pfSense » pfSense Packages

The XML / GUI for the siproxd package allows any of the vlans and interfaces to fill be chosen as inbound and outbound siproxd devices. I suggest adding UCarp virtual ips (actual interface names carp0, carp1...) to the list of available devices.

Two cases: 1: A device as a routed public IP that's shared via carp between two pfsense boxes in a master / failover setup. The WAN interface IPs, though public ips technically, are not routed but are just known and available on the local subnet. Only the virtual ip is mentioned in the public dns / ip space. Right now siproxd can't specify that via the gui.

2: PFsense boxes in a master / slave failover setup, they share a gateway carp IP on the lan side and similar on the WAN side. Almost none of the firmware in telephony handset/terminal devices allow for a main and backup outbound proxy ip, so it isn't possible to mention both pfsense gateway's physical interface ip aiming to use siproxd. So the virtual IP is specified as the outgoing proxy in the private side telephony devices. So, there needs to be a way to specify the virtual/carp IP as the pfsense inbound sipproxd LAN interface.

This still leaves some work to do in siproxd to better manage the failover, whether good enough to make it near seamless (a big job possibly not worth the time, lots of router states and telephony registration SIP info) or just good enough to restore telephone service via the backup pfsense box w/o human intervention after an interruption of less than half a minute or so. From discussions at sipproxd right now the interruption length might be as long as the default 're-registration' timeouts-- minutes to a few hours generally unless defaults are changed by the admins.

Anyhow PFSense would do well to allow the virtual ip names setting actual carpX as the interfaces in sipproxd.conf along with the native interface/vlan devices.