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Running your system
Looking after your server safely. Start with the guide that matches what you are trying to learn or fix.
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F01Running your systemStart here · foundationsLinux terminal basics: safely move around a serverGet a disposable lab VM, then learn the shell prompt, paths, commands and safe inspection before you ever touch a VICIdial host.F02Running your systemStart here · foundationsLinux files and text: create, read and search safelyUnderstand files, directories and text streams, then practice on a file you create and a real file that already exists, before reading configuration or call logs.F03Running your systemStart here · foundationsLinux users and permissions: read access before changing itLearn ownership, rwx permissions and sudo boundaries by contrasting a file you create with two real system files, without weakening a server.F04Running your systemStart here · foundationsLinux packages: apt, zypper and safe updatesDetect which package manager a host actually has, then inspect Debian/Ubuntu and openSUSE packages safely before installing telephony software.F05Running your systemStart here · foundationsLinux services and logs: observe systemd before restartingUse systemctl and journalctl to collect evidence without masking a telephony fault.F06Running your systemStart here · foundationsSSH basics: connect and verify a server identityMake an SSH connection safely, understand host keys and avoid accepting an unexpected server.74Running your systemStage 4 · Stock ViciBox labInside a running ViciBox lab: processes, screens and AsteriskTour a running ViciBox Express lab from the command line: find the screen sessions astguiclient depends on, ask Asterisk directly about its own health, and confirm the supporting services are active — all before you trust a browser login alone.75Running your systemStage 4 · Stock ViciBox labInside a running ViciBox lab: the VICIdial filesystem mapTour the VICIdial filesystem map on a running ViciBox lab: where the Perl scripts live, where their logs land, which configuration keys are safe to read, and why the completed-recordings folder is looked at but never listed in full.76Running your systemStage 3 · Debian-family pathUbuntu and Debian basics before a VICIdial installRecognize a Debian-family host by its package tooling, and understand why this curriculum's hands-on lab path is ViciBox — an openSUSE-based appliance — rather than a from-scratch Ubuntu or Debian install.77Running your systemStage 3 · Generic openSUSEGeneric openSUSE basics for VICIdial learners: zypper, firewalld and servicesLearn generic openSUSE administration — zypper and firewalld — without pretending that a plain openSUSE host is a stock ViciBox installation.78Running your systemStage 3 · Platform choiceViciBox vs generic openSUSE vs Ubuntu/Debian for VICIdial beginnersCompare three starting points and land on one answer for this curriculum: the stock ViciBox appliance is the lab path, while generic openSUSE and Ubuntu/Debian are explicitly not — because ViciBox couples the base system to a working telephony stack that this library actually walks you through.79Running your systemStage 3 · Version statusViciBox version status: why ViciBox 12 and ViciBox 13 are lab-only lessonsA dated safety boundary for ViciBox learners: ViciBox 12 is based on Leap 15.6, now confirmed end of life, and ViciBox 13 remains beta. Treat both as isolated labs, not production defaults, until the vendor's own status changes.80Running your systemStage 4 · Stock ViciBox labWhat stock ViciBox is: the appliance, phases and safe lab boundaryUnderstand what the stock ViciBox appliance changes, what Phase 1 and Phase 2 do, why this curriculum's install path stops short of a production recommendation, and what your lab VM needs before you boot the ISO.81Running your systemStage 4 · Stock ViciBox labViciBox 12 Phase 1 lab checklist: ISO boot, target disk and first loginA safety-first checklist for observing ViciBox 12 Phase 1 in a disposable VM: the confirmation dialog before disk destruction, the first-root-login wizard, its own password shortcut you should not take, and how to tell Phase 1 actually finished.83Running your systemStage 4 · Stock ViciBox labCreate a read-only database account for safe VICIdial queriesCreate a SELECT-only MariaDB account and a locked-down credentials file on your ViciBox lab, so every later SQL example in this library — and every query you write yourself — can read VICIdial's database without ever risking a write.FB3Running your systemCall capacity · safe triageVICIdial overlapping calls: triage overload before changing dial settingsPredictive pacing counts agents it believes are free the instant it decides to dial; when that headcount is stale, the surplus connects arrive with nobody available. Measure the pacing setting, live agent state, and the PDROP-versus-DROP split before touching anything.34Running your systemFirst loginYour first VICIdial login: find the Admin URL, Agent URL and default passwordA guided first login for a fresh VICIdial install: where the generated admin password lives, the separate Admin and Agent addresses and logins, a tour of the Users, User Groups, Campaigns, Lists, Scripts, Phones, Carriers, and Reports menus, the phone-versus-user distinction that confuses every newcomer, and how to change the default password safely.42Running your systemInbound queue tuningTune a VICIdial inbound queue: hold music, wait time, overflow and after hoursA default VICIdial in-group plays no greeting, generic hold music, and treats every hour as business hours. Here is every field that fixes that, with its real default and what to set instead.49Running your systemAdmin training pathThe complete VICIdial admin training guide: campaigns, leads and routingVICIdial's Admin panel is a set of objects, not a wizard. Learn the dependency order those objects must be created in, then follow a six-phase training path — orientation, identity and telephony, campaigns, lead lists, inbound routing, and reports — each phase naming the exact guide on this site that teaches it, ending with the four reports a manager should actually read every week.46Running your systemScaling architectureScaling VICIdial: designing a multi-server cluster for 500+ agentsSplit VICIdial's web, database, dialer/telephony, and archive/reporting roles onto separate servers, understand why the database usually hurts first, and learn what a report slave and cluster-wide shared state actually require before you promise a 500-agent number.52Running your systemServer lockdown checklistSecure your VICIdial server: SSH, firewall and access controlWork through SSH key-only login, the firewalld and VB-firewall rules this build actually needs instead of ufw, fail2ban for SIP and web-login brute force, and the accounts that reach the web root and database, verifying each control against what the server is actually running.58Running your systemAppliance installation pathViciBox 12 installation: from bare metal to first dialBoot the correct ViciBox 12 ISO, complete the Phase 1 base operating system install and root wizard, run Phase 2 with vicibox-express (or vicibox-install for a cluster), confirm Asterisk and the web stack actually came up, then change the default 6666 password before the box is reachable from the internet.59Running your systemPlatform decisionInstalling VICIdial on AlmaLinux 9 or Rocky Linux 9What genuinely differs between the RHEL family and the Debian family for a VICIdial install, why SELinux and PHP 8.2 are the two decisions that actually matter, where a community-maintained AlmaLinux 9 or Rocky Linux 9 installer worth trusting lives, and a straight decision rule for choosing between ViciBox's lab-only appliance path, a from-scratch RHEL-family build, or the scratch-install instructions posted on the VICIdial forum for the Debian family.60Running your systemPlatform migrationMigrating VICIdial off CentOS 7: what to carry, what to verify, before cutoverCentOS Linux 7 stopped receiving updates in mid-2024. Pick a replacement target, carry the database, recordings, configuration, cron and carrier setup across deliberately, and verify the new server before any carrier trunk points at it.67Running your systemUnpublished pricingRingCX vs VICIdial: the price RingCentral won't publishRingCentral does not publish a RingCX seat price this publication could verify, and the third-party figures that circulate contradict each other. This article treats that gap as the actual subject: what to ask a quote-only vendor in writing, what to pin down before signing, and how to measure your own VICIdial baseline against whatever number eventually arrives.68Running your systemCCaaS licensing comparisonGenesys Cloud CX vs VICIdial: the license model is the decisionCompare Genesys Cloud CX's four published tiers and its named, concurrent, and Hourly Interacting license models against VICIdial's no-seat, self-hosted alternative, and work out which one actually fits your shift pattern.71Running your systemGrowth signals, measured not guessedWhen to outgrow VICIdial: fixable ceilings versus real reasons to leaveMost “we have outgrown VICIdial” moments are a media-port range, a missing index, or a dial level set by guesswork, each with a documented fix on this site. A smaller set of signals genuinely point toward a managed platform, including one seat-count fact, Five9’s published 50-seat minimum, that rules out a whole category of vendor before a feature ever gets compared. This article gives you the checks to tell the two apart on your own data, and prices what leaving actually costs in both directions.72Running your systemSafety and compliance911 calling from a VICIdial agent desk: what the dialer does not handleVICIdial has no E911 feature, no dispatchable-location capability, and no special handling for a dialed 911 call — a full search of the schema, installer, and documentation confirms it. This deep dive lays out exactly where a 911 call goes instead, the two deliberate choices an operator has to make about it, and the Kari's Law and RAY BAUM'S Act obligations that apply to a United States workplace.11Running your systemCapacity planningVICIdial VPS requirements and cost: separate a lab floor from production capacityA purchasing framework that avoids turning a tiny successful lab into a misleading production quote.14Running your systemDecision frameworkManaged VICIdial hosting vs self-hosting: a decision framework, not a vendor rankingCompare accountability, controls and evidence without treating marketing claims as operational proof.15Running your systemRecovery designVICIdial backup and disaster recovery: design for a tested RTO/RPOA recovery architecture analysis that labels assumptions and drills rather than pretending an unobserved restore is a step-by-step guide.22Running your systemDelivery setupHow to send VICIdial sales recordings to SFTP safelyConfirm VICIdial's built-in sales exporter, author one reviewed root-only script from this guide, pin the destination host key, dry-run it, then enable and verify delivery over SFTP.24Running your systemMedia security designSecure VICIdial recordings with authenticated storage, encryption, and retentionProtect recordings as sensitive media: authenticate every access path, encrypt in transit and at rest, minimize metadata, and make deletion follow a reviewed retention workflow.28Running your systemDefense-in-depth analysisVICIdial hardening priorities and their limitsClose the exposed ports and anonymous SIP first, then stage 2FA and IP controls with tested recovery paths; no single setting makes a dialer secure or compliant.31Running your systemDeployment decisionVICIdial cloud vs dedicated server: a testable decision frameworkCompare operating responsibilities, isolation, recovery and route evidence—not assumed capacity, benchmark figures or pricing.19Running your systemDatabase referenceThe VICIdial database structure explainedA field guide to VICIdial's core MySQL/MariaDB tables — vicidial_list, vicidial_lists, vicidial_campaigns, the call-log family, and the churning runtime tables — plus the safe way to query them without trusting a schema snapshot over your own installation.03Running your systemDuplicate-safe operationsDesign a duplicate-safe callback migrationUse update_lead's own no_update dry run and documented fields, not a hand-built ledger, to plan phone normalization, identity resolution and verified callback writes.