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Apply Config / Reload Asterisk

UnifiedBX edits config files in the GUI but doesn't immediately push them to the running Asterisk process. The red Apply Config bar at the top of the GUI tells Asterisk to reload — picking up the new dialplan, extensions, trunks.

When to Apply Config

After ANY change in the GUI, click the red bar:

  • Adding/editing/deleting extensions, trunks, routes, IVRs, queues, etc.
  • Module installs/updates.
  • Time conditions or feature codes changes.

If you don't apply, your change is in the database but not active.

Steps

  1. After saving a change, the red Apply Config bar appears at the top of the page.
  2. Click it.
  3. Wait — most reloads are sub-second; large dialplans take 5-10 seconds; first-run after a major upgrade can take 30-60 seconds.
  4. Bar disappears when reload is done.

CLI Equivalents

For scripted changes or recovery scenarios:

# Full reload (equivalent to Apply Config in the GUI):
fwconsole reload

# Restart Asterisk entirely (full process restart — drops calls):
fwconsole restart

# Just reload one Asterisk module without full reload:
asterisk -rx "module reload chan_pjsip.so"
asterisk -rx "dialplan reload"
asterisk -rx "pjsip reload"
asterisk -rx "voicemail reload"
asterisk -rx "manager reload"

Verify

# Check what's loaded:
asterisk -rx "core show settings"
asterisk -rx "module show like pjsip"

# Check dialplan picked up new extension:
asterisk -rx "dialplan show 1001@from-internal"

If new config doesn't appear, the reload didn't pick it up.

Common Issues

  • Apply Config bar never disappears. Reload is hung or has errored. Check /var/log/asterisk/freepbx.log and /var/log/asterisk/full. Common cause: a syntax error in custom dialplan in extensions_custom.conf.
  • Calls drop during Apply Config. Most reloads don't drop calls (graceful), but restart does. Use reload unless explicitly told to restart.
  • "Apply Config" still shown after clicking. Browser caching. Hard reload (Ctrl+Shift+R).
  • Module reload fails: "syntax error." Check the file just edited (e.g. extensions_custom.conf) for unbalanced brackets or invalid syntax.
  • Reload succeeds but change has no effect. Wrong module reloaded. For dialplan, you need dialplan reload AND any module that owns that context. fwconsole reload covers everything.