[App_rpt-users] Linking in Allstar - How does it work?

[Adi Linden]

Hi,

I’ve been looking to setup an Allstar node for a while now and finally have all the parts (I hope).  Reading various documents and sites available online, I am still somewhat unsure as to how this all works.

Installation question, can I take a stock Debian install, fetch the Allstar asterisk source (which I hope would contain app_rpt and whatever else is needed) and build asterisk from source on the system?

Linking question, how does linking work?  

I don’t mean to be ignorant, I used to run an IRLP node.  I am running a Wires-X repeater now.  I am quite familiar with asterisk as a VoIP PBX.  I've configured IAX trunks, SIP trunks, and SIP telephony handsets.  All done by editing config files, not using FreePBX or any of the other available management tools.  Although not at all my primary job function, I am involved in a commercial VoIP installation that involves multiple asterisk PBXs and asterisk SIP gateways.  At home I am running asterisk on a Mac using a homebrew (package manager) recipe.

In the asterisk VoIP world, to connect multiple peers into a single call a bridge application (ConfBridge) is needed.  I see no reference to anything like it on Allstar.  Instead, I see references that one can connect to hubs, which allow connections from multiple nodes.  But a single node can also establish links to multiple nodes at once.  And presumably, all of those links are then transparently connected to each other?

Where can I find further information on how this all works with app_rpt?

Thanks a bunch!
Adi
VA3ADI