Call records

Behavior

Which backend stores records, what counts as an answered call, and which events are logged.

This screen edits four files, each read and written independently: cdr.conf (its own

declared file), plus cel.conf, cel_odbc.conf and cel_pgsql.conf, read the same way

the Security screen reads pjsip.conf and stir_shaken.conf besides its own acl.conf. It lives

on the Data rail, under the Records & APIs group: Call records, event logging and the machine

interfaces.

There is no single key anywhere that selects a CDR backend by name. cdr.conf.sample's own

"CHOOSING A CDR BACKEND" section is explicit about this: a backend is chosen by which

[section] is present in cdr.conf itself ([csv], [radius]), or by which separate file

exists and is populated (cdr_odbc.conf, cdr_pgsql.conf, cdr_custom.conf, and so on).

d_status reports that honestly instead of pretending a picker exists: what this screen has

actually read as configured, against what the target's running Asterisk has actually

registered (cdr show status). A backend can be configured in a file and not loaded, or

loaded from a configuration that has since changed underneath it — those are two different

facts, and the readout says both rather than one.

CEL had no configuration surface at all before this: the screen's own declared file used to

be the two-file label cdr.conf · cel.conf, which is not a real filename, so nothing was ever

actually read from a target and every control below silently showed the design's own shipped

default. It now reads cel.conf, cel_odbc.conf and cel_pgsql.conf for real.

Connection secrets never appear on this screen. cel_pgsql.conf's password key stays

deliberately unbound — see Controls that do not write to a file, and why.

Configuration

CDR — cdr.conf

One row per call.

CDR enabled (d_enable) — a switch control, default true. [general]/enable.
Log unanswered calls (d_unanswered) — a switch control, default false. [general]/unanswered.
Log congestion (d_congestion) — a switch control, default false. [general]/congestion.
Batch mode (d_batch) — a switch control, default true. [general]/batch.
*Gotcha:* If the database becomes unreachable, Asterisk may block on writes. Batch mode mitigates it; test the failure case before you rely on it.
Batch size (d_size) — a stepper control, default 100. [general]/size.
Backends (d_status) — a live status readout, not a value control. Reports which of

cdr.conf's own [csv]/[radius] sections are populated, and which backend modules the

target's running Asterisk has actually registered.

Save call records settings — writes the five fields above to cdr.conf.

CEL — cel.conf

One row per channel event — far more detail, far more volume.

CEL enabled (l_enable) — a switch control, default true. [general]/enable.
Tracked events (l_events) — a chips control, default CHAN_START, ANSWER, HANGUP, BRIDGE_ENTER, choices CHAN_START, CHAN_END, ANSWER, HANGUP, BRIDGE_ENTER, BRIDGE_EXIT, APP_START, APP_END, PARK_START, BLINDTRANSFER. [general]/events.
Tracked applications (l_apps) — a chips control, default Dial, Queue, choices Dial, Queue, VoiceMail, ConfBridge, Playback, Park. [general]/apps.
Timestamp format (l_date) — a segmented control, default ISO8601, choices ISO8601, epoch, local. [general]/dateformat.
Backends (l_status) — a live status readout: what cel_odbc.conf/cel_pgsql.conf have

configured, against which cel_*.so module the target shows loaded.

Save channel event logging settings — writes the four fields above to cel.conf.

CEL: ODBC backend — cel_odbc.conf

Records are written per named context — cel_odbc.conf declares one [section] per

connection/table pair, not one fixed section, so this group edits whichever one is named in

Context name.

Show USER_DEFINED events (l_oshow) — a switch control, default false. [general]/show_user_defined.
Context name (l_octx) — a text control. Names the [section] the two fields below

read and write. Not itself a binding — the same shape as the Security screen's **Transport

name** field for a PJSIP transport's TLS settings.

Load from target — reads the named context's current connection/table into the fields

below. A name that resolves to nothing yet is not a refusal, unlike the PJSIP transport

case: a cel_odbc.conf context needs nothing but these two keys to be usable.

ODBC connection (l_oconn) — a text control. connection, in the section named by l_octx.
Table (l_otable) — a text control. table, in the same section.
Save ODBC context — writes l_oshow and the named context's connection/table in

one cel_odbc.conf write. Creates the section if the name does not already exist.

CEL: PostgreSQL backend — cel_pgsql.conf

One connection for the whole file, in its single [global] section.

Show USER_DEFINED events (l_pshow) — a switch control, default false. [global]/show_user_defined.
Log date/time in GMT (l_pgmtime) — a switch control, default false. [global]/usegmtime.
Hostname (l_phost) — a text control. [global]/hostname.
Port (l_pport) — a stepper control, default 5432. [global]/port.
Database name (l_pdb) — a text control. [global]/dbname.
User (l_puser) — a text control. [global]/user.
Table (l_ptable) — a text control. [global]/table.
Schema (l_pschema) — a text control, optional. [global]/schema. Defaults to the

database's own current_schema() when left blank.

Application name (l_papp) — a text control, optional. [global]/appname. No

whitespace allowed.

Save PostgreSQL settings — writes all nine fields above in one cel_pgsql.conf write.

password is deliberately absent from this list and from the screen.

Failure modes and security

Every bound control here maps to a real key, justified against this checkout's own

configs/samples/cdr.conf.sample, cel.conf.sample, cel_odbc.conf.sample and

cel_pgsql.conf.sample; an unreachable configuration store is shown as unreachable, never

backfilled with placeholder values. If the database becomes unreachable, Asterisk may block

on writes. Batch mode mitigates it; test the failure case before you rely on it. password

on the PostgreSQL group is never read, written or displayed by this console — set it through

secret intake on the target directly.

Verification

Exercise every control against its documented default and its full option range, confirm the

write lands in the file its own group names, and confirm the ODBC context Save both creates a

missing section and edits an existing one without disturbing any other section in

cel_odbc.conf. Confirm every default shown here matches what a fresh install actually ships,

that changing a value here is reflected the next time this screen loads, and that d_status/

l_status distinguish a backend that is merely configured from one the target actually has

loaded.