h1. Debug Asterisk

Asterisk has several debug modes:
*verbose* - various debug information is displayed, which related to step-by-step execution of call handling and various information of the call.
*debug* - information for developers is displayed

Messages for _verbose_ mode by default are directed to Asterisk console and to log file /var/log/asterisk/messages. 
Messages for _debug_ mode by default are directed to log file /var/log/asterisk/messages.

For both modes you can set +log level+ (from 0 to 10).
The higher is the level, the more information you get.

For regular users usually _verbose_ mode is enough.

To turn on logging perform next:

1. [[How to acquire root access|Acquire _root_ access]]

2. Enter Asterisk console:
<pre>
# asterisk -r
</pre>

3. Set mode and log level:
<pre>
CLI> core set verbose 3
</pre>

This will enable _verbose_ mode, level 3.
On this level you'll see step-by-step call handler execution.

To turn on _debug_ mode perform following:
<pre>
CLI> core set debug 5
</pre>

This will enable _verbose_ mode level 5.

4. Logging to file might quickly overflow disk space, thus after debugging is finished it's essential to turn off logging:

<pre>
CLI> core set debug off
CLI> core set verbose off
</pre>

[[Отладка Asterisk|Русский перевод]]