Sending SMS via Kannel

Hi,

I am looking for a possibility to send SMS with Nethserver.
I found Kannel (http://www.kannel.org/overview.shtml) which is a open source SMS gateway for Linux systems… and I wonder which is the best way to set it up for Nethserver 7. For Centos 7, there are installation guides (e.g., http://blog.ones-app.com/how-to-install-kannel-in-centos-7/) which involves compiling the source code…
I will test it in the next days on Nethserver…

I wonder whether it wouldn’t be very nice to have such a feature as default option?!?! :wink: For example, as RPM or module? Perhaps in connection with playSMS (https://playsms.org/about/)?!

as said, I haven’t test it yet… this is only an idea…!

Are you sure the project is still actively developed? When I have a look at the news section http://www.kannel.org/news.shtml the last item is from 3 years ago.
Most of the time that is no good news…

Yes I am pretty sure since there are new posts at least in the mailing lists, e.g., http://www.kannel.org/pipermail/announce/2017-February/000015.html

We have a quite straightforward method of implementing new features.

  • do a feature request for a module in the features section of the forums. (that is this discussion :wink: ) Here the community will discuss what the module is about, what benefit we have from the module.
  • If someone want to install the software on a server, the next step is creating a howto in these forums in the howto section. When the howto is 100% reproducable the howto will be transferred to the wiki, where all community howto’s are.
  • Then, again if someone is willing (and can) the module can be created. The @dev_team is more than willing to assist with creating new modules/rpm’s for NethServer.

So, if you think Kannel is a must-have for NethServer, I would say you start with installing it on NethServer. Make sure you document every step and put it in a howto. There are quite a few examples of howto’s that you can have a look at so you see how a complete howto should look like.

Maybe you should look for already existing binary packages. It would make the final creation of a NS rpm a lot easier. I see there are RPM’s available: http://www.kannel.org/download/1.4.4/userguide-1.4.4/userguide.html#AEN342 try install those first before you go for compile from source.

In addition of Kannel, you could have a look at playsms for sms management: https://playsms.org/about/

If you have any further question, don’ t hesitate to ask!

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Just a question: How does Kannel connect the IP network (where NethServer has it’s place) to a mobile (G1-G2 SMS) network? Do you need specific hardware for that (I imagine something that has a simcard slot in it?) Or are there other ways to connect to a mobile network? It would be nice to be able to send SMS’s without additional costs. On the other hand, many mobile contracts have unlimited SMS.

/edit: this is quite enlightening: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-send-free-text-messages-online/
The SMS gateway the link refers to is exactly what Kannel does. I am still wondering what hardware to use… :slight_smile: