Auto-provisioning of IP phones

This chapter demonstrates how to set up SIP phone auto-provisioning so that you can easily control the parameters and configuration of thousands of IP phones from the PortaBilling web interface, without having to provision each unit individually.

Please refer to the PortaBilling Help for detailed instructions on how to navigate and operate the web interface, as well as for detailed explanations of particular fields.

The following section will assist you in setting up automatic provisioning of IP phones by PortaSwitch, so that every phone will automatically download all the required configuration parameters, such as phone number or password, from the provisioning server. Thus, there is no need for your end users to perform any configuration settings via the IP phone web interface.

Use this checklist to check off the operations you have completed while performing the system setup according to the instructions in this chapter. Please be sure to perform all of the operations in the order designated (all of the boxes should be checked), otherwise, the service will not work.

1. On the navigation menu, select Infrastructure, then select Inventory and click Phones/CPEs.
2. On the CPEs Inventory panel, select CPE profiles. On the Create a profile panel that opens, specify the basic CPE profile information:
   • Name – type a short descriptive name for this profile (e.g., “Sipura Standard.”)
   • Device model – choose the hardware type of the IP phone. (e.g., “Sipura 2000.”)
   • Managed by – if you plan to use this profile for a certain reseller’s customers, choose the reseller from the select menu; otherwise leave this as Administrator only.
   • Effective from – leave the value in this field as Immediately.

     

3. Click Save.

After clicking Save on the previous page, you are redirected to the Edit CPE Profile panel, where you can edit the generic device settings. These configuration parameters are dependent on the specific model of your IP device. The example below uses a Sipura-2000 device, but most of the settings should be the same for other Sipura/Linksys VoIP products.

[--key $B]http://PB_WEB_SERVER/$A/$MA.cfg

[--key $B]http://PB_WEB_SERVER/ 

[--key \$B]http://PB_WEB_SERVER/\$A/\$MA.cfg

[--key $B]http://demo.portaone.com/$A/$MA.cfg.

In the Line 1 and Line 2 tabs, you can specify parameters for both phone ports of your IP phone.

1. On the navigation menu, select Infrastructure, then select Inventory and click Phones/CPEs.
2. On the CPEs Inventory panel, select Phones/CPEs list. On the Create CPE panel that opens, specify the basic CPE device information:
   • Device ID – type a unique ID for the IP phone (e.g., JB SPA-2000).
   • Device model – select Sipura 2000 from the drop-down list.
   • MAC address – type the hardware ID of the IP phone (typically printed on the back of the device), 6 hexadecimal numbers, separated by colons. Make sure you enter the full value of the MAC address, including the colons!
   • Managed by – select Administrator only from the drop-down list.
   • CPE profile – select the IP device profile you previously created (e.g., Sipura Standard).

     

3. Click Save.

1. On the Account panel, click General info, then select Additional info and open Auto-provisioning panel.

   

2. On the Auto-provisioning panel configure the following options:
   • Use a slider to enable the Auto-provisioning option.
   • Option – select CPE from the drop-down list.
   • Device model – select Sipura 2000 from the drop-down list.
   • IP device – select JB SPA-2000 from the drop-down list.
   • CPE port – choose a specific port from the drop-down list, if the device has multiple phone ports.
3. Click Save.

After the automated script creates a new configuration file, it will place it on the provisioning server. The file generation process runs every hour (or every time you update a specific IP device profile).

All device configuration files are stored in /porta_var/<Server_IP>/tftp on the PortaBilling web server, in subdirectories with a name identical to the environment ID (i_env): 1, 2, 3, and so on.

If your IP phone/ATA was pre-configured by the vendor to retrieve a configuration from your provisioning server, you need only connect the phone to the Internet. Otherwise, you must enter information regarding the provisioning server into the IP phone manually:

1. Connect the Sipura device to the LAN, and find the IP address assigned to it by DHCP: connect an analog phone to phone port 1 and then dial **** on the phone, so that you enter the configuration menu. Dial 110# and listen to the IP address announced.
2. On the PC connected to the same LAN as the Sipura device, open a new web browser window and enter the URL http://<IP>, where <IP> is the IP address which was announced to you by the IVR.
3. Click on Admin login, then go to Advanced view and the Provisioning tab.
4. Enter the provisioning information.
   • In the Profile Rule field, enter:

     [--key $B]http://PB_WEB_SERVER/$A/$MA.cfg (for Sipura/Linksys VoIP products),
     
     [--key $B]http://PB_WEB_SERVER/cfg$MA (for Grandstream)

     Replace PB_WEB_SERVER with the actual hostname or IP address of your PortaBilling web server; for instance, the actual value in the field might be:

     [--key $B]http://demo.portaone.com/$A/$MA.cfg.

   • In the GPP A field, enter the numeric ID of the environment (i_env).
   • If you plan to use encryption for the configuration files, enter the secret key in the GPP B field.
5. Apply the changes by clicking Submit All Changes at the bottom of the page. After reboot, the device will request the configuration file from the server via the http protocol, and all profile parameters will be applied.

1. Launch your web browser.
2. Enter the Yealink device’s IP address in the browser’s Address field. For example: http://192.168.1.175.
3. Click on Admin login.
4. Then go to the Upgrade tab and select Advanced view:
5. In the URL field type in the full address of the provisioning server. This may be the actual hostname or IP address of your PortaBilling web server, and env_id – the numeric ID of the environment. For example: http://demo.portaone.com/1/.
6. Click on the Auto provision button if you want to auto provision the device immediately (mind that Check new config should not be disabled).
7. Click on the Confirm button to save changes.

In order to use auto-provisioning with Polycom devices, you need to specify the provisioning server using device controls.

1. Press the Menu and select Settings by scrolling down.
2. Then choose Advanced, enter the Password (by default it is set to 456), and then press the Enter button.
3. Go to Admin Settings, choose Network Configuration.
4. Scroll down and select the Server Menu.
5. Here specify:
   • Server Type (e.g., http)
   • Server Address in the following format:

     PB_WEB_SERVER/env_id/

   Replace PB_WEB_SERVER with the actual hostname or IP address of your PortaBilling web server and env_id with the numeric ID of the PortaBilling environment. For instance, the actual value in the field might be: 1.2.3.4/1/ or demo.portaone.com/1/

6. Press Ok to save the configuration.

1. Launch your web browser.
2. Enter Linksys device’s IP address in the browser’s Address field. For example: http://192.168.1.179.
3. Click on Admin login, then choose the Advanced view and go to the Provisioning tab.
4. Enter the provisioning information.
   • In the Profile Rule field, enter:

     [--key $B]http://PB_SERVER/$A/$MA.cfg

     Replace PB_SERVER with the actual hostname or IP address of your PortaBilling web server. For instance, the actual value in the field might be:

     [--key $B]http://demo.portaone.com/$A/$MA.cfg.

   • In the GPP A field, enter the numeric ID of the environment (i_env).
   • If you plan to use encryption for the configuration files, enter the secret key in the GPP B field.
5. Apply the changes by clicking Submit All Changes at the bottom of the page. After the system reboots, the device will request the configuration file from the server via the http protocol, and all profile parameters will be applied.

These instructions show you how to configure automatic provisioning for Telefield IPX500 phones. When provisioning a Telefield IPX500 IP device, PortaBilling generates an automated script that contains, among other things, the following information:

• a link to the configuration file that contains the device configuration parameters;
• the Telefield firmware information.

Therefore, to provision a Telefield IPX500 phone, complete the following steps:

1. Specify the path to PortaBilling on the IP phone web interface.
2. Configure the Telefield firmware update on the configuration server.

1. Launch your web browser.
2. Enter the Telefield phone IP address in the browser address field and log in with the phone credentials.
3. Go to the Service tab and select Advanced Upgrade in the left-hand menu.
4. Enter the provisioning information in the URL field: https://PB_WEB_SERVER/ipx.html?i_env=ENV_ID&protocol=PROTOCOL, where
   • PB_WEB_SERVER is the hostname or IP address of your PortaBilling web server;
   • ENV_ID is the PortaBilling environment ID; and
   • PROTOCOL is either an http or tftp protocol.

     The actual value in the field might be: https://demo.portaone.com/ipx.html?i_env=3&protocol=http.

5. Click Save.
   Once the information is submitted, the URL field will appear blank. However, Telefield will have received and stored this URL.

The Telefield RDS server stores the original Telefield firmware. You need to specify the application and ROM server information on the configuration server.

1. Go to the Telefield RDS server using the https://115.28.151.223/download/bash.sh link.
2. Find the following values:
   • APP_SERVER_URI
   • APP_VERSION
   • ROM_SERVER_URI
   • ROM_VERSION.

Use these values for the next stage.

1. On the configuration server web interface, go to the Configurations tab.
2. Clone the current configuration.
3. In the Configuration Tree, select Web Cluster.
4. In the Environments panel, select the required environment.
5. In the Groups panel, select UA_Profiles.
6. Use the firmware information from the Telefield RDS server to fill  in the following fields:
   • Telefield_IPX500_APP_SERVER_URI – Specify the URI of the application server for IPX500.
   • Telefield_IPX500_APP_VERSION – Specify the application version.
   • Telefield_IPX500_ROM_SERVER_URI – Specify the URI of the ROM server for IPX500.
   • Telefield_IPX500_ROM_VERSION – Specify the ROM version.
7. Click Save.
8. Click Check/Apply to apply this configuration.

The next time the IP phone sends a provisioning request, it will receive all essential information for the Telefield firmware update. The IP phone then downloads the firmware from the specified links and installs it.

1. Launch your web browser.
2. Enter the Fanvil device’s IP address in the browser’s Address field. For example: http://192.168.1.175.
3. Click on Admin login.
4. Then go to the Maintenance → Auto Provision → Phone Flash Settings.
5. Here specify:
   • Server Address (in the following format: PB_WEB_SERVER/env_id/)
   • Protocol Type (e.g., http).
   • Update Mode (Update After Reboot or Update at Time Interval).
6. If you plan to use encryption for the configuration files, enter the secret key in the Config Encryption Key field.
7. Click Apply to save changes.
8. Reboot phone (if Update After Reboot mode is used).

Note that auto-provisioning may take several minutes.

1. Launch your web browser.
2. Enter the Fanvil device’s IP address in the browser’s Address field. For example: http://192.168.1.175.
3. Click on Admin login. (e.g., X4G)
4. Then go to the System → Auto Provision → Static Provisioning Server
5. Here specify:
   • Server Address (in the following format: PB_WEB_SERVER/env_id/)
   • Protocol Type (e.g., http).
   • Update Mode (Update After Reboot or Update at Time Interval).
6. If you plan to use encryption for the configuration files, enter the secret key in the Config Encryption Key field.
7. Click Apply to save changes.
8. Reboot phone (if Update After Reboot mode is used).

1. Launch your web browser.
2. Enter the Htek device’s IP address in the browser’s Address field. For example: http://192.168.1.175.
3. Click on Admin login.
4. Then go to the Management → Auto Provision → Firmware Upgrade.
5. Here specify:
   • Config Server Path (in the following format: PB_WEB_SERVER/env_id/)
   • Upgrade Mode (e.g., http).
6. If you plan to use encryption for the configuration files, set Yes for Authenticate Cfg File and enter the secret key in the Set Common AES Key field.
7. Click SaveSet to save changes.
8. Click Autoprovision Now.

In order to understand provisioning in depth, you have to know something about the internal processes of configuration file generation.

Auto-provisioning is a built-in function of an IP phone, allowing the device to download its configuration from an external server via the HTTP or TFTP protocols. Different IP phones use a different set of configuration parameters and a different format for the configuration file. In addition, many IP phone manufacturers require the configuration file to be processed by some proprietary utility (profile compiler) before it can be supplied to the IP phone.

PortaBilling initially processes each account with an associated IP phone and creates a parameter-value plain-text file located in /home/porta-admin/profile. This file then becomes the source for the manufacturer’s configuration compiler. The result of the compilation (i.e., the file to be downloaded by the IP phone) is placed in /porta_var/<Server_IP>/tftp. All provision configuration files are stored with a $env-subfolder. Any IP phone can access its configuration file just by sending a request to the http-port of the PortaBilling web server.

For phones that do not support http provisioning, you may use the TFTP protocol. The main disadvantage of TFTP is that it has a higher chance of being blocked by a firewall.

Some IP phones support partial auto-provisioning, i.e., the device takes some settings from the configuration file and then uses its own default settings to complete the configuration.

Also, some IP phones can be customized by end users.  Thus, end users may wish to configure particular options (e.g., soft keys) according to their preferences.

For example, when creating a CPE profile for Audio Codes 405HD, you can remove such personal settings as programmable keys from the list of options to be auto-provisioned. Then, if end users configure the programmable keys for their IP phones, those changes remain after the IP phone configuration update.

To enable partial CPE profile configuration, follow the next steps:

1. On the Configuration server go to the Configurations tab.
2. Clone the existing configuration.
3. In the Configuration Tree, select Web Cluster.
4. In the Environments panel, select the Environment name. This allows you to enable the functionality only for the selected environment only.
   To enable partial CPE profiles configuration for all environments select Global from the Environments panel.
5. In the Groups panel, select UA_Profiles.
6. In the AllowPartialProfileConfiguration option, specify Yes.
7. Click the Save button and then the Verify button.
8. Verify the new configuration and click the Check/Apply button.

After the configuration has been applied, go to the administrator web interface.

To create a new CPE profile, follow the steps described in the Create a CPE Profile section of the current handbook.

To configure the existing profile, follow the steps described in the CPE Profile Settings section of the current handbook.

Note that when partial CPE profiles configuration is enabled on the Configuration server, additional controls appear near each configuration option. The controls are enabled by default, therefore to disable the provisioning of particular options, clear them.

To apply changes to previously generated CPE profiles and remove unwanted options do the following:

1. On the CPE profiles page select the profile you need.
2. On the Edit CPE profile page click Regenerate.
3. Click Save.

You can also apply changes to previously generated CPE profiles and remove unwanted options via the API.