Introduction
Project MF is a set of patches to the open-source Asterisk PBX system to support in-band signaling. The original patches were developed by Mark Abene, aka Phiber Optik. Since that time additional patches have been developed to make the system a more faithful reproduction of the old telephone network.
As mentioned, you do not need to run your own Asterisk server to play with Project MF -- you can use our public server instead. But, if you'd like to run your own server, we certainly encourage you to do so. Be warned: the process is not for the faint of heart, and will require downloading and patching some open source software on a Linux machine.
The ProjectMF patches will ONLY run on a very old version of Asterisk (Asterisk-1.2.12) and Zaptel (Zaptel-1.2.9). These versions run only under a very old version (Etch) of Debian Linux.
A guide to building your own server was compiled by a third party on Instructables, although some details, including the archived Debian Etch repository location, have changed.
The Process
First, install Asterisk: asterisk_install_on_Debian.zip
Second, apply the original Project MF patches: pmf_orig_patches.zip
Third, apply the additional Project MF patches: my_additional_patches_mods.txt
Finally, configure Asterisk and Project MF: pmt_config_instructions.txt
How Do I Get Help If Something Blows Up?
Don't feel bad if it doesn't work out of the box -- it's a fairly tricky install and takes some effort to get right. Feel free to send me mail if you run into problems or have questions.