NOTE: This is a legacy article - Please use the built in SFTP on newer versions of Chronicall, or Active Recording if using Avaya Call Reporting.
The Recording Library can utilize the Voicemail Pro server's SFTP settings to push recordings off of a UCM machine, Avaya Application server, or other Linux server. This is done by installing a free SFTP server solution on the Recording Library server and configuring the Voicemail Pro to upload recordings to this location.
If you are offloading recordings from a Voicemail Pro on Linux to another Linux server with Recording Library, follow our article that reviews the Linux to Linux setup.
Step 1) Install and Configure freeFTPd
Begin by downloading the freeFTPd application from www.freesshd.com (Note that other SFTP server options could be used however Xima Support has only tested and used freeFTPd).
- When prompted with "Private keys should be created. Should I do it now?", select "Yes".
- When prompted with "Do you want to run freeFTPd as a system service?", select "Yes".
Once installed, right click the freeFTPd icon and run as Administrator.
First, go to the Logging section and enable "Log events". This will help should you need to troubleshoot issues as you go through this guide. Be sure to Apply & Save.
Next, go to the Users section. Here you will add a Windows user account with Administrator privileges. Enter in the user account name in the Login field and deselect the FTP option. Leave everything else default. If you use the user account "Administrator" then your options will look like the one below. Apply & Save.
Next, go to the SFTP Hostkey section. Here is where you configure the security keys. The installation may have created one for you already. If so, you will see a key generated. If the "Path to Key" is blank, then you need to generate a new one. Do so by selecting 1024 bits and clicking Generate New. This will ask you where to save the newly generated key. For convenience, save it in the same location where freeFTPd was installed (likely C:\Program Files (x86)\freeFTPd). You can generate a key for both RSA and DSA, but only one is needed. Apply & Save.
Next we will want to create a directory for the recordings to be uploaded to. Go to the SFTP setting page and review the SFTP root directory field. This should default to a "sftproot" directory. Check to ensure that directory exists (if it doesn't, create it). Give all users full control of this directory by right clicking the directory and selecting Properties. Go to the Security tab and press Edit under the Group or User Names. Press Add, then in the new window enter 'Everyone' in the box. Click Check Names to validate the Everyone entry, then press OK. Highlight the Everyone user name and check Allow Full Control. Press Apply and OK.
Then create two more child directories within that, one for the user account (matching the name as previously specified) and one for the recordings (named VmproVrl). The final file path should look something like this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\freeFTPd\sftproot\Administrator\VmproVrl"
Go back to the SFTP settings page, press Apply & Save, then press Start.
Step 2) Test SFTP and Configure VMPRO Settings
Go to the Linux terminal and test the sftp connection by using a command like the following:
sftp Administrator@192.168.16.228
Note that Administrator may need to be replaced with whatever user account previously used and the IP address will need to match the IP address of the Windows server with freeFTPd installed on it. Once connected, it will ask if you want to continue. Type in 'yes'. You will then be prompted for the password. This is the password of the Windows user account specified in freeFTPd. The results should look something like this:
If you experience trouble connecting, review the previous steps on this guide. Ensure the SFTP service is started, ensure that the Windows password is correct, etc. Remember to utilize the freeFTPd logs we enabled at the start!
Now that you've confirmed the connection is available, let's configure the VMPRO settings. Launch Avaya's Voicemail Pro application. Expand the Application drop-down menu, hover over Preferences, and select General.
Go to the Voicemail Recording tab within the System Preferences window that appears. Here you will need to enter in the Windows user account, it's password, the VmproVrl directory that we created, and the IP address of the Windows server running freeFTPd. The Test Connection button should be successful as we've already tested the connection from the Linux terminal. An example of these settings is below.
- It the SFTP connection works from the Linux server but fails from the VMPro client, then you may need to use a non-windows authentication.
- Go to the Users section in FreeFTPD and create a User (input a name). From the Authorization dropdown, choose Password Stored as SHA1 hash.
- For the password, create a password for this user, then click Apply to save.
- Go to the sftproot location and rename the child directory you created previously to match the name of the new user account.
- The final path should look like "C:\Program Files (x86)\freeFTPd\sftproot\<username>\VmproVrlNow.
- Test FTP connection from VMPro with this new username and password
- Go to the Users section in FreeFTPD and create a User (input a name). From the Authorization dropdown, choose Password Stored as SHA1 hash.
Again, if you experience trouble connecting, review the previous steps on this guide. Ensure the SFTP service is started, ensure that the Windows password is correct, etc. Remember to utilize the freeFTPd logs we enabled at the start!
Now that the settings are entered, press OK. The go to the File drop down and press Save and Make Live. You should start to see recordings moving from the linux VRL storage location to the new Windows VmproVrl directory.
Step 3) Configure the Recording Library Settings
The last step is the simplest. Open Chronicall, go to System Settings, expand the Recording Libraries section, and go to the Recording Library settings. Update the Monitored Recording Directory field to the file path of where the recordings are being stored. In the example used within this article, that would be C:\Program Files (x86)\freeFTPd\sftproot\Administrator\VmproVrl. The press OK and save the Chronicall settings.
If you are setting up the Recording Library for the first time, reference the details after Step 2 in this article. This links to the IPO setup. If you are using another PBX, look over to the left side bar, and select the PBX setup for the appropriate phone system.
Potential Issues:
There have been occasions when the SFTP will stop as soon as the user account logs out. This can be corrected by doing the following:
1. Log into the server running freeFTPd.
2. Stop the freeftpd service. Completely stop any running instances of freeFTPd (Windows Task Manager can help with this).
3. Start the freeFTPd program and stop and start the SFTP from within the freeFTPd program and press "apply & save" button.
4. Completely close the application. Don't just press the "x" on the window but also right click on the icon in the task bar and exit the application (again, Windows Task Manager can help with this).
5. Start the freeftpd service again, log out and you should be good to go!