Whenever I discuss Asterisk or Trixbox with someone the questions always comes up... "Does it work with Skype ?".  I was forced to answer no until recently when I came across a new product called ChanSkype .  The developers at ChanSkype have developed a conduit between Asterisk and Skype that enables inbound and outbound calls via the Skype client on your Trixbox.  You can receive Skype calls from other Skype unsers, make unlimited outbound calls via SkypeOut for $30 a year and receive unlimited inbound calls via SkypeIn calls for $30 a year.  That is only $5 a month for unlimited inbound and ourbound calls! The ChanSkype software we are using in the HOWTO isn't free but a single channel license (one call at a time) is only $20.

Once you have coompleted this HOW-TO add to your Chanskype with these additional HOW-TOs:

Using Trixbox and SkypeOut for making outbound calls to regular phones.

Using Trixbox to receive calls from Skype users and/or your Skype In #

Before we get started with the prerequisites I want to acknowledge that the contents of some of scripts in this HOWTO were gathered from users on the Trixbox.org forums.   Modifications were made to simplify the installation and make them more Trixbox friendly.

I recommend that you setup your Skype account before your start the tutorial but you can also due via your Trixbox during the HOWTO.  I also recommend opening or forwarding the following ports on your firewall/router:
443/tcp    (For Skype)
5091/tcp  (For VNC.  Only needed if your connect to your server through the firewall.)
8099/tcp  (Outbound and only for the registration of ChanSkype)

1) Login to your Trixbox server as root via SSH.  I recommend using Putty .

2) Cut and paste follow commands to the prompt.  This downloads the Geek-Pages.com chanskype scripts, installs them, updates asterisk and installs the development RPMs for Asterisk and the linux kernel.

cd /usr/src/
wget http://www.geek-pages.com/articlepages/downloads/trix-skype.tar.gz
tar zxvf trix-skype.tar.gz
cd trix-skype
./install.sh

3) Cut and paste follow commands to the prompt. This downloads and installs the chanskype software.

./installcs.sh

4) If you have already purchased chanskype you should have a registration code.  Run the following command with your registration code.  If you haven't registered you will be able to test 15 second calls before being disconnected.

ivregister putyourregistrationcodehere

5) Cut and paste follow command to the prompt. This creates the neccesary account to support the Skype client and vncserver.  You will be prompted to enter a password. Remember this password - you will need it for step 8.

./makeaccounts.sh 1

6) Cut and paste follow commands to the prompt. This enables the vncserver.

/etc/init.d/vncserver start
chkconfig --level 35 vncserver on
mv /etc/rc3.d/S91vncserver /etc/rc3.d/S99vncserver
mv /etc/rc5.d/S91vncserver /etc/rc5.d/S99vncserver