
host=dynamic
context=internal

[1001]
type=friend
secret=pass1001
host=dynamic
context=internal

extensions.conf

[internal]
exten => 1000,1,Dial(SIP/1000)
exten => 1001,1,Dial(SIP/1001)

🧪 Test It

1. Use Zoiper, Linphone, or MicroSIP on two PCs/phones.
2. Register accounts 1000 and 1001.
3. Call from one to the other.

📚 Further Learning Resources

• 📖 Asterisk Wiki
• 📘 The Asterisk: Definitive Guide
• 🎥 YouTube Channels: “Crosstalk Solutions”, “FreePBX Demos”

Would you like a tutorial for:

• 🧱 FreePBX (GUI for Asterisk)?
• 📞 Asterisk with WebRTC?
• ☁️ Hosting on a cloud VPS?