Avantfax works really well on Debian but it is not officially supported by Avantfax so the install script is lacking, i would like to improve that and any feedback would be appreciated.

The first time i installed Avantfax on Debian Etch there was only an install script for Red Hat and SuSe so everything needed to be done manually, i made some notes at the time here http://www.songshu.org/index.php/avantfax-on-debian

Since AvantFAX 3.1.0 there is a debian install script available that comes a long way but is not yet perfect and it requires some extra manual steps and tinkering, also an install script to set up mail2fax is missing for Debian.

This is an attempt to improve the following Debian scripts that can be found in AvantFAX 3.1.6

• http://www.songshu.org/index.php/old-avantfax-316-debian-install-script
• http://www.songshu.org/index.php/old-avantfax-316-debian-prefs
• http://www.songshu.org/index.php/old-avantfax-316-email2fax
• http://www.songshu.org/index.php/old-avantfax-316-setup-postfix

This script comes a long way accept that the apache virtual host is not set up correctly. and the specified directory /etc/apache2/logs does not exist so apache will refuse to start.

The following section needs improvement.

cat >> /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default << EOF

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot $INSTDIR
    ServerName avantfax
    ErrorLog logs/avantfax-error_log
    CustomLog logs/avantfax-access_log common
</VirtualHost>
EOF

What we see here is that the virtualhost is added below in the 000-default file, this does not work since the default will not be changed and a new virtual host is not added.
Also we could move the avantfax logs to the debian default log section /var/logs/
The suggestion is to have it add a separate new virtual host for the chosen domain name as specified in the debian-prefs.txt.

cat >> /etc/apache2/sites-available/$FAXDOMAIN << EOF

<VirtualHost *:80>
    DocumentRoot $INSTDIR
    ServerName $FAXDOMAIN
    ErrorLog /var/log/avantfax-error_log
    CustomLog /var/log/avantfax-access_log common
</VirtualHost>
EOF

After the new virtual host file is added to the sites-available we can add the following to have it added to the apache sites-enabled section.

a2ensite $FAXDOMAIN
/etc/init.d/apache2 reload
a2dissite 000-default
/etc/init.d/apache2 reload

This script is completely non-debian so i suggest to make ad a new debian-setup-postfix.sh script

The following section can be removed

# INSTALL REQUIRED APPS IF NOT ALREADY INSTALLED

echo “Installing required packages”

yast –install postfix

It mentions yast and that should be replaced with apt-get but AvantFax depends on a functioning hylafax and the installation of hylafax in its turn depends on an installed MTA so it will default to install exim4 if no other MTA is present, using this scripts means you want to use postfix as MTA so this should already be installed before Hylafax.

The following section is ment to stop postfix and alter the master.cf file

# CONFIGURE POSTFIX

/sbin/service postfix stop

echo “Configuring Email to FAX for domain ${FAXDOMAIN}”

cat >> /etc/postfix/master.cf << EOF
fax unix - n n - 1 pipe
flags= user=$FAXMAILUSER argv=/usr/bin/faxmail -d -n -NT ${user}

EOF

Debian uses init so this section should read as follows

# CONFIGURE POSTFIX
/etc/init.d/postfix stop

echo “Configuring Email to FAX for domain ${FAXDOMAIN}”

cat >> /etc/postfix/master.cf << EOF
fax unix - n n - 1 pipe
flags= user=$FAXMAILUSER argv=/usr/bin/faxmail -d -n -NT ${user}

EOF

Faxmail will start complaining it can not locate the fonts so we need to specify the ghostscript font directory to Hylafax

cat >> /etc/hylafax/hyla.conf << EOF
FontMap: /usr/share/ghostscript/8.62/lib/
EOF

The following section at the end of this script will start postfix after having it stopped at the beginning of the configuration, again we use init.

/sbin/chkconfig postfix on
/sbin/service postfix start

so we replace this with

/etc/init.d/postfix start

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http://manpages.songshu.org/manpages/lenny/en/man5/hylafax-server.5.html

Hylafax runs very well in a Vserver, all that needs to be done extra compared to a “normal” install is to copy the /dev/ttyS0 so Hylafx can reach it from within the Vserver.

It is absolutely not needed to have Hylafax run in a Vserver but since this is a “low profile” setup for about a few dozen faxes a day and just as many users it does not need a dedicated box to run on, all you need is a cheap fax modem (in my case a a Emininet em5017) that i picked up for about 30,- Euro.

Off course you need a server to attach it to, i already have one anyway, but you could use any old box.
Add a nice front end like Avantfax, a printer and a scanner and you have a complete “small office” fax solution.

newvserver --vsroot /VSERVERS --hostname fax --domain cipar.net --ip 192.168.1.10/24 --dist lenny --mirror http://192.168.1.12:3142/debian.apt-get.eu/debian --interface dummy0

vserver fax start
vserver fax enter

Since i use a lot of different Vserver installs on a single box (network) i make use of an apt-cacher to prevent having to download a lot of things over and over again, otherwise just use your normal sources.

# nano /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://192.168.1.12:3142/security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main contrib
deb-src http://192.168.1.12:3142/security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main contrib
deb http://192.168.1.12:3142/debian.apt-get.eu/debian/ lenny main contrib non-free

apt-get update && apt-get upgrade

http://www.howtoforge.com/build-a-hylafax-server-with-avantfax-on-debian-etch
http://www.lucasmanual.com/mywiki/FaxServer
http://www.avantfax.com/install.php

Hylafax depends on a MTA so it will use Exim4 as the Debian default but i personally prefer to use Postfix so i install that one first.

apt-get install postfix

choose internet site

The system mail name, in my case i will go with the default fax.cipar.net since i use it on the local network only it does not really matter.

nano /etc/aliases

and add the following

root:   randall@smydomain.com

newaliases

apt-get install hylafax-server

The following is only needed because we have this running within a Vserver, otherwise Hylafax can not contact the fax modem.

exit
cp -a /dev/ttyS0 /VSERVERS/fax/dev/ttyS0
cp -aR /dev/null /VSERVERS/fax/var/spool/hylafax/dev
vserver fax enter

faxsetup

This will ask for a lot of questions, i go for the defaults except when specified below.

# Country code [1]? 31
# Area code [415]? 10
# Phone number of fax modem [+1.999.555.1212]? +31.10.1234567
# Local identification string (for TSI/CIG) ["NothingSetup"]? fax.cipar.net
# Long distance dialing prefix [1]? 0
# International dialing prefix [011]? 00
# Protection mode for received facsimile [0600]? 0644
# Protection mode for session logs [0600]? 0644
# Protection mode for ttyS0 [0600]? 0666
# Do you want to run faxaddmodem to configure another modem [yes]? no

Allow users from our subnet access to the fax service:

nano /etc/hylafax/hosts.hfaxd

on the bottom of the file

192\.168\.:::

exit
vserver fax restart
vserver fax enter

faxstat -a -s

should show something like this

HylaFAX scheduler on fax.cipar.net: Running
Modem ttyS0 (+**.**.*******): Running and idle

Add a fax user. This will create a user named “user” with userID 101 and no password.

faxadduser -u 100 user

Add an administrator. This will create a user named admin with admin password :

faxadduser -a password -p password -u 100 admin

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