Overview

With the release of IP Office 10.1, using Samba sharing no longer works as a means to transfer .wav files to the Chronicall Recording Library.

Per Avaya, the correct way to get Voicemail Pro .wav files into Chronicall is configuring the SFTP mechanism built into VM Pro to transfer the files over that connection. 

Every major Linux distribution by default comes with OpenSSH which provides the needed SFTP functionality. This article explains how to configure OpenSSH and Voicemail Pro so that Chronicall Recording Library can access and process the recording files.

Resolution

Steps:

1. Change the Recording Library IP Address to its actual address, not 127.0.0.1 if it isn't already
2. Gain PuTTY (or equivalent) access to the Recording Library server as root
3. Make a directory on the Recording Library server that outside sources can access
   • For example, you could create the following directory /home/ximadmin/VmProVRL and share that folder by using the command

     • chmod -R 777 <directoryname>

4. Next, ensure that the server has OpenSSH
   
   1. In the example below, the command we used was service sshd status to check and ensure it was running as intended
   2. This service is commonly how PuTTY and other SSH/SFTP clients are able to connect. That being said - Please don't stop this service!
      
      
      
      
5. Gain PuTTY (or equivalent) access to the Voicemail Pro server
6. To establish the connection run the following command on the Voicemail Pro server 
   

   sftp (target server user name)@(Recording Library ip address)

   • The "target server user name" should be an Administrative account on the Recording Library server
   • The password you input should be that Administrative account's password
     • NOTE: This is not the Chronicall/ACR login, it needs to be an OS (Operating System) account from the Recording Library server
7. It will prompt you to accept a new RSA key when you first perform this connection. Go ahead and confirm it
   
    
   
   
   • In the example above we are connected to the Voicemail Pro Server and are connecting to the Recording Library server via SFTP

   • NOTE:  This is an essential step as we won't be able to perform the next step without it!

8. Finally, proceed to the Voicemail Pro Application. Here we will select Administration > Preferences > General
   
   
   
   
   1. Within that menu, we will configure the FTP to resemble the screenshot below
      • Again, the FTP User Name, FTP Password, Remote FTP Location and Remote FTP Host are for the Recording Library server
        
        
        
        
   2. Depending on where you created the shared folder you may need to input the full directory (like /home/ximadmin/VmProVRL) instead of the example above
9. Test your connection, and make sure to save your configuration
   
   • NOTE: You may need to restart the Voicemail Pro service for this configuration change to take effect
     
10. After this is done, make sure your Monitored Recording Directory is looking at the previously mentioned location on the Recording Library server
    
    
    
    
11. If recordings are not processing, restarting the Recording Library service should resolve it

NOTE: If you are still not able to connect the FTP from the Voicemail Pro system but you are able to run the SFTP command from steps 5-8 after completing a restart of the Voicemail Pro system, there may be a fault within that built-in SFTP on that service. You will need to reach out to partner support or Avaya Support for further assistance.