Sangoma SMG-SS7 Manual Operation

SS7 is a complicated communications stack with many layers.  Usually all the layers just work but when starting a connection for the first time or troubleshooting an issue it is best to go through layer by layer and confirm proper operation.

The diagram below shows an architectural overview of a SMG-SS7 Asterisk system:

To manually start SMG-SS7 you need start by bringing up the signaling side from layer 1 and then the voice side from layer 1.

1. ss7boxd
2. Voice Only Wanpipes
3. sangoma_isupd/ss7boost
4. Asterisk and Chan_woomera

SS7boxd

SS7boxd is the software daemon that handles the signaling links.  At start-up it parse the configuration file /etc/ss7box/ss7box.conf, loads the XMTP2 kernel module, starts any ports that have signaling links and finally configures XMTP2 to use the ports.

ss7boxd is started by running it using "/usr/local/ss7box/ss7boxd".

The output of a manual start looks like:

[root@konrad-ss7-1 ~]# /usr/local/ss7box/ss7boxd
Xygnada Technology, Inc. ss7box daemon, Version: 2.3.0-0
Protcol: ITU        Application: M3UA
  PID TTY          TIME CMD
[root@konrad-ss7-1 ~]#
Router is already stopped !


Router is already stopped !

sizeof ss7boost_rte_tbl: 634880 sizeof t_ss7boost_rte_tbl_entry: 128 sizeof t_ss7boost_rte_tbl_entry X MAX entries: 634880

Starting WAN Router...
Loading WAN drivers: wanpipe done.
Starting up device: wanpipe1
--> Loading ec image OCT6116-256S.ima...
Configuring interfaces: w1g2 w1g1
done.


Starting up device: wanpipe9
--> Loading ec image OCT6116-256S.ima...
Configuring interfaces: w9g2 w9g1
done.

Hit any key to return to the linux command prompt.

To confirm that ss7boxd is connected start from the bottom of the stack:

1. MTP1 -> status of the T1/E1 lines
   
   • check "wanrouter status" to confirm that all loaded Wanpipes are "connected"..."connecting"/"disconnected" means there are line alarms active
   • check "wanpipemon -i wXg1 -c Ta", where X is the port/Wanpipe number.  Check that the signal strength is good as well as the status of any line alarms (framer and LIU)
2. MTP2 -> status of XMTP2
   
   • XMTP2 reports periodically into the system logs when there is a problem.  Run "tail -f /var/log/messages" and look for logging from XMTP2
   • check "wanpipemon -i wXgY -mtp2_all -rx -c trh", where X is the port/Wanpipe number and Y is the time slot that carries the MTP2 link.  Confirm that you are see data incoming and that the incoming data is FISU...LSSUs mean that MTP2 link is not connected
3. MTP3 -> status of ss7boxd
   
   • ss7boxd reports it's status into the system logs every 20 seconds for each MTP2 configured:
     

     Aug 18 10:38:24 konrad-ss7-1 ss7boxd[2818]: R:link util:ls 0:link 0:msu oc 34:tot oc 160480:util 0
     

   • "ls" = Link set
   • "link" = Link
   • "msu oc" = number of MSUs sent/received in the last second
   • "tot oc" = number of LSSU/FISU/MSU sent/received in the last second
   • "util" = status of layer 1 for this link
   • if "util 0" then ss7boxd sees layer 1 as connected, "util -1" means ss7boxd sees layer 1 as down
   • if "msu oc" > 0 then MTP2 is connected as MSUs are only transmitted or received when layer 2 is up

-

Voice Only Wanpipes

The Voice only Wanpipes are under the control of the "wanrouter" script.  The Wanrouter script will start all ports that are listed under "WAN_DEVICES" in "/etc/wanpipe/wanrouter.rc"

These ports are started by running "wanrouter start"

To confirm that the voice only ports are connected:

1. check "wanrouter status" to confirm that all loaded Wanpipes are "connected"..."connecting"/"disconnected" means there are line alarms active
2. check "wanpipemon -i wXg1 -c Ta", where X is the port/Wanpipe number.  Check that the signal strength is good as well as the status of any line alarms (framer and LIU)

Sangoma_isup/ss7boost

In SMG-SS7 version 2.3 and earlier the ISUP daemon is called ss7boost.  Since then, the name of the ISUP daemon has been changed to sangoma_isupd.  This is a name change only...the functionality of the daemon has not changed.  The ISUP daemon controls the Voice CICs and controls all calls on the SS7 side. 

When the ISUP daemon starts it will attempt to reset all the CICs...this can take several minutes depending on the number of CICs to reset

The ISUP daemon is started along with SMG using "smg_ctrl start"

Sangoma_isupd logs on info to the system logs so you can monitor by running "tail -f /var/log/messages".  When it is running properly you will see no messages from it.

You can check the state of the CICs by running "/usr/local/ss7box/cr.sh all"

Asterisk and Chan_Woomera

Asterisk (along with Chan_Woomera) are the final program to start.