sms-gateway

If you are trying to implement an SMS gateway for your applications in Bhutan, the defacto SMS gateway application you may use is playSMS.

Here I am going to show how to install playSMS and connect your playSMS to BMobile or TashiCell SMSC gateways.

Installation of playSMS

playSMS runs on Ubuntu or Debian-based Operating Systems. So, you will need your application server running on these OSs. You may create a separate droplet/ec2 instance/virtual machine for installing your SMS gateway.

There are several ways in which you can install playSMS. You can find Installation Guide here.

I am going to share how to install playSMS in a docker image (which is easier to install and manage).

Installation of playSMS as a docker image

Click here for Docker installation guide

Install docker locally, and run this to download playSMS 1.4.3 docker container:

docker pull playsms/playsms:1.4.3

And then run this to get playSMS up and running:

docker run -d -p 80:80 playsms/playsms

Access playSMS web admin by browsing localhost or your server’s IP address, or domain if you have mapped it correctly.

Verify if playSMS is installed correctly by running playsmsd check on the inside of the container, run this:\

docker exec CONTAINER_ID playsmsd check

Testing playSMS with Kannel

How to install Kannel for playSMS in Ubuntu:

sudo apt install kannel kannel-extras

sudo mkdir -p /var/log/kannel /var/run/kannel /var/spool/kannel/store

sudo chown -R kannel /var/log/kannel /var/run/kannel /var/spool/kannel/store

sudo usermod -a -G dialout kannel

Edit /etc/default/kannel to activate smsbox, smsbox is part of Kannel, the daemon that handles SMS in Kannel:

sudo sed -i 's/#START_SMSBOX/START_SMSBOX/' /etc/default/kannel

I don’t need wapbox so I disable it:

sudo sed -i 's/START_WAPBOX/#START_WAPBOX/' /etc/default/kannel

Backup original kannel.conf:

sudo cp /etc/kannel/kannel.conf /etc/kannel/kannel.conf.dist

Then edit kannel.conf using the SMSC details provided by BMobile and/or TashiCell upon subscription.

Restart Kannel Daemon:

Check status:

/etc/init.d/kannel status OR

systemctl kannel status

Stop:

/etc/init.d/kannel stop OR

systemctl kannel stop

Start:

/etc/init.d/kannel start OR systemctl kannel start

Manage gateway and SMSC

Go to Settings -> Manage gateway and SMSC and click Manage (the folder icon) on Gateway Kannel. Fill in with data form kannel.conf

For Further Assistance

For Further Assistance contact me via my blog