Version: 2.0.0

APIServer

The APIServer is an optional component that can be used to describe a VoIP network in terms of Domains, Agents, Trunks, Numbers, and Peers. The data is stored in a PostgreSQL database and is accessed by other components via gRPC.

The APIServer has two implementations: the pgdata for persistent data storage in a PostgreSQL database and the simpledata for storing data in files. The simpledata implementation is intended for testing and small deployments.

The pgdata has several advantages over the simpledata implementation. The first advantage is that the pgdata allows you to manage the data using the CTL and SDK. Additionally, all the data entities support the extended attribute, enabling you to store additional data in the database in JSON format—more on this in later sections.

Data Migration

The pgdata implementation uses Prisma to manage the database schema. Prisma is important because it allows us to migrate the database schema to newer versions of Routr easily.

Configuration Spec

pgdata

The pgdata has the following environment variables available for configuration:

DATABASE_URL - The URL of the PostgreSQL database. Example: postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/routr
BIND_ADDR - The address where the APIServer will listen for gRPC requests. Default to 0.0.0.0:51907
EXTERNAL_SERVER_BIND_ADDR - The address where the APIServer will listen for HTTP requests. Default to 0.0.0.0:51908
TLS_ON - Enables TLS for the gRPC server. Default to false
VERIFY_CLIENT_CERT - Enables client certificate verification. Default to false
CACERT - The path to the CA certificate. Default to /etc/routr/certs/ca.crt
SERVER_CERT - The path to the server certificate. Default to /etc/routr/certs/server.crt
ENFORCE_E164 - Enables E164 validation for Numbers. Default to false
ENFORCE_E164_WITH_MOBILE_PREFIX - Enables E164 validation for Numbers with mobile prefixes. Default to false

For details about connecting to the pgdata to manage the data, see the CTL and SDK documentation.

simpledata

The simpledata has the following environment variables available for configuration:

PATH_TO_RESOURCES - The path to the directory where the data will be stored. Example: /etc/routr/resources
BIND_ADDR - The address where the APIServer will listen for gRPC requests. Default to 0.0.0.0:51907

Both implementations provide Routr with the same protobuf interface, so you can switch between them without changing the other components.

In your resources directory, you will find the following files:

agents.yaml - A list of Agents
domains.yaml - A list of Domains to which Agents belong
trunks.yaml - Represents the list of Trunks
numbers.yaml - A list of Numbers to which Trunks belong
peers.yaml - A list of Peers that cooperate with Routr (e.g., Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, etc.)
credentials.yaml - A list of Credentials for Peers and Agents
acl.yaml - The list of ACLs

You may also provide a .json file instead of a .yaml file.

The Agents configuration file has the following structure:

Property	Description	Required
`apiVersion`	The API version of the Agent	Yes
`kind`	The kind of resource	Yes
`ref`	Reference to the Agent	Yes
`metadata.name`	A friendly name for the Agent	Yes
`spec.username`	The username of the Agent	Yes
`spec.domainRef`	Reference to the Domain of the Agent	Yes
`spec.credentialsRef`	Reference to the Credentials of the Agent	Yes
`spec.privacy`	The privacy settings of the Agent (`Private` or `None`)	No
`spec.enabled`	The enabled status of the Agent (reserved for future use)	No

An example of an Agents configuration file:

Filename: agents.yaml

- apiVersion: v2beta1
  kind: Agent
  ref: agent-01
  metadata:
    name: John Doe
  spec:
    username: "1001"
    domainRef: domain-01
    credentialsRef: credentials-01
    privacy: Private

In the example above, the Agent agent-01 has the username 1001, belongs to the Domain domain-01, and uses the Credentials credentials-01. Both the Domain and the Credentials are required for the Agent to work.

The Domains configuration file has the following structure:

Property	Description	Required
`apiVersion`	The API version of the Domain	Yes
`kind`	The kind of resource	Yes
`ref`	Reference to the Domain	Yes
`metadata.name`	A friendly name for the Domain	Yes
`spec.context.domainUri`	The domain URI	Yes
`spec.context.egressPolicies`	The list of egress policies	No
`spec.context.egressPolicies[*].rule`	The regular expression to match the number	Yes
`spec.context.egressPolicies[*].numberRef`	Reference to the Number	Yes

An example of a Domains configuration file:

Filename: domains.yaml

- apiVersion: v2beta1
  kind: Domain
  ref: domain-01
  metadata:
    name: Local Domain
  spec:
    context:
      domainUri: sip.local
      egressPolicies:
        - rule: ".*"
          numberRef: number-01

In the example above, the Domain domain-01 has the Domain URI sip.local and the egress policy .* that matches all numbers. The egress policy is associated with the Number number-01. The Number number-01 is required for the Domain to work.

Numbers are used to route calls from and to the PSTN. The Numbers configuration file has the following structure:

Property	Description	Required
`apiVersion`	The API version of the Number	Yes
`kind`	The kind of resource	Yes
`ref`	Reference to the Number	Yes
`metadata.name`	A friendly name for the Number	Yes
`metadata.geoInfo.city`	The city where the Number is located	No
`metadata.geoInfo.country`	The country where the Number is located	No
`metadata.geoInfo.countryISOCode`	The ISO code of the country	No
`spec.trunkRef`	Reference to the Trunk	Yes
`spec.location.telUrl`	The tel URL of the Number	Yes
`spec.location.aorLink`	The Address of Record (AOR) of the Number	Yes
`spec.location.sessionAffinityHeader`	The session affinity header of the Number	No
`spec.location.extraHeaders`	The extra headers of the Number	No
`spec.location.extraHeaders[*].name`	The name of the extra header	Yes

Tthe ' tel: ' scheme is required when setting the spec.location.telUrl property. For example, tel:+17066041487. Here, tel: indicates that the URI is a telephone number. Please remember that it must match the number sent by your VoIP provider.

Another important property is the spec.location.aorLink. The important thing is that the AOR must be present in the location table in the Location Service. Otherwise, the call will fail. The AOR can be a SIP URI or a backend URI. Typically, you will use SIP URIs to route calls to Agents and backend URIs to route calls to Peers.

The spec.location.sessionAffinityHeader tells the Location Service to use a specific header to identify the session. This property is helpful in combination with "backend" URIs. For example, if you have a conference server and want to ensure that all calls to the same conference room are routed to the same server, you can use the X-Room-Id header to identify the session. The Location Service will use the header's value to identify the session.

An example of a Numbers configuration file:

Filename: numbers.yaml

- apiVersion: v2beta1
  kind: Number
  ref: number-01
  metadata:
    name: "(706)604-1487"
    geoInfo:
      city: Columbus, GA
      country: USA
      countryISOCode: US
  spec:
    trunkRef: trunk-01
    location:
      telUrl: tel:+17066041487
      aorLink: sip:conference@sip.local
      sessionAffinityHeader: X-Room-Id
      extraHeaders:
        - name: X-Room-Id
          value: jsa-shqm-iyo

Numbers must be associated with a Trunk to work.

The Trunks configuration file has the following structure:

Property	Description	Required
`apiVersion`	The API version of the Trunk	Yes
`kind`	The kind of resource	Yes
`ref`	Reference to the Trunk	Yes
`metadata.name`	A friendly name for the Trunk	Yes
`metadata.region`	Reserved for future use	No
`spec.inbound.uri`	The inbound URI of the Trunk	Yes
`spec.inbound.accessControlListRef`	Reference to the ACL of the Trunk	No
`spec.outbound.sendRegister`	Enables outbound registration	No
`spec.outbound.credentialsRef`	Reference to the Credentials of the Trunk	No
`spec.outbound.uris`	The list of outbound URIs	No
`spec.outbound.uris[*].uri`	The outbound URI	Yes
`spec.outbound.uris[*].priority`	Reserved for future use	NA
`spec.outbound.uris[*].weight`	Reserved for future use	NA
`spec.outbound.uris[*].enabled`	Reserved for future use	NA
`spec.outbound.uris[*].transport`	The transport of the outbound URI	No
`spec.outbound.uris[*].user`	The user of the outbound URI	No
`spec.outbound.uris[*].host`	The host of the outbound URI	No
`spec.outbound.uris[*].port`	The port of the outbound URI	No

An example of a Trunks configuration file:

Filename: trunks.yaml

- apiVersion: v2beta1
  kind: Trunk
  ref: trunk-01
  metadata:
    name: Test Trunk
    region: us-east1
  spec:
    inbound:
      uri: trunk01.acme.com
      accessControlListRef: acl-01
    outbound:
      sendRegister: true
      credentialsRef: credentials-04
      uris:
        - uri:
            user: pbx-1
            host: sip.provider.net
            port: 7060
            transport: udp
          enabled: true

In the spec.inbound section, the uri property helps Routr to identify the Trunk. Calls from the PSTN using the uri will be routed to the Trunk. The accessControlListRef property restricts the access to the Trunk. The accessControlListRef is optional.

In the spec.outbound section, the sendRegister property enables registration outbound registrations while the credentialsRef property for authentication with your trunk provider.

In Routr, a Peer is a SIP entity that belongs to the same network as Routr. For example, Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, etc. The Peers configuration file has the following structure:

Property	Description	Required
`apiVersion`	The API version of the Peer	Yes
`kind`	The kind of resource	Yes
`ref`	Reference to the Peer	Yes
`metadata.name`	A friendly name for the Peer	Yes
`spec.aor`	The Address of Record (AOR) of the Peer	Yes
`spec.username`	The username of the Peer	Yes
`spec.credentialsRef`	Reference to the Credentials of the Peer	Yes
`spec.loadBalancing.withSessionAffinity`	Enables session affinity	No
`spec.loadBalancing.algorithm`	The load balancing algorithm	No

The spec.loadBalancing.withSessionAffinity property enables session affinity, and the spec.loadBalancing.algorithm property sets the load-balancing algorithm. The available algorithms are least-sessions and round-robin.

Remember that for the least-sessions algorithm to work, your SIP backend includes the special header X-Session-Count with the number of active sessions as part of the registration request.

We are evaluating more flexible options to provide the session count, but as of now, you also need to make sure that registration requests happen frequently enough to keep the session count up to date.

An example of a Peers configuration file:

Filename: peers.yaml

- apiVersion: v2beta1
  kind: Peer
  ref: peer-01
  metadata:
    name: Asterisk (Media Server)
  spec:
    aor: sip:conference@sip.local
    username: asterisk
    credentialsRef: credentials-03
    loadBalancing:
     withSessionAffinity: true
     algorithm: least-sessions

Credentials in Routr help Agents and Peers authenticate with Routr.

The Credentials configuration file has the following structure:

Property	Description	Required
`apiVersion`	The API version of the Credentials	Yes
`kind`	The kind of resource	Yes
`ref`	Reference to the Credentials	Yes
`metadata.name`	A friendly name for the Credentials	Yes
`spec.credentials.username`	The username of the Credentials	Yes
`spec.credentials.password`	The password of the Credentials	Yes

An example of a Credentials configuration file:

Filename: credentials.yaml

- apiVersion: v2beta1
  kind: Credentials
  ref: credentials-01
  metadata:
    name: Agent Credentials
  spec:
    credentials:
      username: "1001"
      password: "1234"

Routr also supports ACLs. ACLs are used to restrict access to Trunks and Domains.

The ACLs configuration file has the following structure:

Property	Description	Required
`apiVersion`	The API version of the ACL	Yes
`kind`	The kind of resource	Yes
`ref`	Reference to the ACL	Yes
`metadata.name`	A friendly name for the ACL	Yes
`spec.accessControlList.deny`	The list of deny rules	No
`spec.accessControlList.deny[*]`	The deny rule	Yes
`spec.accessControlList.allow`	The list of allow rules	No
`spec.accessControlList.allow[*]`	The allow rule	Yes

An example of an ACLs configuration file:

Filename: acl.yaml

- apiVersion: v2beta1
  kind: AccessControlList
  ref: acl-01
  metadata:
    name: Europe ACL
  spec:
    accessControlList:
      deny:
        - 0.0.0.0/1
      allow:
        - 192.168.1.3/31
        - 127.0.0.1/8
        - 10.111.221.22/31

Communication and Protobuf Spec

Components communicate with the APIServer using gRPC. That includes SDKs, Command-line tools, Processors, Middleware, etc.

The following protobuf defines the Agent service interface:

syntax = "proto3";

package fonoster.routr.connect.agents.v2beta1;

// The Agents service definition
service Agents {
  // Creates a new Agent
  rpc Create (CreateAgentRequest) returns (Agent) {}
  // Updates an existing Agent
  rpc Update (UpdateAgentRequest) returns (Agent) {}
  // Gets an existing Agent
  rpc Get (GetAgentRequest) returns (Agent) {}
  // Deletes an existing Agent
  rpc Delete (DeleteAgentRequest) returns (.google.protobuf.Empty) {}
  // Lists all Agents
  rpc List (ListAgentsRequest) returns (ListAgentsResponse) {}
  // Find Agents by field name and value
  rpc FindBy (FindByRequest) returns (FindByResponse) {}
}

enum Privacy {
  PRIVATE = 0;
  NONE = 1;
}

// The message for the Agent resource
message Agent {
  // The API version of the Agent
  string api_version = 1;
  // The unique identifier of the Agent
  string ref = 2;
  // The name of the Agent
  string name = 3;
  // The username of the Agent
  string username = 4;
  // The password of the Agent
  Privacy privacy = 5;
  // The enabled status of the Agent
  bool enabled = 6;
  // The created_at timestamp of the Agent
  int32 created_at = 7;
  // The updated_at timestamp of the Agent
  int32 updated_at = 8;
  // The domain of the Agent
  fonoster.routr.connect.domains.v2beta1.Domain domain = 9;
  // The credentials of the Agent
  fonoster.routr.connect.credentials.v2beta1.Credentials credentials = 10;
  // The extended attributes of the Agent
  .google.protobuf.Struct extended = 11;  
}

// The request message for the Agents.Create method
message CreateAgentRequest {
  // The name of the Agent
  string name = 1;
  // The username of the Agent
  string username = 2;
  // The password of the Agent
  Privacy privacy = 3;
  // The enabled status of the Agent
  bool enabled = 4;
  // Reference to the Domain of the Agent
  string domain_ref = 5;
  // Reference to the Credentials of the Agent
  string credentials_ref = 6;
  // The extended attributes of the Agent
  .google.protobuf.Struct extended = 7;  
}

// The request message for the Agents.Update method
message UpdateAgentRequest {
  // The unique identifier of the Agent
  string ref = 1;
  // The name of the Agent
  string name = 2;
  // The privacy settings of the Agent
  Privacy privacy = 3;
  // The enabled status of the Agent
  bool enabled = 4;
  // Reference to the Domain of the Agent
  string domain_ref = 5;
  // Reference to the Credentials of the Agent
  string credentials_ref = 6;
  // The extended attributes of the Agent
  .google.protobuf.Struct extended = 7;
}

// The request message for the Agents.Get method
message GetAgentRequest {
  // The unique identifier of the Agent
  string ref = 1;
}

// The request message for the Agents.Delete method
message DeleteAgentRequest  {
  // The unique identifier of the Agent
  string ref = 1;
}

// The request message for the Agents.FindBy method
message FindByRequest {
  // The field name to search
  string field_name = 1;
  // The value to search
  string field_value = 2;
}

// The response message for the Agents.FindBy method
message FindByResponse {
  // The list of Agents
  repeated Agent items = 1;
} 

// The request message for the Agents.List method
message ListAgentsRequest {
  // The maximum number of items in the list
  int32 page_size = 1;

  // The next_page_token value returned from the previous request, if any
  string page_token = 2;
}

// The response message for the Agents.List method
message ListAgentsResponse {
  // List of Agents
  repeated Agent items = 1;

  // Token to retrieve the next page of results or empty if there are no more results in the list
  string next_page_token = 2;
}

To see the complete protobuf spec, please visit the protobuf directory.

Launching the APIServer

Both implementations are available as Docker images from Docker Hub as fonoster/routr-pgdata and fonoster/routr-simpledata.

pgdata

To launch the pgdata implementation with Docker, you can use the following command:

docker run -it \
  -e DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/routr" \
  -p 51907:51907 \
  -p 51908:51908 \
  fonoster/routr-pgdata

The port 51907 is used for internal communication, and the port 51908 is used for external communication. The CTL and SDK use the external port to manage the data.

simpledata

To launch the simpledata implementation with Docker, you can use the following command:

docker run -it \
  -v /path/to/resources:/etc/routr/resources \
  -p 51907:51907 \
  fonoster/routr-simpledata

Quick Test with gRPCurl

One easy way to interact with the APIServer for testing and development is to use gRPCurl. The following example shows how to send a request to the Agents service within the APIServer:

grpcurl -plaintext \
  -import-path /path/to/protos \
  -proto agents.proto  -d '{...}' \
  localhost:51907 \
  fonoster.routr.connect.agents.v2beta1.Agents/Get

Please remember that the simpledata implementation does not accept write operations.

Configuration Spec​

Communication and Protobuf Spec​

Launching the APIServer​

Quick Test with gRPCurl​

Configuration Spec

Communication and Protobuf Spec

Launching the APIServer

Quick Test with gRPCurl