Installing HOMER on POP! OS

HOMER (Highly Optimized Monitor for Enterprises) is a powerful open source VoIP and network monitoring tool. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps of installing HOMER on POP! OS.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the installation, make sure that you have the following:

• POP! OS latest version installed.
• An existing web server (Apache, Nginx, or any other).
• Basic knowledge of Linux command line.

Step 1 - Install Required Packages

First, you need to install some required packages for HOMER. Open a terminal and type the following command:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git make g++ libpcap-dev libssl-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev

Step 2 - Download HOMER

Next, you need to clone the HOMER repository using git. Type the following command to download HOMER:

git clone https://github.com/bastienwirtz/homer.git /opt/homer

Step 3 - Build and Install HOMER

Now, navigate to the HOMER directory and run the installation script:

cd /opt/homer
make prod

This will compile and install HOMER. It may take a few minutes to complete.

Step 4 - Configure HOMER with your Web Server

Once HOMER is installed, you need to configure your web server to serve HOMER. You can choose any web server of your choice. Here, we will configure Apache.

First, create a new Apache virtual host for HOMER:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/homer.conf

Add the following lines to the file:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName homer.example.com
    DocumentRoot /opt/homer/webroot/
    <Directory /opt/homer/webroot/>
        Options FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
    ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/homer_error.log
    CustomLog /var/log/apache2/homer_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Make sure to replace "homer.example.com" with your own domain name or IP address.

Activate the new virtual host:

sudo a2ensite homer.conf

Restart Apache for the changes to take effect:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 5 - Connect HOMER to your VoIP Servers

Finally, you need to connect HOMER to your VoIP servers to start monitoring them. You can do this by editing the homer.conf file:

sudo nano /opt/homer/etc/homer.conf

Add the IP address or FQDN of your VoIP server to the "capture_node" section:

...
[capture_node]
type = pcap
interfaces = any
command = /opt/homer/bin/sipcapture -i %i -s %s -p /opt/homer/pcap/
address = <VOIP_SERVER_IP_OR_FQDN>
port = 9060
alias = capture-server
...

Save the file and restart HOMER:

cd /opt/homer
make start

You can now access HOMER by visiting the URL you configured in your web server's virtual host.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed HOMER on POP! OS. You can now use HOMER to monitor and analyze your VoIP traffic.

If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!

Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!