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  • 1.  It's 2019 - What are you using as a file server for H.323/SIP Phones?

    Posted 07-17-2019 02:35 PM

    Hello -

    So I have been asked to retire our old File Server/Windows Server that we are running to be the file server for our H.323/SIP Phones. It has worked great, but the time has come to upgrade.

    So I am wondering, it's 2019 - What is everyone doing to handle the file server needs of these phones? Avaya has quite a few products out there that "Kinda" handle this, but I am not 100% sure they are the best options out there. So I am hoping to start a thread of users setups, the pros/cons of the setup, and try and build a "Best Practice" guide for HTTP/HTTPS for use with Avaya Phones.

    Here are some starter questions I have and I hope folks will respond with their setup, and share some ideas:

    1. Are you using the Avaya Utility Server and/or AADS to handle your file server requirements? Has this worked out for you?
    2. Are you using Windows and IIS and/or Apache? If so, how do you like this type of setup, is it secure (i.e. HTTPS), and do you do IP Phone backups through your setup?
    3. Anyone use Linux and it's built in applications to handle this request? If so, does it meet your expectations, does it allow for HTTPS, and IP Phone Backups? How difficult was it to setup?

    Any and all feedback is welcome, the more we discuss, the more we are all in the know!

    Thanks,



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    James Davis
    Voice and Data Senior Engineer
    University of Nebraska Medical Center
    Omaha NE
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  • 2.  RE: It's 2019 - What are you using as a file server for H.323/SIP Phones?

    Posted 07-17-2019 02:51 PM
    1.  We installed AADS (the replacement of the Avaya Utility Server) in hopes to have it handle the firmware stuff for us.  AADS makes a lot of assumptions on how your environment should be setup.  If you can't bend your environment to match those needs, it's utility fades very quickly.  It took us a good few weeks of getting it setup and playing with it to figure out.  For us, the blocker was that it assumed that every one of our extensions were located in an active directory, with a phone number properly mapped (we don't operate that way, and have just a ton of utility phones everywhere).

    We use, and have been using for a while is an IIS server for the firmware updates, and an Apache server (resident on the same server) for the phone backups.  It's solid, and we have been in this model for closer to 8 years.  I've seen many people use just a basic Linux (Ubuntu or RedHat or SuSE) server and have the same results.  The file server requirement is super basic -- and as long as it can serve files, you should be set.

    Setting up Apache to accept phone backups is non-trivial if you aren't super familiar with Apache's config files.  If you are OK with apache, it's not too bad...  The hardest is figuring out the login/password combination between the different models of phones.

    Security is as much as you put into it.  We pulled certs off SMGR CA for our HTTPS.  At the moment, we don't do HTTPS for our phone backups, but we didn't really see much security exposure for that.  SIP with PPM is quickly replacing that model, so phone backup become less used.

    -Nick

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    Nick Kwiatkowski
    Director of Design and Engineering
    Michigan State University
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: It's 2019 - What are you using as a file server for H.323/SIP Phones?

    Posted 07-22-2019 06:37 PM
    Nick (and/or others)
    We are starting the process of converting our classrooms from Utility Server to Avaya Aura Device Services (AADS).  After installing AADS 25+ times, I've finally learned how to stand up the AADS server.  (Did you know that having access to NTP is an absolutely critical requirement?  And connecting to an LDAP database, such as the included OpenLDAP is effectively a critical requirement.) 

    We want to start using the Vantage phones with the Equinox Client, as well as continue using J179 and 9611 endpoints.  The latter two will flip-flop between H.323 and SIP.  Consequently, using a different file server than the Utility Server is not an option I'm ready to consider.  I have started configuring AADS for some phones, but not had a chance to complete that phase of the project.

    Nick, I note your frustration with the requirement of using an LDAP database (e.g. Active Directory), and the assumption that every extension number appears within Active Directory.  Are there any other limitations you (or anyone else) encountered?

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    John Waber
    Senior Technical Instructor
    ConvergeOne- Center of Excellence
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: It's 2019 - What are you using as a file server for H.323/SIP Phones?

    Posted 07-23-2019 08:45 AM

     

    John, as Nick said we vetted the AADS extensively and in the end abandoned it. We were able to get it installed on the second try, though.

     

    The LDAP functionality is only a benefit to Equinox clients and although you can use the OpenLDAP built into AADS, because an LDAP management tool is not included, it is mostly worthless. The primary benefit of using LDAP with the AADS is the single sign-on for users, so using a directory separate from your AD kills most of the benefit.

     

    The bulk of the testing we did was in supporting IP hard phones with the Dynamic Configuration tool, because we have so many and because we have every type represented. At first, the custom 46XXsettings.txt files per phone type was appealing, but that too quickly fell apart:

                  -4600s are not supported (we still have some)

                  -Group IDs and branching within the 46XXsettings.txt file are not supported

                  -You still need a way to deploy supporting files (e.g. certs and image files)

     

    As a last resort we investigated using the AADS Utility server directly. The Utility Server has always been limited, but has been further hamstrung in Aura 8:

                  -Vantage phones are supposed to be supported but there is a caveat with firmware (file size limitations) which the documentation glosses over and we could not overcome

                  -Phone backups require placing the AADS administrator credentials into the 46xxsettings.txt file ("SET BRURI http://<username>:<password>@<AADS IP address>/

    PhoneBackup")

                  -"Custom File Upload" is needed to place certs, screen saver and background images, ringtones, etc. but the UI no longer allows you to view the uploaded files or delete them

     

    Another head scratcher was the concept that the AADS is intended as a "warm-and-fuzzy" UI for administrators, yet deploying a new hard phone software version onto the Util server requires a dip into VI (to modify the upgrade.txt files). And as mentioned above, if you need to change or delete custom files you have to get into the CLI and/or use a graphical FTP/SCP client anyway.

     

    The AADS mechanism for hosting the IP hard phone software is reliant on subfolders (each phone type has its own subfolder) and symlinks which is an interesting concept, but was broken for 9600-series files (we were able to manually create the symlinks).

     

    In the end, as Nick said, for our complex environment it made more sense to continue using IIS for hard phones. We currently don't miss the LDAP piece for single sign-on of equinox clients (the configuration URL can be pushed at installation). We did run with the subfolder concept for IP hard phones, though, and have successfully gone into production with an IIS server hosting each phone type in its own subfolder.

     

    Marc

     

     

    Marc Fenneuff

    Unified Communications

    IT Services | Systems Infrastructure

    Michigan State University

    Direct: 517.353.1333

    fenneuff@msu.edu

     

     




    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: It's 2019 - What are you using as a file server for H.323/SIP Phones?

    Posted 07-23-2019 12:15 PM

    Marc, how are you pushing the URL with the Equinox mobile app? Through some kind of MDM? And how does the user log in? With a predefined passcode that you give them (that they cannot then change, and won't document, that you have to reset every time they get a new mobile device?)

    I admit I'm getting very nervous reading this AADS discussion, as we're about to deploy it. I *really* want and expect easy, single sign-on with domain credentials for users. If I have to host my phone config files somewhere else, so be it.

    And I don't buy the idea that the product is not ideal because MSU is a complex environment with lots of phones and phone types and utility phones with numbers that don't correspond to AD, etc, etc. We are ALL complicated environments with lots of different issues, and that's why we spend a lot of money with companies like Avaya and their BPs: To give us powerful, flexible solutions. Who is the cookie cutter enterprise out there? From the hundreds of individual Avaya customer sysadmins I've met over the years, cookie cutter doesn't exist.


    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: It's 2019 - What are you using as a file server for H.323/SIP Phones?

    Posted 01-17-2020 05:17 PM
    I'm curious if anyone ended up adopting AADS or if you all ended up abandoning it? I'm working on deploying an HA pair and it's off to a slow start. The installer isn't the most friendly, but after a few runs through it and juggling the certificate chain requirements I've got one installed, but having NTP issues with one I'm setting up in my lab for testing updates, patches, etc. I mostly was interested for easing Equinox deployments and not really looking at the Utility server per say. I personally like having the flexibility and ease of IIS, although I can see the appeal for keeping firmware updates a little cleaner. Any feedback is appreciated.

    I was pretty interested to see the Session Manager data replication, so we'll see how it progresses. I'm concerned the AD requirements might be a concern for us as well, but I guess I'll find out in a few weeks :)

    I also decided to dedicate two session managers for SIP phone registrations and OPTIM traffic. We're still on 7.1 on CM and SMGR, but I really like the adoption of the route pattern calculation to built the OPS off station mapping. That seems like a marked improvement over being depended on AAR routing.

    Happy New Year and best of luck to you all in 2020 everyone!

    Adam

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    Adam Schuyler
    Telecom Engineer
    Science Applications International Corporation
    Orlando FL
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: It's 2019 - What are you using as a file server for H.323/SIP Phones?

    Posted 01-20-2020 09:35 AM
    We started on Utility Server and found it easy to use after a bit of trial and error. It is much easier to load firmware and manipulate the 46xxsettings.txt file compared to the very onerous AADS which removed most of the convenience tools of Utility Server.
    Our new Aura 8 system has AADS, but we will also be adding Utility Server back into the mix. We lost too much functionality in AADS. Also, with a minimal staff support for 5000+ devices, I do not have the resources to spend extra time on manual uploads and going into the CLI to perform simple tasks.

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    Richard Browne
    Senior Telecommunications Engineer
    MAP Communications
    Chesapeake VA
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    Original Message