HylaFax

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HylaFAX for SME Server

PythonIcon.png Skill level: Advanced
The instructions on this page may require deviations from standard procedures. A good understanding of linux and Koozali SME Server is recommended.


Version

Contrib 10:
Devel 9:
smeserver-hylafax
The latest version of smeserver-hylafax is available in the SME repository, click on the version number(s) for more information.


Maintainer

http://www.dungog.net

Description

HylaFAX is an enterprise-class system for sending and receiving facsimiles as well as for sending alpha-numeric pages.

The software is designed around a client-server architecture. Fax modems may reside on a single machine on a network and clients can submit an outbound job from any other machine on the network.

Documentation

HylaFAX Handbook

Installation

SME8

 yum --enablerepo=smecontribs install smeserver-hylafax

then issue

signal-event post-upgrade; signal-event reboot

SME9

you might need to install dag repo : https://wiki.contribs.org/Dag#tab=For_SME_9

yum --enablerepo=smecontribs,smedev,dag install smeserver-hylafax

then you need to issue:

/sbin/e-smith/expand-template /etc/hylafax/hyla.conf
/sbin/e-smith/expand-template /etc/init/ttyS0.conf
/bin/rm -f /etc/cron.daily/hylafax
signal-event post-upgrade; signal-event reboot

SME10

you might need to install epel repo:

yum install smeserver-extrarepositories-epel 

then

yum --enablerepo=smecontribs,{epel} install smeserver-hylafax

Enable Hylafax to start at boot (SME8 and 9 only)

config setprop hylafax status enabled

Configure

Make sure that your modem is plugged into the serial port and turned on, then run

/usr/sbin/faxsetup 

Answer the questions as required.
Accept the defaults on most everything except
the county & area code and telephone number of the fax line.

Take note of your modems port

The inittab template assumes you are using ttyS0
see options below for how to change to ttyS1

For SME8 or SME9: You can modify your answers later, see below
then

signal-event post-upgrade; signal-event reboot

or

/etc/rc.d/init.d/hylafax [start | restart]
/sbin/e-smith/expand-template /etc/inittab
/sbin/init q

To Disable

/etc/rc.d/init.d/hylafax stop
config setprop hylafax status disabled
expand-template /etc/inittab
/sbin/init q

for SME10:

signal-event smeserver-hylafax-update


To Remove

rpm -e hylafax smeserver-hylafax

Usage

Important.png Note:
SMERPFax should be added to smecontribs, and/or panels should be converted to utf-8, perhaps it should be merged with smeserver-hylafax


Optional, Download this contrib: http://smerp.free.fr/fichiers/binaires/SMERPFax-0.8b1-1.noarch.rpm
The SMERPFax-contrib from Christian Dumont gives you a configurable panel to Hylafax!
You can download the english version .pdf Manual here

Usage

Receiving faxes by e-mail

All incoming faxes go to the user faxmaster, or forwarded as you have configured. Forwarding can be configured in /etc/hylafax/etc/FaxDisptach

Sending faxes by e-mail

One of the main uses for HylaFAX is as an e-mail to fax gateway. This gateway unifies a users communications, so that faxing is as simple as using an e-mail client. The user can e-mail john@08812345678.fax and know that the message typed, and any attachment will be faxed via HylaFAX.

To setup an e-mail to fax gateway using HylaFAX, a few simple scripts are needed to convert attachments into postscript so that HylaFAX can then use them. By default you can send e-mails with pdf attachments, postscript attachments or tiff attachments.

Testing

Send an e-mail from your favorite mailing software to the SME-Server. This means that the smtp server in your e-mail software must be set to the SME-Server. Because the e-mail address we are going to be using will only be known by our server. Then we will send an e-mail with the following recepeint: Name@FaxNumber.fax

e.g: John_Smith@5555551212.fax

  • The name can be any name.
  • The fax number is going to be used for faxing the document.
  • Mail can only be send as a plain text e-mail.
  • Mail can have a postscript, pdf or tiff attachment, this attachment will also be faxed.
  • Don't expect your html formatted e-mails to be faxed! Sorry!

HylaFAX clients

Download Client Software from:

Login on your SME Server with ssh and make new faxusers:

faxadduser -p password username
faxadduser -p password2 username2

Install the HylaFAX Client, configure with these values:

Server IP: Your SME Server IP
Port: 4559
Username: above username
Passord: above password

Other Modifications and Customizations

ports other than ttyS0, or to disable

for SME8 and SME9:

config setprop hylafax status disabled
config setprop hylafax port ttyS1
/sbin/e-smith/expand-template /etc/inittab
/sbin/init q

for SME10:

config setprop hylafax port ttyS1
signal-event smeserver-hylafax-update



Change permissions and other settings in the config.MODEM file

nano -w /etc/hylafax/etc/config.ttyS0
# make attachments readable
RecvFileMode:           0666
LogFileMode:            0666
DeviceMode:             0666
# for shared lines
RingsBeforeAnswer:      10
# change to suit
SpeakerVolume:          quiet
LocalIdentifier:        "Pagen Vegan Pty Ltd"
/etc/rc.d/init.d/hylafax restart

To be able to send a fax by mailfax with the latest version of HylaFax (4.4.x-y and further - see the post [1] to see explained the problem you may encounter without modifications), edit the file:

 nano -w /var/spool/hylafax/etc/mailfax

Comment out the following lines, like:

 ### /usr/bin/faxmail -f Helvetica-Bold | /usr/bin/sendfax \
 ### -f "$SENDER" \
 ### -n -d "$EXT2@`/usr/bin/expr \"$HOST\" : '\(.*\)\.fax$'`"

Underneath the above lines add:

 /usr/bin/faxmail -s a4 \
 -n -u uucp "$EXT2@`/usr/bin/expr \"$HOST\" : '\(.*\)\.fax$'`" \
 "$SENDER"

Further customizations are possible:

 /usr/bin/faxmail -s a4 \
 -n -N -T -u uucp -t done "$EXT2@`/usr/bin/expr \"$HOST\" : '\(.*\)\.fax$'`" \
 "$SENDER"

-N -> this switch disable the faxmail Cover Page, otherwise autogenerated translating the mail header: this may be an "unuseful" cover with a mostly blank page;

-T -> this switch can disable empty blank pages at the end of your fax;

-t done -> in this way you can get your notification (receipt) concerning your fax transaction for both succesfull or failed faxes; this is a sample of the success message you'll receive in your mailbox:

Your job to 011654321 was completed successfully.
           Pages: 1
        Receiver: 011 99988812
         Quality: 196
      Page Width: 209 (mm)
     Page Length: 296
     Signal Rate: 9600 bit/s
     Data Format: 2-D MMR
Remote Equipment: unknown
  Remote Station:
         Dialogs: 1 (exchanges with remote device)
           Calls: 1 (total phone calls placed)
           Modem: any
  Submitted From: localhost
           JobID: 28
         GroupID: 28
          CommID: c000000077
Processing time was 1:07.

The fax is attached as a pdf file if not selected otherwise another file format.


Important.png Note:
In the previous commands the paper size is set to A4 with the '-s' option. Paper sizes that can be with this option are:
  • NA-LET (US Letter)
  • JP-LEG (Japanese legal)
  • A4

Taken from: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Hylafax#Pagesize


Bugs

Please raise bugs under the SME-Contribs section in bugzilla and select the smeserver-hylafax component or use this link .

IDProductVersionStatusSummary
9490SME Contribs9.1CONFIRMEDimport SMERPFAX panel to smeserver-hylafax rpm

Changelog

Only released version in smecontrib are listed here.

smeserver-hylafax Changelog: SME 10 (smecontribs)
2021/11/02 Brian Read 0.9-15.sme
- Add FaxDispatch confif file [SME: 11269]

2021/10/15 Brian Read 0.9-14.sme
- Add conf fragment for faxsetup fonts [SME: 11269]

- Edit in Mailfax changes from wiki
2021/10/15 Brian Read 0.9-13.sme
- Reverse out release 12 changes. [SME: 11269]
2021/10/13 Brian Read 0.9-12.sme
- Add restart event without conf expand as faxsetup writes to it [SME: 11269]
2021/10/11 Brian Read 0.9-11.sme
- Add-Update-event-to-createlinks.patch [SME: 11269]