If you have any comments, ideas, needs or other SMS Server Tools 3 related things, please write them to SMSTools3 Community which is a support forum for this software.
Estimated release time for following additions was in the past, but the publishing is delayed.
SQL database based spooling and message handling. Can be used together with current filesystem based spooling, or instead of it. At least MySQL and PostgreSQL will be supported, likely SQLite3, Mini SQL and Microsoft SQL Server too.
Configuration file (smsd.conf):
Added several modem settings for checking the SIM:
check_sim = yes/no / once
Default value: no.
If the device and smsd are started before the SIM is inserted to the device,
communication will fail and modem process stops.
With some devices modem process can wait until the SIM becomes ready.
A setting check_sim defines if the SIM is checked every time when a modem is initialized. Value once means that checking is only done when a modem is initialized for the first time.
All devices are not compatible with this feature. Some tested devices, like Huawei E353 and Neoway M590E do not work if the SIM is not in place when a device is switched on. Telit EZ-10 worked well and any reset was not required. SIM800L also worked well, but RADIO_OFF_ON was required. Some devices like M590E stop the communication if the radio is switched off, so that kind of reset cannot be used. If this feature is going to be used, carefull tests should be done.
When an error with SIM is detected, modem port is closed while modem process is waiting. USB modem can be disconnected and reconnected, if the port remains the same.
check_sim_cmd = string
Default value: AT+CPIN?.
Defines a command which is used to check the SIM.
Default value AT+CPIN? is suitable for most devices.
The command should return ERROR when the SIM is not ready.
check_sim_keep_open = yes/no
Default value: no.
Defines if a modem is closed when SIM was not ready and modem process is waiting for retrying.
check_sim_reset = string / RADIO_OFF_ON / RADIO_OFF_ON_SLOW
Default value: not used.
Defines if reset with AT commands is done before retrying after the failure.
Special value RADIO_OFF_ON is translated to AT+CFUN=0;+CFUN=1 which sets the
radio off and immediately back to on without delays.
Value RADIO_OFF_ON_SLOW is translated to AT+CFUN=0[3]AT+CFUN=1[5] where numbers
in square brackets defines a delay in seconds. This setting sets the radio off, waits three
seconds, sets the radio back on and waits five seconds.
check_sim_retries = number / forever
Default value: 10.
Defines how many times modem process will retry.
With a value forever modem process will retry, let's say, forever.
check_sim_wait = number
Default value: 30.
Defines how many seconds modem process will wait until retry.
General:
The script sendsms now tries to change the group of outgoing file instead of owner which can be changed only by root. Attributes of a file are set to 0660.
Bug fixes:
After a message was sent, modem process crashed on FreeBSD running on Raspberry Pi, because time to send was written inproperly to the log file (time_t vs. integer). This is fixed and similar missing typecasts are added to couple of other places too.
If the USSD answer was received from the modem in more than one pieces, only the first piece was handled and the result was broken. This is fixed by waiting for the last quotation mark and comma which are very near to the end of answer.
Pre-initialization did not work with all modems. "Echo off" and extended commands are not combined anymore. If pre_init is set to no, "echo off" and "CMEE=1" are not sent to the modem, but "CLIP=1" and/or "CREG=2" are still sent if necessary.
Sent message file:
New header: Sending_time: number of seconds
Tells how long it took to send the whole message.
If the message has multiple parts and receive_before_send is set to yes,
time to receive messages is included in this value.
Configuration file (smsd.conf):
Special section [communicate] can define shortcuts which can be used when communicating with a modem (e.g. smsd -C GSM1). Possible keys are Alt-0 ... Alt-9, and the syntax is like the following:
When communicating starts, available shortcuts are printed to the console. Alt-? also prints available shortcuts. Shortcuts can be used after a modem is opened. Shortcut does not include CR character, it must be pressed by the user.
Also the Ctrl-Z character can be sent using the Alt-Z key, required when terminating the PDU.
General:
Nowadays modems like Huawei are moderately general in simple environments, and list of incoming messages with those devices starts from 0. There is a configuration setting memory_start available, and it defaults to 1 because of backward compatibility. If memory_start is not set, and reading of messages causes an error, notification is written to the log and modem process changes the start to 0 automatically. To avoid future error messages when smsd starts, a configuration setting memory_start = 0 should be applied manually.
When a status of PIN is asked from the modem, the answer "+CPIN: READY" is expected. Now also simply "OK" is accepted.
When checking if a script is executable, it is also checked if a definition incorrectly points to the directory.
Bug fixes:
Even when the outgoing text is UTF-8 encoded, ISO characters are still accepted for backward compatibility. Changes for character conversion in 3.1.16 dropped ISO characters, and this is now fixed.
A field Discharge_timestamp in the messabe body of status report was always using the format "%y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", even when a custom datetime_format was defined in the configuration file. This is fixed.
Configuration file (smsd.conf):
Devices setting: multiple wildcard definitions can be used, together with static names.
For example:
devices = ELISA* 11-15, SONERA* 11-15, GSM1
"group" sections can be defined. If the system has devices = ELISA* 11-13, GSM1, DNA33* 1-5, the following groups can be used:
Grouping works with device names which do not start with digit. Asterisk is placed to the position where the first digit exists.
All modems read [default] section first, if it exists. Next the group section is read, if it exists. Finally the modems own section is read, if it exists.
Other:
Wildcard definitions can be used in the suspend file, for example: ELISA*: <reason>. The letters before *: are tested, and if the name of a modem matches with them, suspend is applied.
Bug fixes:
In the version 3.1.18 reading of modem settings was restructured and the new code forgot to close the handle of configuration file. This is fixed.
Configuration file (smsd.conf):
New setting for a modem:
read_configuration_after_suspend = yes/no
Default value: no.
If set to yes, modem process will read the configuration when suspend is going to break or end.
Configuration is checked and modem port (device) is tested.
If there are any problems, suspend continues.
Problems are shown in the log, and after problems are fixed, a signal USR2 must be sent to the modem process.
When configuration has no problems, modem process will continue as usual.
Changes for device settings logfile and loglevel do not apply without restarting smsd.
New setting for a modem:
read_identity_after_suspend = yes/no
Default value: yes.
Defines if IMEI and IMSI are refreshed after the suspend has ended.
This is useful if modem was suspended, and the SIM was changed on the fly,
without restarting the whole daemon and without reading the whole modem setup.
New setting for a modem:
delaytime = number
Default value: use the global part setting.
Defines how many seconds a modem process sleeps when it has nothing to do.
This setting overrides the global delaytime value.
New setting for a modem:
delaytime_random_start = yes/no
Default value: no.
Defines if the first sleep of a modem process is randomized, using a value between 0 and delaytime.
With very large number of modems it may be good that all processes are not working at the same time.
New global setting:
start = filename
Default value: not in use.
Defines a script/program which is executed when smsd starts.
This should be /path/to/executable only.
If any arguments are required, use start_args.
If return value of this script is anything else than 0, smsd stops.
New global setting:
start_args = string
Default value: empty.
Defines arguments for start script.
Bug fixes:
If smsd was compiled with shared memory (statistics) enabled, and NUMBER_OF_MODEMS in the Makefile was set to 124 or more, there was not enough shared memory available when trying to start smsd. Error message was written to the log and smsd did not start. Calculation of required memory with large setups is fixed, and now hundreds of modems are supported with statistics enabled.
If notifier (released in the version 3.1.17) was used, it did not terminate in some environments when smsd terminated. This was because smsd used a signal SIGTERM to terminate it. Now SIGKILL is used.
General:
Main loops are fine-tuned to reduce CPU load and increase the performance of spooling.
When smsd is spending some delay, for example sleeping after error, it sleeps more and less often, meaning that single sleep in the sleeping loop is raised to 10ms from 100µs.
Smsd now respects environment setting TMPDIR or TEMPDIR, if available. Without those variables smsd uses /tmp, as before.
When sending large number of messages continuously, regular run of a modem is executed on schedule, without need to use max_continuous_sending setting.
Configuration file (smsd.conf):
New global setting:
notifier = yes/no
Default value: no.
If set to yes, mainspooler creates a child process which will use inotifywait
to monitor outgoing directory. As soon as a new file appears in the directory,
mainprocess gets a signal SIGCONT and continues immediately.
New files are spooled as fast as possible, even when mainprocess has long sleeping times
to reduce CPU load.
This feature is available only on GNU/Linux systems. When compiling smsd on other systems, edit the Makefile and uncomment the line which defines DISABLE_INOTIFY. By default inotify is enabled.
New global setting:
sleeptime_mainprocess = value
Default value: 1
Value is seconds. This setting defines how long mainprocess sleeps when no any messages are spooled.
While looping, another smsd is detected, modem processes are listened and statistic files are written.
This setting does not affect for picking up new outgoing files, there is another setting delaytime_mainprocess for it.
Also notice that if an external child with inotifywait is used, mainprocess will get the signal CONT and
continues spooling immediately after a new file exists.
Because of this, delaytime can be high to save resources on small systems.
If it is needed that smsd really sleeps using sleep() while idle, this value can be set to higher than 1. However, in usual systems there is no need for that. Even if value is higher, regular_run script is executed on time, if in use. PID and processes are checked less often, and statistics are written less often if this value is higher than values set to those tasks.
New global setting:
check_pid_interval = number
Default value: 10.
Defines how often mainprocess will check the pidfile, to see if there was another smsd started.
If another smsd is started, current smsd will stop immediately.
Value 0 disables this checking. Value is seconds.
New global setting:
child = filename
Default value: not in use.
This setting creates a child process to the mainspooler.
It starts when smsd starts, and stops when smsd stops.
If child has created one or more childs, they are stopped too when smsd stops.
Child can be used for various purposes, for example feeding spooler from SQL database, taking care that the number of files in the spooler does not grow too much, and feeding is done only when smsd is running.
Filename must be path/to/executable only, because it is checked when smsd starts. Use the setting child_args if any arguments are required.
New global setting:
child_args = string
Default value: empty.
Defines arguments to the child.
New global settings:
failed_copy = directory
report_copy = directory
sent_copy = directory
Default value: not in use.
It not empty, copy of all failed / report / sent messages are stored into this directory.
Depending on the setting
eventhandler_use_copy
smsd does not do anything with these files,
so external application can use them in whatever way it wants.
For incoming messages a setting incoming_copy applies, it was released in the version 3.1.16.
New global setting:
eventhandler_use_copy = yes/no
Default value: no.
If a copy of failed / incoming / sent / report message is created, this setting defines if a
copied file is given to the eventhandler instead of original file.
New setting for a modem:
receive_before_send = yes/no
Default value: no.
This is now available as a modem setting.
Without this setting a value of global setting is used.
Forces smsd to empty the first SIM card memory before sending SM.
This is a workaround for modems that cannot send SM with a full SIM card.
Outgoing message file:
Documentation is now updated and this version has no beta status anymore.
When communicating with the modem, smsd polls the answer much faster than before, when the expected answer is known. A new setting poll_faster is available, and it's the factor to reduce idle time and increase number of times to listen. The factor defaults to 5, which seems to work well with many modems. Some modems work even faster with greater value, like 30. However, very high values may increase the server load remarkably, so proper value should be measured by device. There is a setting log_read_timing available for tuning purposes.
Handling of alphabets is enhanced and all conversions are now done using internal routines which work well with cyrillic languages too. For backward compatibility, the alphabet of message file still defaults to ISO-8859-15, and this can be changed to UTF-8 in the configuration, or a header Alphabet: UTF can should be used. To receive cyrillic messages directly to UTF-8 character set, use the global settings decode_unicode_text = yes and incoming_utf8 = yes.
When sending text messages, choices are:
Alphabet: ISO
Alphabet: UTF
National Language Shift Tables are now supported. Languages are (European) Turkish, Spanish and Portuguese, and (Indian) Bengali and Assemese, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. If you do not need this support, and your computer is some embedded device with low memory, you can disable this support in Makefile. Also there is a definition to support European languages only.
When SMS using shift tables is received, it is always stored using UTF-8 alphabet. When sending SMS, there are headers Language and Language_ext available. Default values can also be set in the configuration. When shift tables are used, text body of SMS should be written using UTF-8 alphabet. Tables of the character sets can be found on the doc directory of a package.
Documentation is not yet updated. It will be done after beta status has gone.
Any feedback is valuable.
Configuration file (smsd.conf):
New global setting: alphabet = string.
Default value: ISO.
This setting defines how message body of outgoing file is handled, when there
is no Alphabet header included. Choices are ISO, Latin or Ansi for ISO-8859-15,
and UTF for UTF-8.
New global setting: log_read_timing = yes/no.
Default value: no.
This setting is for tuning purposes.
When testing and searching suitable value for the poll_faster factor,
it's important to see how the modem communicates and how much modem process
generates server load.
New global setting: incoming_copy = string.
Default value: empty.
It not empty, copy of all incoming messages are stored into this directory.
Smsd does not do anything with these files, so external application can use them
in whatever way it wants.
New setting for a modem: poll_faster = number.
Default value: 5.
This setting speeds up the polling, when it is known what to expect
as an answer from the modem. Use the global setting log_read_timing
to find out the best performance with your device.
New setting for a modem: cs_convert_optical = yes/no.
Default value: yes.
If set to yes, when a character cannot be represented in the GSM character set,
it can be approximated through one or several similarly looking characters.
New setting for a modem: national_toa_unknown = yes/no.
Default value: no.
When destination number is national, some operators require that "unknown" format is defined.
New setting for a modem: ignore_unexpected_input = string.
Default value: none.
If the device continually sends some unexpected input, and there is not other way
to get rid of it, suitable phrase can be defined to keep the log clean.
Multiple phrases can be defined with multiple settings.
New settings for a modem:
language = string or number.
Default value: none.
language_ext = string or number.
Default value: none.
These settings set default values for the outgoing message file.
For more details see the headers section.
New setting for a modem: regular_run_keep_open = yes/no.
Default value: no.
This setting defines if a modem is kept open when modem process is executing
external regular_run scripts.
New setting for a modem: select_pdu_mode = yes/no.
Default value: yes.
Defines if PDU mode is selected each time when communication with the modem is started.
New setting for a modem: description = string.
Default value: empty.
If set, this description is written to each SMS file as an additional header.
New setting for a modem: reply_path = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Defines a default value for Reply Path (TP-RP) field.
Header in the message file overrides this value.
New setting for a modem: sentsleeptime = number.
Default value: 0.
Some modems may need little delay after each part of SMS is sent.
This time is in seconds.
New setting for a modem: read_delay = number.
Default value: 0.
Some modems may require small delay before reading is started.
This time is in milliseconds.
New setting for a modem: text_is_pdu_key = string.
Default value: none.
In some systems the PDU is generated outside the smsd.
As the modem is kept open by smsd, external program cannot use it.
In this case external program can create SMS file for smsd, and in this file
the message body is PDU in the hex format, and To: number should match
with this key.
New setting for a modem: notice_ucs2 = number.
Default value: 2.
Message written using UTF-8 alphabet is tried to convert to GSM alphabet, to save
sending costs.
Any character outside the GSM alphabet is reported, if value of notice_ucs2 is 2.
If the value is at least 1, total number of missing characters is reported.
Each character is presented in the sent message file using NOTICE: header.
With cyrillic languages the conversion is always done, and the information is not
important.
Notification can be disabled with value 0.
Modem setting: report = yes/no/disabled.
This can now have a value disabled, which means that the report is not asked
even when the message file has a Report: yes header.
More modem settings can now have a special keyword modemname, which is replaced with a name of a modem.
All of those settings are: device, queues, logfile, eventhandler, eventhandler_ussd, pdu_from_file, regular_run,
regular_run_post_run, regular_run_cmdfile, regular_run_logfile and regular_run_statfile.
Outgoing message file:
When reading headers, Byte Order Mark is removed, if the file starts with it. Also the EOF character is removed from the end of message body, if cs_convert is set.
New headers:
Language: value
Language_ext: value
Value can be number, or variable length string which first macthes.
Choices are:
Usually it is not necessary to set Language_ext value. When Language is set, Language_ext defaults to the same, and if only Language_ext is defined, Language defaults to basic character set. If nothing is set, default values are taken from the configuration.
New header: Text_is_pdu: yes. If this feature is enabled by defining text_is_pdu_key in the configuration, and To: number matches that key, message body is handled as ready made PDU.
( For more information about the next 6 settings, see the 3GPP TS 23.040 standard. )
New header: Message_Reference: number. Sets TP-MR field in the PDU. Number can be 0...255.
New header: Reject_Duplicates: yes. Sets TP-RD bit in the PDU.
New header: Reply_path: yes. Sets TP-RP bit in the PDU.
New header: Class: number. Sets the Message Class, 0...3.
New header: DCS_hex: value. Sets Data Coding Scheme in the PDU. Note that value must be represented as two hexadecimal digits.
New header: Ping: yes. Selects the Short Message Type 0, which is also known as a silent SMS. As this kind of SMS is not stored by the receiving device, report is always requested, even if report was disabled in the configuration.
Bug fixes:
When communicating with device, ECHO ON is NOT set automatically when device is socket. This is because network modems may require login and/or password and it is not known when the setting can be made.
The main focus with this version is on Telnet. Most devices need CRLF when communicating, and this is now default. Also subnegotiation is fixed, as it did not work properly in all cases. With these changes SMSTools3 now works well with devices like ConiuGo GPRS GSM Quadband Modem LAN. Thanks to wireless netcontrol GmbH for the test device.
Telnet devices with multiple modules will also work, however this enhancement is not tested by me with such a device. Module selection is based on the patch which was published by the user unterwulf on the support forum on this post.
Documentation is not yet updated. It will be done after beta status has gone.
Any feedback is valuable.
New setting for a modem: telnet_crlf = yes/no.
Default value: yes.
Defines if CRLF is used instead of LF when communicating with Telnet.
This defaults to yes, because many if not all Telnet servers require CRLF.
New settings for a modem:
telnet_cmd_prompt = string.
Default value: empty.
telnet_cmd = string.
Default value: empty.
Some devices have more than one modem modules, and the Telnet interface wants to know what module
to use. The interface may prompt something like "module1, module2, state1, state2, info.",
as PORTech MV-372 does. For example the command module1 should be sent to the interface.
Use communication mode or some Telnet client to see what exactly is the prompt.
Define it as telnet_cmd_prompt, exactly as it was received.
Define suitable command as telnet_cmd.
Whenever the prompt occurs in traffic, the cmd is sent and wanted module is selected.
Multiple socket devices are now allowed to use the same IP and port.
New setting for a modem: wakeup_init = string.
Default value: empty.
Defines a string or command which is sent to the device when it is initialized, before anything
else is done. Any or missing answer is accepted, and smsd continues after a small delay.
New header in incoming/sent/failed message files: IMEI: number. Tells the IMEI of a modem which handled the message.
New setting for a modem: report_read_timeouts = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Defines if all timeout values are written to the log when modem process starts.
New setting for a modem: read_timeout_XXX = number.
Default value: varies.
Defines a timeout for XXX operation.
Use report_read_timeouts = yes to see possible operations (XXX) and current values.
This is for problematic environments, usually there is no need to change any value. Minimum value is 1. The value defines how many read_timeout's are spent. The setting read_timeout is in seconds and defaults to 5.
New setting for a modem: send_retries = number.
Default value: 2.
Defines how many times smsd will retry if sending fails.
New header in outgoing message file: Retries: number. Defines how many times smsd will retry if sending fails. This overrides send_retries setting.
New global setting: log_response_time = yes/no.
Default value: no.
With this setting response time in milliseconds is included in the log.
New global setting: status_include_uptime = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Defines if start timestamp and uptime are printed to the end of status file, with empty line as delimiter.
For example:
Status: 16-06-07 00:16:49, irrri------- SONERA: 16-06-07 00:16:45, Idle, 131267, 0, 4666, ssi: -71 dBm (Excellent), ber: < 0.2 % ELISA: 16-06-07 00:16:45, Receiving, 133877, 3, 4741, ssi: -79 dBm (Good), ber: < 0.2 % DNA: 16-06-07 00:16:47, Receiving, 127181, 0, 4708, ssi: -65 dBm (Excellent), ber: < 0.2 % SAUNALAHTI: 16-06-07 00:16:48, Receiving, 128495, 1, 4678, ssi: -79 dBm (Good), ber: < 0.2 % SAUNA2: 16-06-07 00:16:45, Idle, 5640, 9, 488, ssi: -77 dBm (Good), ber: < 0.2 % Start: 16-04-03 19:30:38, up 64 days, 4:46This setting defaults to no, so that existing external parsers or applications are not affected.
When communicating with device, like smsd -C GSM1, alternative for Ctrl-Z can be defined using -zx argument. Single byte character is accepted as x.
When communicating with device, ECHO ON is set automatically.
When performing outgoing character set conversion with GSM alphabet, Nonbreakable space and Tab are changed to Space.
When moving files between directories, fopen failures are logged and smsd retries after a small delay.
Empty outgoing files are ignored as before, and now files smaller than 8 bytes are ignored too.
If a file has no access, smsd retries once after a small delay.
Temporary files are now using TMPDIR or TEMPDIR environment variable for the path, if available.
When smsd processes sleeps, they sleep longer time at once and less often to reduce CPU load.
Mainspooler will reap stopped (<defunct>) modem processes.
Smart logging is done even when the loglevel is below 7 (debug).
Total time of continuous trouble is logged.
"device busy, waiting" is not logged anymore.
When a modem is first time initialized, smsd tries to set verbose mode if necessary.
Bug fixes:
Fixed a Telnet subnegotiation processing method.
When a file is locked, fsync is used instead of sync after close. This caused remarkable delays on large servers when smsd was running as root.
When queues are used, queues setting for a modem is no more mandatory if outgoing is disabled.
When defining queues or priviledged_numbers for modems, initial values from [default] section are now completely ignored.
After a long time, some changes and fixes are pending, but in this version only one fix is applied. The bug with lockfiles is very critical, and hopefully the creation of new package is easier for maintainers, when only one fix is done.
Bug fixes:
When creating a lockfile, main process used incorrect offset -1 with the table of names of processes. This caused segmentation fault when smsd was compiled using latest compilers.
New setting for a modem: signal_quality_ber_ignore = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Some devices do not support Bit Error Rate when signal quality is asked, and this always provides
"Bit Error Rate: not known or not detectable" to the log line and to the status file.
With this setting ber can be ignored.
When logging "SMS sent...", and there has been retries, count of retries is shown in the log line:
SMS sent, Message_id: 12, To: 358401234567, sending time 34 sec. Retries: 2
When logging "SMS received...", and message is a status report, explanation of status is included in the log line:
SMS received (report, Message_id: 12, Status: 0,Ok,short message received by the SME), From: 358401234567
New setting for a modem: verify_pdu = yes/no.
Default value: no.
This setting is for testing purposes.
When trying to send SMS and modem does not accept the PDU, there may be a communication problem which breaks the sent PDU.
With this setting smsd changes "echo on", and verifies the string which is echoed back after the PDU was sent.
In case of mismatch "Verify PDU: ERROR" is printed to the log and also both sent and received strings are logged.
In case of success "Verify PDU: OK" is printed to the log.
After the verification is done, "echo" is changed back to "off".
New setting for a modem: loglevel_lac_ci = number/word.
Default value: LOG_INFO.
Sets the verbosity of logging the Location area code and Cell ID and their changes.
This requires that AT+CREG? returns location information.
It is automatically enabled by pre_init using a command CREG=2.
After the Location are code or Cell ID changes, quality of signal is also logged.
This feature can be disabled with the setting which is more than current loglevel, for example 8.
New setting for a modem: log_not_registered_after = number.
Default value: 0.
If it's known that the modem gives "not registered" after a message is sent or received,
with this setting number of log messages can be avoided.
When "MODEM IS NOT REGISTERED, WAITING..." is logged, also alarmhandler is called with a severity LOG_NOTICE.
The script email2sms can handle e-mail with multiple recipients.
New global settings:
logtime_ms = yes/no
Default value: no.
logtime_us = yes/no
Default value: no.
With these settings the timestamp in the log file can have microseconds or milliseconds shown.
These settings can be used when a default format for timestamp is in use.
Value is shown after seconds and is delimited with a dot.
If logtime_format is defined, these settings have no effect. Milliseconds or microseconds can be included in customized logtime_format using keywords timeus or timems.
When max_continuous_sending time is reached and smsd will do other tasks, number of messages sent in max_continuous_sending time and average time for one message is logged with loglevel LOG_NOTICE.
When the sending of SMS fails, trying time and number of retries are logged.
New global setting: shell_test = yes/no.
Default value: yes.
When executable_check is enabled, testing of the shell can be omitted with this setting.
Bug fixes:
When executable_check was enabled, smsd tested the shell using a /tmp directory for the script. This caused failure when /tmp was mounted noexec. Smsd now uses the incoming directory for the test.
Handling of headers failed when /tmp directory was on different mount than /var/spool/sms tree. This caused that message file was not moved to the sent or failed directory.
Handling of files in the spooler directory has changed. When large number of modems are serving the same queue, previously more than one modem tried to pick up the same file and in some cases this caused conflicts and performance loss. This new version will avoid conflicts by using the internal list of file candidates.
Global setting devices can be given in the shorten form: devices = <prefix>* <first_number> - <last_number>.
For example: devices = GSM* 101-164 produces the same as devices = GSM101, GSM102, GSM103, etc. ...GSM164.
Modem settings device and logfile can have a special keyword modemname, which is replaced with a name of a modem.
For example:
devices = USB0, USB1, USB2
[default]
device = /dev/ttymodemname produces: device = /dev/ttyUSB0 and so on...
logfile = /var/log/smstools/GSM-modemname.log produces: logfile = /var/log/smstools/GSM-USB0.log and so on...
It is no more mandatory that the modem section exists in the configuration file. If all settings, including device, are set in the default section, modem section can be left out.
Handling of timeout has changed. Previously smsd was expecting the whole answer from the modem in the given time, now timeout occurs if nothing is received in the given time.
Lock files contain now process ID, and name of a device. This is for monitoring purposes. With large number of lock files in the spooler it is easy to see what modems are sending messages currently.
Modem commands +CSQ and +CPIN now allow "echo on". However, in the normal operation "echo" should be set to off.
When a quality of signal is logged, it's level is explained: Marginal (-95dBm or lower) / Workable (-85dBm to -95dBm) / Good (-75dBm to -85dBm) / Excellent (above -75dBm).
When reading commands from regular_run_cmdfile, the expected answer can be defined in the begin of a line, between square brackets. See the How to configure for details.
When reading a file from the spooler and waiting if it is still growing, the time of waiting is reduced from one second to half seconds.
New setting for a modem: smsc_pdu = yes/no.
Default value: no.
If the number of SMSC is set in the configuration, or in the message file, the number is included in the PDU instead of changing SMSC with a command AT+CSCA.
The number can be presented in international format, or in national format starting with 0.
New setting for a modem: voicecall_clcc = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Defines if AT+CLCC is used to detect when a call is answered.
This is required if modem returns OK immediately after the call and voicecall_cpas cannot be used.
When check_memory_method is set to use any CMGL method, larger buffer is used for handling the data. In normal cases about 400 messages can be handled. With some problematic devices the status report may contain extra padding which is almost 300 characters. This causes that about 50 status reports can be handled simultaneously. If this limit is reached, use some other than CMGL method.
When a device is a socket (network modem) and is using Telnet protocol, smsd uses the Q Method implementation for option negotiation. Simply, every DO command is answered with WONT, and every WILL with DONT. This feature is very simple, and may not work with some devices or with some options. It is recommended to disable Telnet in the modem setup.
New setting for a modem: telnet_login = string.
Default value: empty.
If a network modem requires telnet login, it can be defined with this setting.
New setting for a modem: telnet_login_prompt = string.
Default value: login:.
If telnet_login is used, this setting can be used to change the login prompt.
New setting for a modem: telnet_login_prompt_ignore = string.
Default value: Last login:.
If telnet_login is used and after successful login motd contains a string which is the same as telnet_login_prompt,
this setting can be used to define which kind of a string is ignored.
For example, telnet_login_prompt can be login: and telnet_login_prompt_ignore could be Last login:.
New setting for a modem: telnet_password = string.
Default value: empty.
If telnet_login is used and device requires password, it can be defined with this setting.
New setting for a modem: telnet_password_prompt = string.
Default value: Password:.
If telnet_password is used, this setting can be defined to change the prompt for password.
Bug fixes:
A modem setting trust_spool did not work properly. When the spool directory was trusted, smsd did not check existence of lock files and this caused conflicts and slow performance when large number of modems were serving the same queue directory.
When headers of SMS file were handled, temporary files were created to the spooler directory. With large number of modems and slow system this caused unnecessary error messages to the log. Temporary files are now placed into the /tmp directory.
When a command was read from the regular_run_cmdfile, control characters were removed from the string. This caused that PDU termination (Ctrl-Z) could not be used.
Even when modem_disabled = yes was used, smsd tried to initialize modem if incoming = no was used. Also send_startstring and send_stopstring did not check if a modem is disabled.
A modem setting ussd_convert = number can now have a new value: 4. With this value text part from the USSD answer is converted from hexadecimal dump to ASCII.
Some cleanup has been done to the code. The fix for "overlapped buffers" bug now uses it's own function containing a simple loop, instead of using memmove().
Bug fixes:
Global settings international_prefixes, national_prefixes and global and modem setting priviledged_numbers did not always work because of an "overlapped buffers" bug. This failure happened on 32bit environments too.
New setting for a modem: trust_spool = yes/no.
Default value: yes.
When a modem process is searching for a file from the spooler, it assumes that the file is complete when it exists and it's not locked.
This will speed up sending, because one second delay is avoided.
If some other process or checkhandler is creating files directly to the spooler, it may be necessary to set this to no.
When searching for a file to send, the lock file is created before the one second delay is spent.
New global setting: log_read_from_modem = yes/no.
Default value: no.
In some cases, when resolving troubles with a modem, it's useful to see exact data which is received from the modem.
This setting is similar than log_unmodified, but displays the data as a hexadecimal dump.
Programs regular_run and regular_run_post_run now get the device name as a third argument.
The script sendsms has automatic detection of character set and creates Unicode messages if necessary.
New setting for a modem: send_handshake_select = yes/no.
Default value: yes.
Instead of checking the flag TIOCM_CTS, select() function is used when the serial transmitted is busy.
If because of some reason the old style should be used, this setting allows it.
With a setting trim_text = yes, whitespaces are not removed if the message is going blank. This is because some people, really, need to send a message which contains only single space character.
Bug fixes:
When manipulating strings, the coding style assumed that strcpy() and some other functions start copying from the begin of a buffer. That's how those have worked for years, but it's against what the manual of those functions says about overlapped buffers. With 64bit Ubuntu 10.04 running on Intel processor this caused serious failures. The code is reviewed and fixed.
When a Sent header was printed to the incoming message file, wrong variable was used causing that only current date was printed.
The setting umask did not work properly and that caused the message files became world writable.
Added "init info" for chkconfig to the init.d script sms3.
Bug fixes:
When a signal quality was asked from the modem, and it was explained to the log, incorrect severity was used. Changed severity from LOG_NOTICE to LOG_INFO.
When a signal quality is asked from the modem, it's also explained to the log.
The sample script sendsms can now use keys for protecting the usage, for example when running with tcpserver over the internet.
The name of a global setting datetime is changed to datetime_format. The old name can still be used because of backward compatibility.
The init.d script sms3 now uses option -n for setting the process title: ARGS="-n MAINPROCESS -p$PIDFILE -i$INFOFILE". Smsd still works without that option, because of backward compatibility.
Bug fixes:
If a setting voicecall_hangup_ath was not defined in the configuration, default value was handled as yes, but it's defined as no.
A modem setting status_signal_quality was not parsed and was giving a startup error.
20.04.2010 3.1.7beta7
New global setting: suspend = filename.
Default value: not in use.
With this file, any modem process can be suspended.
When a process is suspended, the modem port is closed and modem process does not do anything.
The file is checked before smsd starts sending or receiving. If a name of the device is found from the file, suspend will start. The format of a line in file is: <devicename>: <reason>. Colon is needed, but the <reason> is optional. It is printed to the log. A special line ALL: <reason> can also be used, and this affects for all modem processes.
When a process is suspended, the file is checked every ten seconds, or more frequently if the delaytime value is smaller.
When a process is suspended, it listens a signal SIGUSR2. If this signal is received, modem process will send and receive messages once.
New setting for a modem: phonecalls_error_max = number.
Default value: 3.
Specifies the maximum number of errors before phonecalls are ignored.
Bug fixes:
Modem setting socket_connection_errorsleeptime (from 3.1.7beta4) did not work because it's name is longer than the code was able to handle.
18.04.2010 3.1.7beta6
A modem setting phonecalls = yes/no can now have a new value: clip, or 2. This value could be used with modems which do not support reading of phonebook, or phobebook cannot be used because entries cannot be deleted. Phocecall is detected using the +CLIP Calling line identification report from a modem.
When phonecalls = clip is used, a setting hangup_incoming_call is automaticatty set to yes. This is because smsd must hangup a call before it's handled. Smsd also initializes a modem with +CLIP=1 automatically to enable this functionality.
File of a missed call has now more headers, like file of a received SMS has:
The setting date_filename now applies for files of missed calls too.
Bug fixes:
When filename_preview was used, creation of modified filename for message file of a missed call caused modem process to freeze.
When dialling of a voicecall ended with timeout, the result was taken from the answer of hangup and was "OK". Now it's "Timeout".
16.04.2010 3.1.7beta5
When running smsd as an unpriviledged user and group is defined, given group is added to the group access list which is initialized by reading the group database. In the previous versions of smsd the given group was used as only group.
New settings for a modem:
start = modem command.
Default value: not in use.
startsleeptime = number.
Default value: 3.
stop = modem command.
Default value: not in use.
If defined, start command is sent to the modem when a modem process starts.
After a command is sent, startsleeptime is spent.
When a modem process is stopping, stop command is sent to the modem.
When using queues without provider sorting, it's no more necessary to define providers. The number list of each queue defaults to "catch-all", which is the same as "0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,s". See the manual for more details and examples.
Bug fixes:
In the 3.1.7beta4, when eventhandler_ussd was used and the answer was read back from the file, extra linefeed was included in the answer string. This linefeed was printed to the log and statfile.
11.04.2010 3.1.7beta4
In addition to other changes, this version contains couple of changes which were provided as a patch by yjh, a member of SMSTools3 Community. This topic contains more details. These changes were originally going to the version 3.2, but because it's still delayed, I publish those changes now.
In 3.2, handling of character sets is based on iconv and the code is widely changed. Because the "iconv" patch in 3.1.7 is not very well tested, it's disabled by default. Edit the src/Makefile to enable the patch, if necessary. The patch requires that UTF-8 is used as a locale.
New global setting: logtime_format = format string.
Default value: compatible with previous versions of smsd.
With this setting a format of the timestamp in the logging can be set.
The format string is strftime() compatible.
New global setting: use_linux_ps_trick = yes/no.
Default value: no/yes
This setting changes the way how smsd processes are shown in the process list.
Instead of command line, processes can be shown like "smsd: MAINPROCESS", "smsd: GSM1" etc.
In the Makefile there is a definition which sets the default value for this setting.
This is a "Linux trick", it's not quaranteed that this can be used in all possible environments.
In the outgoing message file, the setting System_message can now have a value 2 or ToSIM for communicating with SIM applications. SMS is sent as SS (no show) and stored (sent) to SIM. Currently this only works with binary messages.
If USE_ICONV is defined in the src/Makefile, iconv is used for character set conversions. The current implementation works with Unicode and UTF-8 and could be used with cyrillic languages.
New global setting: date_filename_format = format string.
Default value: compatible with previous versions of smsd.
With this setting a format of the timestamp in filenames (date_filename >= 0) can be set.
The format string is strftime() compatible.
New setting for a modem: device_open_retries = number.
Default value: 1.
Defines how many times smsd will retry when cannot open a device.
When maximum number of retries is reached, modem process will call alarmhandler and stop.
With value -1 smsd will retry forever.
New setting for a modem: device_open_alarm_after = number.
Default value: 0.
After defined number of retries, an alarmhandler is called.
Smsd still continues trying, if device_open_retries value is bigger.
New setting for a modem: device_open_errorsleeptime = number.
Default value: 30.
Defines how many seconds the smsd will sleep after an error with device open.
New setting for a modem: socket_connection_errorsleeptime = number.
Default value: 5.
Defines how many seconds the smsd will sleep after an error with socket connection.
New command line options: -Ex and -Dx.
Both options can used as a helper for USSD message handlers. When these optios are used, smsd does not start as a daemon. Therefore options can be used even when smsd is running as a daemon.
New setting for a modem: ussd_convert = number.
Default value: 0.
Defines if a text part from incoming USSD message is decoded.
Possible values are:
| 1 | Unicode format is converted to UTF-8. This requires that USE_ICONV is defined. |
| 2 | GSM 7bit packed format is converted to ISO or UTF-8. |
Decoded text is appended to the original answer with two slashes and one space character.
New setting for a modem: eventhandler_ussd = filename.
Default value: not in use.
This setting defines an eventhandler to use with USSD messages.
It is possible to use the same script or program which is used as eventhandler,
but it's not a default because basically those scripts are not compatible without modifications.
After an USSD message is received, and probably ussd_convert is done, eventhandler_ussd is called.
Smsd checks what is the current character set of a modem and creates a temporary file which contains the USSD answer.
Arguments for the eventhandler_ussd are:
| $1 | "USSD" keyword. |
| $2 | Filename (which contains the answer). |
| $3 | Devicename. |
| $4 | Character set. |
| $5 | Command what was used to get the USSD answer. |
Eventhandler_ussd can do whatever is needed with the USSD answer. It can also modify the answer, or delete the file. After eventhandler_ussd returns, smsd will check if the file still exists. If it exists, it's first line is taken as a new answer. Modified answer is then logged and probably printed to the regular_run_statfile.
Bug fixes:
Removed reasons for compiler warning messages when compiling with -W -Wall under x64.
In 3.1.7beta2 socket_connection_retries was counted incorrectly.
30.03.2010 3.1.7beta3
One important feature has been requested, but I forgot to include it in the previous version :(. So here it is:New setting for a modem: regular_run_post_run = filename.
Default value: not in use.
This setting can define the second script or program which is executed regularly.
The same script with regular_run can be used.
The script gets an argument $1 which is PRE_RUN for regular_run and POST_RUN for regular_run_post_run.
There is also the second argument $2, which includes a definition of regular_run_statfile.
This is how the regular_run for a modem currently works:
29.03.2010 3.1.7beta2
Smsd can connect directly to the network modem. This enhancement is provided by Hubert Gilch, SEP Logistik AG.
A device definition which starts with @ character is handled as a socket. Format for the internet host is: @<host_or_ip>:<port>. Host definition can be name or IP address.
New setting for a modem: socket_connection_retries = number.
Default value: 11.
Defines how many times smsd will retry when a socket connection fails.
When maximum number of retries is reached, modem process will call alarmhandler and stop.
With value -1 smsd will retry forever.
New setting for a modem: socket_connection_alarm_after = number.
Default value: 0.
After defined number of retries, an alarmhandler is called.
Smsd still continues trying, if socket_connection_retries value is bigger.
New setting for a modem: report_device_details = yes/no.
Default value: no/yes.
Defines if a details from device are printed to the log when modem process is starting.
With beta versions of smsd this setting defaults to yes, otherwise it defaults to no.
New setting for a modem: using_routed_status_report = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Smsd can detect routed status reports, but usually it's not recommended to use them.
Modems should store status reports as an ordinary messages, which can be read when smsd will need them.
However, some modem cannot store status reports, and therefore routing is the only way to get them.
With this setting smsd will change some severity and text of a logging.
New setting for a modem: routed_status_report_cnma = yes/no.
Default value: yes.
Defines if +CNMA acknowledgement is needed to send after routed status report was received.
New setting for a modem: phonecalls_purge = yes/no/string.
Default value: no.
Usually missed calls are deleted from the device using AT+CPBW=index command.
Some modems do not support this command, and have an alternative way to clear Missed Calls storage.
With setting yes, this feature uses Siemens compatilbe way for purging: AT^SPBD="MC".
Another command can be defined as a string.
New setting for a modem: voicecall_vts_quotation_marks = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Defines if quotation marks are used when sending VTS command to the modem.
NOTE: previously quotation marks were used, now this setting default to no.
New setting for a modem: voicecall_cpas = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Defines if AT+CPAS is used to detect when a call is answered.
This is required if modem returns OK immediately after the call.
New setting for a modem: needs_wakeup_at = yes/no.
Default value: no.
After being idle, some modems do not answer to the first AT command.
For example with BenQ M32, there can be OK answer, but in many times there is not.
To avoid error messages, smsd first send AT and read the answer if it's available.
New setting for a modem: keep_messages = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Defines if messages are not deleted from the device.
Unlike a global setting keep_messages, smsd continues running.
New global setting: umask = value.
Default value: empty.
Effective umask for smsd can be set in the configuration file.
Value can be hexadecimal, decimal or octal format.
New global setting: log_unmodified = yes/no.
Default value: no.
In some cases, when resolving troubles with a modem, it's useful to see what kind of line ends were received from the modem.
With this setting spaces and line ends are not removed from the string which is logged.
This setting overrides the setting log_single_lines.
New global setting: trim_text = yes/no.
Default value: yes.
With this setting trailing whitespaces are removed from the outgoing message.
Does not effect with messages written using Unicode or GSM alphabet.
When a modem process is starting, it's checked if reading of messages is supported. This version will not do the check, if a device is not going to read incoming messages.
When checking the PIN, some modems include quotation marks in the answer. Some modems may leave a space away after +CPIN:. Those kind of answers are now handled.
When initializing a modem, and it does not respond, after 5 retries the port is closed and reopened.
When handling the smsc setting from configuration file, extra + sign is removed from it.
Message counter file (for example GSM1.counter) is always created, even when messages are not yet sent.
Startup check will check that any modem does not use duplicate device name.
Locked files in the spooler: as in the past, *.LOCK files are handled as locked files, and now LOCKED* files are handled as locked too.
When using a communication mode, it's no longer necessary that the name of a modem is in the devices list. It's enough that a section for the modem exists. Note, that still no more than one smsd can run at the same time.
When sending SMS and From field is not defined, content of a setting number is printed to the log: "Sending SMS from <number> to <destination>". If the setting number is not defined, log line is as before: "Sending SMS from to <destination>".
Bug fixes:
When a GMGL list was handled and sorted, older message was not read first. With this fix messages are sorted by the date and time when a message was sent.
When reading messages from the modem, some modems return only LF characters, even when both CR and LF should be returned. Some modems may give the answer with double line-ending. Both cases are now handled.
01.02.2010 3.1.7beta
This is not the major version change, it's publishing is still delayed. This version continues 3.1.x and contains some minor features which may be useful for some users.New global setting: ignore_exec_output = yes/no.
Default value: no.
Usually eventhandlers should not output anything.
If there is some output, it usually means that some error has occurred.
These errors are often problematic, because that output cannot be seen and error is therefore not notified.
Smsd will print any output from the evenhandlers to the log file.
This output can also be used for debugging purposes, but usually debugging should be done by running eventhandler manually.
With a setting ignore_exec_output = yes this feature can be disabled.
30.11.2009 3.1.6
This version was released because of a critical bug in the handling of a concatenation storage. Users of version 3.1.5 should upgrade to this version. As a workaround, disable purging of a concatenation storage with a global setting in the smsd.conf: ic_purge_hours = 0. If ic_purge_minutes was set, remove the setting or change it to 0.Outgoing message files with the same timestamp are selected by name.
Carriage return characters are removed from the modem response when writing it to the log.
Trouble logging is slightly enhanced: if something was printed to the log and trouble is over, "Everything is ok now" is printed to the trouble log.
Regular_run_statfile is created using the same mask as the message files.
Bug fixes:
Purging of a concatenation storage freezed modem process in some environments. This was caused by too small buffer.
With incoming Unicode messages the Euro character was decoded incorrectly.
When checkhandler spooled a message and returned a value 2, trouble logging was started.
Destination number was accepted even if it contained 's' only.
Check_memory_method using CMGL did not accept zero as a message number.
01.06.2009 3.1.5
New global setting: smart_logging = yes/no.
Default value: no.
This feature is available when file based logging is used.
If loglevel is less than 7 (for example "notice" is a good choise with smart_logging),
trouble log (with loglevel 7) about whole communication is written to different file if there has been any errors.
"Whole communication" means sending single SMS, receiving single SMS, and other things what smsd will do after idle time is spent. When communication starts, all possible log lines are collected to internal buffer and only loglevel lines are written to the logfile. If during communication there are any errors, all collected lines are printed to trouble log when communication reaches it's end.
This feature was made because with loglevel 7 logfile grows very much and fast, and debug level is not usually needed when there was no any errors. In case of errors it's important to see whole communication, not just a single line which says that "something happened".
File name is created with the rule: if lenght of logfile setting is more than 4 characters and setting ends with ".log", trouble log filename will end with "_trouble.log". If length is less than 4 or setting does not end with ".log", trouble log filename is logfile appended with ".trouble". In usual cases logfile is /var/log/smsd.log and trouble log filename will be /var/log/smsd_trouble.log, or in some (Debian, Ubuntu, ...) distributions: /var/log/smstools/smsd.log and /var/log/smstools/smsd_trouble.log.
New setting for a modem: unexpected_input_is_trouble = yes/no
Default value: yes.
With smart_logging, this setting defines if unexpected input activates trouble log.
New global and modem setting: hangup_incoming_call = yes/no
Default value: no.
If set to yes and detected unexpected input contains "RING", incoming call is ended.
Use setting voicecall_hangup_ath to define if "ATH" is used to make hangup instead of "AT+CHUP".
New setting for a modem: communication_delay = number
Default value: 0.
Only some very problematic modems may need this setting.
Defines minimum time in milliseconds between latest answer from modem and next command which will be sent to modem.
New global setting: status_interval = number.
Default value: 1.
If statistics function is enabled and stats directory is defined, smsd writes file named status into this directory.
The file contains status of all modems in the first line using Status: header (this is similar than smsd -s outputs to console) and
explained status in the next lines using modem's name as a header.
Smsd writes status file every status_interval seconds if a status has changed. Value 0 disables this feature.
For example, the output is like:
Status: 09-05-27 20:46:17, irir------------ SONERA: 09-05-27 20:46:09, Idle, 123, 0, 321, ssi: -63 dBm, ber: < 0.2 % ELISA: 09-05-27 20:46:12, Receiving, 234, 0, 432, ssi: -73 dBm, ber: < 0.2 % DNA: 09-05-27 20:46:06, Idle, 456, 0, 543, ssi: -77 dBm, ber: < 0.2 % SAUNALAHTI: 09-05-27 20:46:14, Receiving, 678, 0, 654, ssi: -69 dBm, ber: < 0.2 %
Timestamp value tells when status is created or modem initialization was last started.
Status can be: (s) Sending, (r) Receiving, (i) Idle, (b) Blocked, (t) Trouble, (-) Unknown. Trouble -status means that something abnormal has happened and if smart_logging is in use, trouble log will be written.
Counters are: sent, failed, received. Sent counter is the value from stats/<modemname>.counter file. Smsd does not clear this value. Failed and received counters are from original statistics data and they are cleared each time when stats are stored (stats_interval), or smsd is restarted.
New global and modem settings:
status_include_counters = yes/no
Default value: yes.
status_signal_quality = yes/no
Default value: yes.
Modem setting overrides global setting.
These settings define if message counters and explained signal quality is included in the line of status file.
New global and modem setting:
max_continuous_sending = number
Default value: 300 (5 min).
As usual, modem setting overrides global setting.
This setting is in seconds and defines how long modem can send messages without doing anything else.
After max_continuous_sending time is reached, received messages are checked and other tasks are run.
Number of modems can be defined in the src/Makefile. Default value is 64. If you are running SMSTools3 in an embedded device, you can use NUMBER_OF_MODEMS=1 to save memory. This setting also affects the number of provider queues. If you need more provider queues than you have modems, just increase the number of modems value.
Modem setting init2 can be used to monitor signal quality. When init2 contains AT+CSQ (uppercase), signal quality is explained in the log file using log level "notice".
If shared memory is not in use, global setting stats_no_zeroes defaults to yes.
Error message after PDU was sent is changed: Previously: "The modem said ERROR or did not answer.". Now: "The modem did not answer (expected OK)." or "The modem answer was not OK: <the answer what it was>" depending on the answer. This change is because in some cases it's important to see if there was any answer or not.
IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) is now logged with log level "notice". If AT+CIMI query was supported, Product Serial Number is also logged (CGSN).
Modem setting voicecall_hangup_ath is now glo