Yealink T42S on hosted 3cx V18 - how do I backup firmware file?

[dkdocks]

New Yealink T42S just arrived (was on 66.85.0.5), I've STUN provisioned it to 3cx hosted standard instance,
after a little while 3CX v18 threw and update flag - regarding the download of Yealink firmware 66.85.188.5.rom,
this I could not interactively click - update flag went away eventually - phone started returning (Unsupported 66.85.0.5) in the phones list.
(After tinkering with firmware from Yealink themselves on local) I pulled down 66.86.0.5 https://www.3cx.com/support/phone-firmwares/
Phone now returns supported, but the PBX is asking me to "clean-up"

• firmware_new/yealink/T4XS-66.85.188.5.rom (older than published 66.86.0.5)

Three questions
1. Is there any way I can archive/download it to local machine from hosted instance directly, or is this only possible on self-hosted/local via ssh.
2. Is there a link for historical firmware download - the yealink site https://www.yealink.com/products_48.html (3cx software) also does not seem to contain an archive for rollback just in case,
3. Would I be able to pull it from a 3CX full backup file to remove it from kindly provided by 3cx google storage?

Thanks again.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Hi @dkdocks

Please note that we neither support nor recommend STUN for instances hosted by 3CX. We highly recommend using an SBC (especially if there is more than one phone at your site).

In answer to your questions:

1. Yes, take a backup before you delete them, they will be included if you tick the correct backup option
2. No, we do not keep older versions. Anything newer or older than what we host is unsupported by 3CX
3. You could, but you cannot force the PBX to install that version on phones. You can extract the roms and install them manually on phones if you wish to do so.

We only support the most current version of firmware we provide, and sometimes the template updates will also include changes that require the latest 3CX supported firmware. I just want to make sure you are aware, you might end up in a situation where the template and firmware do not agree and this can potentially cause downtime or unwanted behavior on your phones.

 

[dkdocks]

Thanks kindly for your reply

3. You could, but you cannot force the PBX to install that version on phones. You can extract the roms and install them manually on phones if you wish to do so.

I gather the hosted PBX would fight me on this, it's just so if I ever migrate out to local/hosted and need to keep the setup not rolling updates every week I wanted to know. Thank you again.

Please note that we neither support nor recommend STUN for instances hosted by 3CX. We highly recommend using an SBC (especially if there is more than one phone at your site). You can read the restrictions here:

What about AWS or Digital Ocean images, is STUN/Direct SIP okay for that? - I had an 3cx SBC running on RPI, but my new task involves shipping a single phone to a behind NAT destination with the climate of covid etc..
Thank you again.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Hello,

Firmware: The PBX generally can only install the latest firmware, it will not offer older version. And if it detects a new version it will automatically download it (but not apply it). You can choose to install it on phones later if you wish to do so. As for older versions you keep, you need to install them manually on each phone via the UI by giving it the file.


STUN: If you use your own hosted solution then there are no limitations. The link I shared is specifically for "Hosted by 3CX" instances. If you are shipping single phones around, the SBC will not make much sense in this case., but perhaps the user can utilize the mobile client or the webclient instead?

Do keep in mind that you might have an additional overhead for support for STUN mode phones specifically. Dropping phones in network environments you don't control may generate some complaints typically like no audio, or no incoming calls, or no registration. This is mainly due to some ISPs blocking SIP, or blocking ports, or using ALG which modifies the SIP packets (potentially breaking them)

 

[dkdocks]

This is mainly due to some ISPs blocking SIP, or blocking ports, or using ALG which modifies the SIP packets (potentially breaking them)

That is a very good observation for my nearing project, I've found that in US people will have an easier time to yell at their ISP about ALG or log into their router, and less bandwidth to find the private IP of the phone I would send them, nor even log into the Yealink web interface and paste the provisioning URL. But this is very wise advice, thank you so much for this.

But then again 3cx hosted is very plug and play in contrast to so many other things that I appreciate what you guys are doing.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

That's why we recommend the 3CX apps/clients for single users, and the SBC for more than a couple of phones.

It saves you time and effort, and reduces frustrated calls from users

 

[dkdocks]

That's why we recommend the 3CX apps/clients for single users, and the SBC for more than a couple of phones.

It saves you time and effort, and reduces frustrated calls from users

Definitely, I'm kinda seeing the bigger picture and more sleep in my life with 3CX, took some adjusting but I'm really kinda seeing the vision. Thank you for all you help so far. Maybe less billable hours than any other platform - but definitely more sleep.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Glad to help, you will find that we have automated as much as we can to make the admin have less manual work to do. You could always go the "manual" way but if you are happy with what 3CX provides automatically, then you can free your workflow from those extra steps.