Upgrade Community Edition to Codeigniter 4

1

CodeIgniter needs to be updated if this project wants to remain relevant. There are countless potential security risks hiding in the current framework, and upgrading to Codeigniter 4 will drastically improve the security, speed, and compatibility of the Community version.

I propose we rally the open-source Community to raise the funds necessary to update the ASTPP Community version Codeigniter framework to the most current version. Once we have the money, we will actively engage someone to execute the work. This could be Inextrix, a group of people in this forum, or a Freelancer who would submit a bid for the project.

The point is, the Community edition is an open-source project and it’s time we take responsibility and start funding the project. ASTPP has thousands of users, and recent exploits have demonstrated the tremendous vulnerability of the current system.

If each ASTPP user contributes $100, it should be fairly easy to raise the funds needed for this upgrade. Don’t wait until the next security breach, as it may cost you much more than the small investment required to fund this project.

@smrdoshi. Unfortunately, this forum is blocking my post to fund the project. It says someone has to review the post before it can go live but it’s been several days without any feedback.

Feel free to post in the comments below if you have any suggestions or would be interested in taking on this project.

2

Yeah, I posted a message in this thread and it got held up also. This is getting ridiculous

3

I am sure it can be easily upgraded to version 3 which I think it still being support. I was looking through it the other day.

However, version 4 is a complete different matter. A lot of the code base for ASTPP would have to upgraded for not only CodeIgniter v4, but also support PHP 8

Debian 11 is EOL in a littler over a year.

4

I believe the enterprise edition already uses CodeIgnitor 3 or 4, so it’s really odd why the two projects do not share the same code base. They say they lack resources but there has clearly been lots of work done on enterprise edition and sharing the same code base doesn’t take much effort.

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5

First of all, I’d like to thank the community member who raised an important point regarding the current tech stack of ASTPP. We truly appreciate your initiative, concern, and passion for improving the project. :pray:

Here’s what was shared:

CodeIgniter needs to be updated if this project wants to remain relevant. There are countless potential security risks hiding in the current framework, and upgrading to CodeIgniter 4 will drastically improve the security, speed, and compatibility of the Community version…

We agree with many of the concerns raised, especially around security, performance, and long-term maintainability. These are valid topics, and we’re happy to see some community members thinking about the future of ASTPP.

What’s Our Current Plan?

In January 2023, we had announced that ASTPP v7 (Community Edition) would be released around Q3-2023.
We truly appreciate your patience - but due to multiple parallel development priorities and resource limitations, the release has been delayed.

The good news? The work is back on track, and we expect v7 to be ready in the next couple of months.

However, we want to be transparent:

:x: We will not be upgrading to CodeIgniter 4.

There are technical and strategic reasons behind this decision, including long-term architecture planning. Instead of investing effort in moving to CI4, we’re focusing on improving what we already have in CI3 for v7.

What We Need from You

We want to gauge real community interest and engagement levels. So we’d like to know:

  • Are you actively using the community edition?

  • Would you be willing to contribute (code, testing, feedback)?

  • Would you consider supporting the community version financially?

Your responses will help us decide how many resources we can allocate to community edition improvements and whether additional features should be planned.

Please reply to this thread if you’re active and interested in participating. Even a quick comment helps us understand how alive the community is.

Let’s work together to keep ASTPP strong and useful for all!

Thanks again to everyone contributing ideas, feedback, and support. :blue_heart:

Thanks,
Samir Doshi

6

I was trying to get a crowdfunding project started, but your forum is blocking my post. The Community edition is an open source project, so we should be allowed to crowdsource funds to improve the project.

I understand that Inextrix wants to lead the project and get the funds, but if others contribute to the project, they should also be rewarded financially. Blocking any crowdsourcing effort is counterproductive and will not give you the results you want.

7

Thanks for your enthusiasm and for wanting to support the project - we truly appreciate community members who are passionate about making things better.

That said, we’d like to ask something important:

  • If multiple individuals start running separate crowdfunding campaigns in the name of the project, who ensures transparency, delivery, and accountability?

  • What happens if someone doesn’t follow through - who takes responsibility, and how does that reflect on the project as a whole?

  • Is it fair to the wider community if funds are raised under the open source name but managed without clear structure or oversight?

This is why we don’t allow third-party crowdfunding efforts. The idea here isn’t to block opportunities but to make sure we grow the project in a sustainable and fair - for everyone’s benefit, not just Inextrix or any one party. Many of you are already running successful businesses using the Community Edition, and that’s something we’re proud of. We’re open to collaboration through the right channels, where efforts are structured, sustainable, and aligned with the broader vision.

8

I wanted to start an independent crowdsourcing project so that the open-source community, not Inextrix, can decide how the funds are used. Inextrix has neglected the Community Edition for many years in favor of the Enterprise Edition. You just have to look at the changelog on GitHub to see that I am right. There is no significant difference between the code base of version 4 and version 6 of the Community Edition.

If you won’t let me start a crowdfunding project, then create an Inextrix crowdfunding project (not a Donate button) dedicated exclusively to the Community Edition with guarantees that any funds deposited will only be used towards updating and improving the Community Edition.

Also, I pledge $200 towards the Codeigniter upgrade once the project funding is set up and hope others will follow

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9

How about posting bounties for updates to get done sooner, or for feature requests?

10

Thanks again for your input and for the pledge - it really means a lot to see such commitment from the community.

As mentioned earlier, we can’t allow independent crowdfunding efforts for the Community Edition. But we do hear you.

We will plan an official initiative - whether it’s crowdfunding or a bounty-based model - to support specific features and improvements for the Community Edition. Once we finalize the structure, we’ll share the details publicly.

Appreciate your patience and support. Let’s keep moving forward together.

11

I understand, but I think you are making a mistake. If you want to encourage community support, then you need to open up the project to the community. By locking everything down to Inextrix, you are actively discouraging community involvement.

I mean, just look at the current forum participation. After years of neglecting the Community Edition, there are only 4 people active here, even though we had a massive security issue in the last 2 weeks. There should be hundreds of posts from current users discussing the current vulnerability.

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12

Fair point on community participation - but let’s be honest about why that’s the case.

The issue isn’t just about Inextrix. Over the years, very few community users have stepped up to contribute, test, document, or even help others. Most just download, use, and disappear. That’s the reality. When support is needed, it’s still our team that ends up jumping in to help - often without any compensation or recognition.

We’ve kept this project alive, patched issues, and supported users even when there was zero engagement from the forum. So, if we’re being called out for low activity, let’s also acknowledge that we’ve been carrying the weight - not “locking things down.”

We’ve never stopped anyone from contributing, sharing ideas, or getting involved.

This project is still active, and we’re committed to improving it. But it needs to be a two-way effort. Blaming won’t move it forward - participation will.

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13

But why is there so little user engagement? I am new to ASTPP, but I was a member in many other forums like FreePBX, a2billing, FusionPBX, MagnusBilling, PIAF, etc. They all had thousands of members and a high volume of daily posts. The ASTPP forum goes days without a single post.

What is different about the ASTPP Community Edition project that discourages forum use? Do you attract a different user base, or is it the lack of changes that turns people away? I see 146 ASTPP forks on Github, meaning 146 versions of ASTPP with code changes, but almost none of these changes are incorporated back into the Community Edition. They can’t all be bad.

Even paid modifications like my “Access Number Surcharge” project from April 2024 are not incorporated into the Community Edition. In my case, it was part of the agreement with Inextrix support. They were supposed to submit a pull request to V6, but the code was never uploaded to Github. That makes me wonder how many other paid customizations were never uploaded either.

I agree that you are carrying the weight, but you have to ask yourself why you are carrying the weight and why you are not able to engage similar support of your user base like other projects out there.

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14

Thanks for the honest feedback - fair points, and we hear you.

Yes, ASTPP hasn’t had the same kind of forum activity as other projects. That’s partly because our users are mostly telco providers who tend to set it and forget it, rather than stick around and engage. But that’s not the full excuse.

You’re also right - we’ve missed chances to involve the community more, including in merging useful changes or sharing paid customizations back. That’s something we need to fix, and we will workout on that.

We’re planning to make it easier for people to contribute, share what’s coming next, and bring more structure to the Community Edition. If you’re interested in helping shape that, we’d be happy to work together.

Thanks again for calling this out. You’re asking the right questions - and it’s on us to answer with action.

15

I am not a coder, but I’ll see what I can do. I will certainly continue to contribute financially as I have done in the past, but I guess there is always room for improvement. If Inextrix can set milestones or request funding for a specific project (e.g. the codeigniter upgrade), that will certainly help.

16

Thanks, we really appreciate that. Financial support like yours makes a real difference.

Yes, we’ll start defining clear milestones and specific goals (like the CodeIgniter upgrade) so it’s easier for everyone to see where help is needed - whether that’s financial, technical, or just spreading the word.

Let’s connect on call or email, so we can coordinate better. Let’s keep this moving in the right direction - together.

17

I don’t know if I agree with this. FreePBX is also heavily used by ITSPs. Even when it holds back on certain modules needed by the community. I think the real challenge is the tight-grip that Inextrix exerts over ASTPP. @dcitelecom just mentioned an instance where they paid for module and wanted it open sourced. I mean how right can the grip be,

I decided to step out of the shadows because a potential client reached out to me about needing a separate billing set up for their Community edition of ASTPP. I asked if they were aware of the recent security issue. Their answer: “What security issue?”. I was left agast.

Long story short, there needs to be a loosening of the grip on the code base. Personally, I’m not fully conversant with all the workings of ASTPP because I come from a PBX background. I’m happy to contribute my time to testing and documenting. A very difficult process as it is exploratory. Will probably spin up a new instance today and be a bit more patient figuring it out. I’m from a 3rd world backwater with really scarce means, but I’m willing to pledge US$100 towards any public and open work to nudge the OSS version forward

18

Everything I’m seeing in this thread, as well as the one where the security vulnerability was being discussed, makes me incredibly glad my company switched away from ASTPP at the beginning of this year. We were an Enterprise customer for 3 years and received zero updates to our system during this time, and they never delivered on the active/standby system we were told would be covered under our existing single server license. The WHMCS modules are not built correctly making automation functions break. Support for issues was basically non-existent and referred us to documentation that was just the exact same text in the interface with no explanation on what they do.

If anyone wants to PM me for information on who we switched to, please feel free.

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19

PM no longer works in this forum. Another example of how things are locked down.

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20

Lol! Naaaah, that’s “effed”. Explains why there’s really no communityc. Draconian grip.

In other small talk, can I hit you off platform? Looking for L1/L2 support roles following an unexpected layoff from your “southern” neighbour