How to Install SIPCAPTURE Homer on Arch Linux

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install SIPCAPTURE Homer on Arch Linux. SIPCAPTURE Homer is an open-source VoIP and RTC monitoring platform that provides free network analysis and security solutions. Homer can capture, store and analyze VoIP and RTC session data, which is beneficial for network analysis, troubleshooting, and security monitoring.

Prerequisites

• An Arch Linux VPS or dedicated server.
• A user account with sudo privileges.
• A web browser to access Homer's web interface.

Step 1: Installing Required Dependencies

Before installing SIPCAPTURE Homer, we need to install some prerequisites.

Run the following command to update the system package list:

sudo pacman -Syu 

Now, we need to install some dependencies:

sudo pacman -S apache php php-apache composer tcpdump asterisk tshark 

Step 2: Install Homer

In this step, we will install SIPCAPTURE Homer. You can install either the stable or development version of Homer, we will install the stable version.

First, install Git:

sudo pacman -S git 

Then, clone the Homer repository:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sipcapture/homer.git /opt/homer

Next, install Homer dependencies using Composer:

cd /opt/homer
composer install

Set the required permissions to the web/assets directory:

chown -R http:http /opt/homer/web/assets/
chmod -R 755 /opt/homer/web/assets/

Copy the Apache virtual host configuration file:

cp /opt/homer/resources/apache/homer.conf /etc/httpd/conf/extra/homer.conf

Restart the Apache service:

systemctl restart httpd

Step 3: Configure Homer

By default, Homer uses the SQLite database to store data. You can also use MySQL or PostgreSQL databases. In this tutorial, we will use the SQLite database.

Create a new directory for the SQLite database:

mkdir -p /opt/homer/var/db/sqlite/

Set the required permissions:

chown -R http:http /opt/homer/var/db/
chmod -R 755 /opt/homer/var/db/

Copy the Homer configuration file:

cp /opt/homer/resources/config/homer.conf.php.sample /opt/homer/resources/config/homer.conf.php

Edit the Homer configuration file:

nano /opt/homer/resources/config/homer.conf.php

Set the DB_TYPE value to sqlite:

define('DB_TYPE', 'sqlite');
define('DB_NAME', '/opt/homer/var/db/sqlite/homer.db');

Save and close the file.

Step 4: Start Capturing Data

Now, we are ready to capture data using Homer.

First, create the following directories:

mkdir -p /opt/homer/var/db/pcap
mkdir -p /opt/homer/var/www/html/homer-api/log
mkdir -p /opt/homer/var/www/html/homer-api/logs/transaction
mkdir -p /opt/homer/var/www/html/homer-api/logs/raw

Set the required permissions:

chown -R http:http /opt/homer/var/db/
chown -R http:http /opt/homer/var/www/html/homer-api
chmod -R 755 /opt/homer/var/db/
chmod -R 755 /opt/homer/var/www/html/homer-api

Start capturing all traffic on port 5060:

tcpdump -i any port 5060 -s0 -w /opt/homer/var/db/pcap/captures.pcap

Congratulations! you have successfully installed SIPCAPTURE Homer on Arch Linux. Now, access Homer's web interface using your web browser by visiting http://YOUR_SERVER_IP/homer.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to install SIPCAPTURE Homer on Arch Linux. Homer can capture, store, and analyze VoIP and RTC session data which is beneficial for network analysis, troubleshooting, and security monitoring.

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