Best way to migrate all phones to SBC ?

[David_K]

Hello

A customer has an old v16 PBX on premise, installed on a Windows machine.

I plan to migrate to a self hosted Linux with v18 PBX

As for the PBX itself I believe it's "only" a matter of taking the backup file from the v16 (that is under Windows) and restore it under the v18 (that is Linux) ?
Or do I need first to upgrade the Windows PBX to v18, then backup, and then restore to the hosted Linux?

My concern is for the 50+ Yealink phones
They are all configured now as local LAN direct to the local PBX

If I host the PBX, I'll have to install an SBC and then reprovision the phones so they point later to the local SBC rather than the local PBX.
But how will I be able to reprovision the phones if they lost the connexion to the PBX?

I'd like to reuse the same Windows machine to be the SBC now rather than the PBX.

Do you think after restoring the backup into my hosted Linux PBX, I'll still be able to connect to the onsite Windows PBX using maybe it's local IP and then reprovision the phones with the SBC address?

And can I install the SBC v18 on the Windows machine, when there's still PBX v16 installed on it? I suppose no because by default they use the same port?

If yes, this would allow me reuse the same Windows machine, install the SBC, reprovision the phone so they point now to SBC mode, and that's it.

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

As for the PBX itself I believe it's "only" a matter of taking the backup file from the v16 (that is under Windows) and restore it under the v18 (that is Linux) ?

That is correct, just make sure that the current PBX is running at least version 16.0.8.9, anything lower must not be on a v18 installation.

Regarding the SBC, bear in mind that, when reprovisioning an IP Phone to a new PBX, we recommend factory resetting it first, especially if you're also changing the provisioning method such as in this case (Local to SBC) as to avoid any remnant configuration on the phones that may potentially cause issues or prevent them from working altogether.

That said, my suggestion would be to:

• Take a backup, and move it away from the machine.
• Stop all 3CX services on the machine (do not reboot it or they will start up again)
• Deploy the new v18 instance using the backup, make sure everything is up and running (except IP Phones of course)
• Once confirmed everything's in order, uninstall 3CX v16 from the old windows machine.
• Install the 3CX SBC v18 and configure it.
• Factory reset all Yealink phones and they should appear in the Management Console's Phones section so that you can easily re-provision via PnP.

And can I install the SBC v18 on the Windows machine, when there's still PBX v16 installed on it? I suppose no because by default they use the same port?

That's correct, this will definitely cause problems as they both listen on port 5060.

 

[cobaltit]

You have three other options which may be more feasible for 50 phones.

• DHCP Option 66 to point the phones to the PBX so they pull the configs. This is assuming you update all the extensions to SBC and put the SBC IP in before factory resetting.
• Setup a Yealink Device Manager account for RPS (I believe it's still free). You can put all the MAC addresses of the phones in there and put them to the 3CX provisioning URL. Factory reset phones will hit the RPS server on first boot unless something else overrides them (like DHCP Option 66)
• Be completely lazy and do nothing. It's completely unsupported but if you needed to do this quick, you could simply move 3CX and then install the SBC. The phones are already configured to hit that IP address where 3CX is at on port 5060. If you uninstall 3CX and then install the SBC, you have a high likelihood of still being able to make/receive calls. This is a short-term band-aid and ultimately you'd want to factory reset the phones and provision them correctly, but it works in pinch. Keep in mind that unless you provisioned the phones via the FQDN internally, you won't be able to make any changes the phones or do much of anything else until you do factory reset them properly.

 

[David_K]

That is correct, just make sure that the current PBX is running at least version 16.0.8.9, anything lower must not be on a v18 installation.

Regarding the SBC, bear in mind that, when reprovisioning an IP Phone to a new PBX, we recommend factory resetting it first, especially if you're also changing the provisioning method such as in this case (Local to SBC) as to avoid any remnant configuration on the phones that may potentially cause issues or prevent them from working altogether.

That said, my suggestion would be to:

• Take a backup, and move it away from the machine.
• Stop all 3CX services on the machine (do not reboot it or they will start up again)
• Deploy the new v18 instance using the backup, make sure everything is up and running (except IP Phones of course)
• Once confirmed everything's in order, uninstall 3CX v16 from the old windows machine.
• Install the 3CX SBC v18 and configure it.
• Factory reset all Yealink phones and they should appear in the Management Console's Phones section so that you can easily re-provision via PnP.


That's correct, this will definitely cause problems as they both listen on port 5060.

Thanks @ChrisC_3CX

At last step, if I factory reset the Yealink, when he'll reconnect, will I have to assign it again to the extensions or will it understand it was already assigned and then assign again to the same extension?
Because if I remember well, if I reset a phone, it appears as "New" but if I click "Assign" to an extension, I get an error telling me this phone is already assigned to another extension.

 

[David_K]

You have three other options which may be more feasible for 50 phones.

• DHCP Option 66 to point the phones to the PBX so they pull the configs. This is assuming you update all the extensions to SBC and put the SBC IP in before factory resetting.
• Setup a Yealink Device Manager account for RPS (I believe it's still free). You can put all the MAC addresses of the phones in there and put them to the 3CX provisioning URL. Factory reset phones will hit the RPS server on first boot unless something else overrides them (like DHCP Option 66)
• Be completely lazy and do nothing. It's completely unsupported but if you needed to do this quick, you could simply move 3CX and then install the SBC. The phones are already configured to hit that IP address where 3CX is at on port 5060. If you uninstall 3CX and then install the SBC, you have a high likelihood of still being able to make/receive calls. This is a short-term band-aid and ultimately you'd want to factory reset the phones and provision them correctly, but it works in pinch. Keep in mind that unless you provisioned the phones via the FQDN internally, you won't be able to make any changes the phones or do much of anything else until you do factory reset them properly.

Thanks @cobaltit

I won't do the RPS thing since I never did it.

DHCP option 66 could be an option, but can you remember where I can find the URL I should put there?
Not sure if their DHCP server will let me create the option.

But anyway, if there's an SBC onsite, as soon as the Yealink are factory reset, they'll show in the 3CX console as to be assigned, no? So what's the added value of having the DCHP option?

 

[David_K]

Thanks @ChrisC_3CX

At last step, if I factory reset the Yealink, when he'll reconnect, will I have to assign it again to the extensions or will it understand it was already assigned and then assign again to the same extension?
Because if I remember well, if I reset a phone, it appears as "New" but if I click "Assign" to an extension, I get an error telling me this phone is already assigned to another extension.

And @ChrisC_3CX in your really clear steps to make the transition, is it not missing the fact to reconfigure each extensions (I suppose 1 by 1) to change the provisioning method from LAN to SBC?
Because if I don't do it, the Yealink even if factory reset won't be able to connect to the extension? Or yes?

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

At last step, if I factory reset the Yealink, when he'll reconnect, will I have to assign it again to the extensions or will it understand it was already assigned and then assign again to the same extension?

That is correct, you will have to assign it again. If you select the wrong extension, you'll get a message saying which extension the MAC address belongs to so you can then simply select that one and apply.

And @ChrisC_3CX in your really clear steps to make the transition, is it not missing the fact to reconfigure each extensions (I suppose 1 by 1) to change the provisioning method from LAN to SBC?
Because if I don't do it, the Yealink even if factory reset won't be able to connect to the extension? Or yes?

You do have to change the provisioning method, but, this will happen automatically.
• You'll see the Phone come up in the Phones section
• You'll select it and assign it to the correct extension.
• The Extensions "Phone Provisioning" page will automatically come up and the "Provisioning method" should have automatically been switched to SBC. When you click on OK to apply, it will overwrite the previous provisioning method which was LOCAL.

DHCP option 66 could be an option, but can you remember where I can find the URL I should put there?

For Option 66, as per our guide, you should use the provisioning link: https://www.3cx.com/sip-phones/dhcp-option-66/
The provisioning link can be found in "Extensions >> Edit >> Phone Provisioning". Since they will be remote, make sure the provisioning link contains the FQDN and NOT the Local IP.

But anyway, if there's an SBC onsite, as soon as the Yealink are factory reset, they'll show in the 3CX console as to be assigned, no? So what's the added value of having the DCHP option?

The nice thing about Option 66 is that the IP Phones will automatically provision after you factory reset them. If you do go down this path though, you will have to change the provisioning method from LOCAL to SBC manually for every IP Phone in "Extensions >> Edit >> Phone Provisioning" before resetting the phones.