How to Become a Cloud IP PBX Provider - Walkthrough

  • Tutorial
Now almost anyone can become a cloud PBX operator. In the previous article, we talked about how to do this, having only one server, today we will talk about the situation when there are several servers (cluster) and centralized management is needed.




What is needed for this?


  • Download a free hosting platform here . (it doesn't cost anything)
  • Register as a 3CX partner here , as centralized management goes through the Partner Portal (this is also free)
  • Multiple servers or virtual machines


Method 1: Creating an IP PBX through an Affiliate Portal (ERP) 


You can manage your PBXs through the 3CX Affiliate Portal. You can dynamically create and delete individual telephone exchanges. In steps, it looks like this:

Step 1: Create a Google Cloud Account


The 3CX Partner Portal uses Google Cloud DNS to automatically create the required records. First you need to create a Google Cloud account, more details here:
https://cloud.google.com/dns/

Once you have done this, go to the Virtual PBX Instances> Virtual PBX Settings section, the Google Cloud DNS Settings section and fill out required fields:



  • Project ID - you need to take from the Google Cloud developer console (https://console.developers.google.com/);
  • Service Account Email Address - You need to create a service account for the Google Cloud project , this is done through APIs & Auth> Credentials . A file with the public / private key (.p12) will be created with the help of which the Affiliate Portal is authorized on Google Cloud. You will receive Server Account Client ID and email address as a service identifier. Enter this email here;
  • Private Key File - upload the file in public / private key;
  • Private Key Password - The private key is encrypted with a password. Enter it in this field. Unless otherwise specified, the default password is “notasecret” (you can change it).
  • This is the default TTL.


Step 2: Create a Cluster


Before creating a PBX, you need to make at least one server cluster. A cluster is a group of servers, each of which can be located in different data centers, different regions, or just a server with different characteristics or SLA. To create a virtual PBX, the server with the lowest load is always selected.



1. Go to the Server Clusters tab .
2. Click Add to reclaim the new cluster.
3. Enter a Cluster Code -unique internal 4-character code, consists of letters and numbers, is needed to identify the cluster. Used to refer to a cluster in Web Forms
4. Description - A plain text description.
5. Hosted Instance Domain - the domain name of the cluster. Hotel exchanges will be subdomains, for example, user1.pbx.mycompany.eu. Typically, you need to install a trusted SSL certificate for the domain and all servers in the cluster.
6. DNS Managed zone : you need to get from the Google DNS Account.

Step 3: Creating a Virtual PBX Server


Download and install 3CX Phone System 14 on each server. When installing, be sure to select the Multiple option. This will install up to 25 on each server. When all the servers are installed, you can start adding PBXs.



1. In 3CX ERP, go to Virtual PBX Instances> Virtual PBX Servers.
2. Click Add and specify the server data:
• Server Cluster - select a cluster from the drop-down list. In the example, we select a cluster in Asia.
• Unique name - the internal name of the server. May match the FQDN.
• FQDN is the domain name. Do not provide an IP address. If you use an SSL certificate from a provider such as Thawte or Verisign, you must specify the domain name corresponding to the certificate (for example, * .mycompany.eu);
The Partner Portal will itself create DNS records of the CNAME type for user exchanges.
Please note that the Portal will not create an entry of type A. This is the responsibility of the administrator.
• System Id - the default is 'phonesystem'. This is the name of a specific PBX;
• Password - Password from the PBX. Own for each installation;
• Omit from pool - Needed for tests. By default, the Portal creates, deletes and edits PBX data. Enable this option if you go to delete and create an IP PBX through Cloud Manager.
• Untrusted SSL - When you install 3CX Phone System, you need a confirmed SSL certificate or 3CX can generate an unconfirmed own SSL certificate. Enable this option if you plan to certificate from 3CX.
3. Repeat the steps to add more servers.

Step 4: Creating a Virtual PBX


To add a telephone exchange:



1. Click Virtual PBX instances> Add
2. Select a cluster.
3. Select on which of the cluster servers the PBX will be added.
4. Enter Tenant ID - this may be the name of the company.
5. Indicate the contact person and email.
6. Specify a quota for voicemail and for recording conversations in MB. The default is 1 GB for each feature.
7. If you need to activate a license for a PBX, select the “Use the following license key” checkbox and specify the end-user data.
8. Click OK to create the PBX.
9. Access data will be sent by email.

Virtual PBX Management


You can manage all virtual exchanges through this interface:



To check the PBX status, click [Request Status]:


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