asterisk users - Dec 2018 - how to use a database

On 12/05/2018 01:19 PM, Antony Stone wrote:
> On Wednesday 05 December 2018 at 13:04:57, hw wrote:
> 
>> On 12/04/2018 07:07 PM, Antony Stone wrote:
>>> On Tuesday 04 December 2018 at 16:11:39, hw wrote:
>>>> On 12/01/2018 05:30 PM, Marcelo Terres wrote:
>>>>> Queue_log
>>>>
>>>> Thanks!
>>>>
>>>> That's not really it; however, how do I make it so that
asterisk writes
>>>> this information right away into a mariadb database instead of
into a
>>>> file so that I could actually use it?
>>>
>>> Send your queue_log entries to odbc?
>>
>> odbc?  Seriously?
> 
> Yes, it's the preferred method of talking to databases from Asterisk.
After reading some documentation, anything else but odbc appears to be 
more or less deprecated :/
> If you want to use the MySQL-specific driver / connector, you can still use
> that for some things, but Voicemail in a database can only be done via
ODBC,
> for example.
> 
>>> It's a setting in extconfig.conf.
>>
>> Does mysql not work?  It's mentioned there, too.
> 
> By all means try it - if it's mentioned, it'll probably work, but
ODBC is the
> more generic and better-supported way of using databases with Asterisk.
Since it really seems to be the most reasonable choice, I've set up an 
odbc connection and used alembic to create tables in a database for 
asterisk.

Now how is this managable?  Is there a tool that reads the files I have 
and enters the configuration into the database?  And when changes are to 
be made, editing configuration files is tremendously easier than going 
through the tables in the database and try to make the changes there.

For now, can I make it so that only the queue_log is written into the 
database?  I don't see a table for that.

How dynamic are changes made in the database?  For example, if I want to 
have an extension 'foobar' and want to ring different devices depending 
on some factors (like time of day, for example), can I modify the entry 
in the database for the device to ring from 'bar' to 'baz', and
baz will
ring instead of bar from thereon?  That seems to be what this is 
intended for; in any case, it's what I'm going to need, which is why I 
went to all these lengths to connect to a database.

Is it possible to use configuration from both the database and the files 
at the same time?  That would save me converting all the entries in the 
files for now.

On Wednesday 05 December 2018 at 15:31:38, hw wrote:
> On 12/05/2018 01:19 PM, Antony Stone wrote:
> > On Wednesday 05 December 2018 at 13:04:57, hw wrote:
> >> On 12/04/2018 07:07 PM, Antony Stone wrote:
> >>> On Tuesday 04 December 2018 at 16:11:39, hw wrote:
> >>>> On 12/01/2018 05:30 PM, Marcelo Terres wrote:
> >>>>> Queue_log
> >>>> 
> >>>> Thanks!
> >>>> 
> >>>> That's not really it; however, how do I make it so
that asterisk
> >>>> writes this information right away into a mariadb database
instead of
> >>>> into a file so that I could actually use it?
> >>> 
> >>> Send your queue_log entries to odbc?
> >> 
> >> odbc?  Seriously?
> > 
> > Yes, it's the preferred method of talking to databases from
Asterisk.
> 
> After reading some documentation, anything else but odbc appears to be
> more or less deprecated :/
Indeed.
> > If you want to use the MySQL-specific driver / connector, you can
still
> > use that for some things, but Voicemail in a database can only be done
> > via ODBC, for example.
> > 
> >>> It's a setting in extconfig.conf.
> >> 
> >> Does mysql not work?  It's mentioned there, too.
> > 
> > By all means try it - if it's mentioned, it'll probably work,
but ODBC is
> > the more generic and better-supported way of using databases with
> > Asterisk.
> 
> Since it really seems to be the most reasonable choice, I've set up an
> odbc connection and used alembic to create tables in a database for
> asterisk.
> 
> Now how is this managable?  Is there a tool that reads the files I have
> and enters the configuration into the database?
Not that I know of.
> And when changes are to be made, editing configuration files is
tremendously
> easier than going through the tables in the database and try to make the
> changes there.
Okay, so carry on using config files if you want to.

I was only answering your question about getting Asterisk Queue logs *out* 
into a database table; I wasn't recommending anything about reading config
file
*from* a database (although this is indeed possible if you want to).
> For now, can I make it so that only the queue_log is written into the
> database?
Yes.
> I don't see a table for that.
You need to create that for yourself.

Asterisk can write to database tables, but doesn't help you set them up, for
reasons I can't comment on.
> How dynamic are changes made in the database?
If by "dynamic" you mean "quickly used" then the answer is
"immediately".
> For example, if I want to have an extension 'foobar' and want to
ring
> different devices depending on some factors (like time of day, for
example),
> can I modify the entry in the database for the device to ring from
'bar' to
> 'baz', and baz will ring instead of bar from thereon?
Yes.
> That seems to be what this is intended for; in any case, it's what
I'm going
> to need, which is why I went to all these lengths to connect to a database.
Okay, sounds good, then.
> Is it possible to use configuration from both the database and the files
> at the same time?
Yes.
> That would save me converting all the entries in the files for now.
Yes.


Antony.

-- 
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?

                                                   Please reply to the list;
                                                         please *don't* CC
me.

On 12/05/2018 05:00 PM, Antony Stone wrote:
> On Wednesday 05 December 2018 at 15:31:38, hw wrote:
>> I don't see a table for that.
> 
> You need to create that for yourself.
> 
> Asterisk can write to database tables, but doesn't help you set them
up, for
> reasons I can't comment on.
How do I know what the schema needs to be?  Does anybody have a scheme 
for the queue_log table (and maybe others)?

Do I get to see the queries that are being used to write this data, or 
do I need to form them myself and enter them into some configuration file?
>> How dynamic are changes made in the database?
> 
> If by "dynamic" you mean "quickly used" then the answer
is "immediately".
There's a note in some configuration file saying that dynamic extensions 
are deprecated and suggesting to use func_odbc instead.  This func_odbc 
seems to be the most awkward way anyone could think of for this, though.
>> For example, if I want to have an extension 'foobar' and want
to ring
>> different devices depending on some factors (like time of day, for
example),
>> can I modify the entry in the database for the device to ring from
'bar' to
>> 'baz', and baz will ring instead of bar from thereon?
> 
> Yes.
And IIUC the extension would use something like 
'Dial(SIP/ODBC_PICK_USER(...))' after defining a query for my 
..._PICK_USER function in func_odbc.conf to return what to dial 
depending on the argument(s) supplied?

How do I make asterisk reload func_odbc.conf?  Or is that not needed?
>> Is it possible to use configuration from both the database and the
files
>> at the same time?
> 
> Yes.
So far, that seems to work fine :)