Installing OpenVBX is quick and easy, just follow this five step guide to get up and running in no time. We’ve also put together an upgrade guide for you, when you’re ready.
Download the latest release and unpack the source code into your webroot.
In addition to the database, create a MySQL database user who has all of the privileges to modify it.
Open your web browser and navigate to the URL of your OpenVBX installation. The installer will check that your system meets the minimum requirements and will configure your new phone system. You may have to adjust the permissions on the OpenVBX upload and configuration directories.
During the install process, you will be prompted for your Twilio API credentials. You can obtain your Account SID and Auth Token from your Twilio Dashboard. If you don’t have a Twilio account you can register for a free trial.
Navigate to the URL of your OpenVBX installation and login using the account you created during the installation. Once you’re logged in you’ll be able to add users and groups to your new phone system. You can also add devices, provision phone numbers, configure voicemail, and design call flows.
That’s it, you’re all set. OpenVBX is open source and extensible so feel free to skin it, hack it, and sell it!
This section provides detailed information for each step of the OpenVBX install process.
OpenVBX requires the software listed below. It is all available for free and is open source. OpenVBX is supported and should run on all major linux distributions. OpenVBX may run on other platforms (namely Windows) but is currently unsupported.
PHP 5.2 or higher.
OpenVBX requires CURL. If you don’t meet this requirement, install the CURL module.
We recommend Apache version 2.2+. Earlier versions and other web servers may work, but are currently unsupported.
We require MySQL version 5+.
APC is recommended, but not required. APC & Memcache are used to provide advanced caching that help speed up OpenVBX.
The configuration directory must be writable by the user your webserver is running as for the OpenVBX installation to complete. The path to the configuration directory is ‘/OpenVBX/config’. On unix systems you can adjust the permissions with the chown and chmod commands.
OpenVBX requires SimpleXML. If you don’t meet this requirement, install the SimpleXML module.
The upload directory must be writable by the user your webserver is running as for the OpenVBX installation to complete. The path to the configuration directory is ‘<webroot>/OpenVBX/audio-chown and chmod commands.
The .htaccess file is required to run OpenVBX with mod_rewrite. OpenVBX will attempt to create this file during the install if it is missing.
OpenVBX requires a MySQL database. You should create a database, and a user with permissions to access the database for OpenVBX. If you are running OpenVBX on a shared hosting environment, you may have to use the tools provided by your hosting provider to create a new database and database user.
In most cases this should be ‘localhost’. If your database server is on a machine other than your webserver, specify it’s address here.
The username to use when connecting to MySQL
The password to use when connecting to MySQL
The name of your OpenVBX database.
OpenVBX requires a Twilio account to enable provisioning phone numbers, sending and receiving voice calls, and sending and receiving SMS. If you don’t have a Twilio account you can register for a free trial.
This is your account identifier, it is unique to you and can be shared.
This is the key to your Twilio account, it is private and should not be shared.
If you plan on hosting multiple tenants on your install and would like each tenant’s activity to be billed to their account instead of to your account you can set up a Connect Application.
When creating your application use these settings:
App name shown to the tenant when they are asked to authorize the App.
Optional. Description shown to the tenant when they are asked to authorize the App.
The full url to your web-root. ie: http://example.org
These will be updated during the install process.
leave blank
This will be updated during the install process.
Select “Read all account data” & “Charge account for usage”
OpenVBX has the ability to send email notifications to users. This includes password reset emails, voicemail and SMS notifications, as well as notifications defined by plugins.
This email address will be used in the from field of emails sent from your OpenVBX installation.
In order to administer your OpenVBX installation you’ll need to create a user account. This is the account that will be used to manage your OpenVBX installation. This information can be updated later from within OpenVBX.
The first name of your OpenVBX administrator.
The last name of your OpenVBX administrator.
The email address to be associated with your OpenVBX admin account.
The password for your OpenVBX admin account.