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Use the UnifiedBX CLI

UnifiedBX provides a command-line interface (fwconsole) for system maintenance, scripting, and recovery operations. Faster than clicking through the GUI for repetitive tasks; sometimes the only way to recover when the GUI is broken.

Common Commands

Reload / restart

# Apply Config equivalent (reload Asterisk + dialplan):
fwconsole reload

# Hard restart Asterisk (drops calls):
fwconsole restart

# Stop Asterisk:
fwconsole stop

# Start Asterisk:
fwconsole start

Module management

# List installed modules:
fwconsole ma list

# List available updates:
fwconsole ma listonline

# Update a module:
fwconsole ma upgrade core
fwconsole ma upgradeall

# Install a module:
fwconsole ma downloadinstall <modulename>

# Enable / disable:
fwconsole ma enable <modulename>
fwconsole ma disable <modulename>

# Uninstall:
fwconsole ma uninstall <modulename>
fwconsole ma remove <modulename>

User management (recovery)

# Add a GUI admin user (when locked out):
fwconsole userman addUser admin newPass123 admin@example.com

# Set permissions:
fwconsole userman setPermissions admin all

Backup / restore

# Run a configured backup template:
fwconsole backup --backup=<backup-id>

# Restore from a tarball:
fwconsole backup --restore=/tmp/backup.tar.gz

Firewall

# Trust an IP (whitelist for admin / SIP):
fwconsole firewall trust 203.0.113.45

# Untrust:
fwconsole firewall untrust 203.0.113.45

# Show firewall status:
fwconsole firewall status

Certificate management

# Update all Let's Encrypt certs:
fwconsole certificates --updateall

Asterisk CLI

For raw Asterisk operations (channels, registrations, dialplan):

# Interactive Asterisk console:
asterisk -rvvvv

# One-off command:
asterisk -rx "pjsip show endpoints"
asterisk -rx "core show channels"
asterisk -rx "queue show"
asterisk -rx "dialplan show 1001@from-internal"

HA management (if installed)

fwconsole ha status
fwconsole ha failover

Useful Recovery Commands

"I can't log into the GUI"

# Reset admin password:
fwconsole userman setPassword admin newpassword

# Or recreate admin entirely:
fwconsole userman addUser newadmin strongPass admin@example.com
fwconsole userman setPermissions newadmin all

"Apply Config is hung"

# Check what's stuck:
tail -f /var/log/asterisk/freepbx.log

# Force reload:
fwconsole reload --force

# If totally stuck, restart:
fwconsole restart

"Database corrupt / weird module errors"

# Repair MySQL tables:
fwconsole chown
mysqlcheck -u root --auto-repair --all-databases

# Clear FreePBX cache:
fwconsole cache clean

Verify

Most commands print status. For long-running ops (reload, restart), watch:

tail -f /var/log/asterisk/freepbx.log /var/log/asterisk/full

Common Issues

  • fwconsole: command not found. Not in PATH; use full path /usr/sbin/fwconsole or /var/lib/asterisk/bin/fwconsole.
  • Permission errors. Run as root or with sudo.
  • reload hangs. Almost always a config error in a custom file. Check logs.
  • asterisk -rx returns "Asterisk is not running." Service is down. fwconsole start.
  • CLI shows different state than GUI. Browser cache, OR you're hitting a different host (HA cluster). Confirm hostname.