Installing the gateway

Chapter 2. Installing the gateway

You may need to add compilations ﬂags to conﬁgure:

CFLAGS=’-pthread’ ./configure

The above, for instance, seems to be required on FreeBSD. If you want to develop Kannel, you probably want to add CFLAGS that make your compiler use warning messages. For example, for GCC:

CFLAGS=’-Wall -O2 -g’ ./configure

(You may, at your preference, use even stricter checking options.)

After you have compiled Kannel, you need to install certain programs in a suitable place. This is most easily done by using make again:

make bindir=/path/to/directory install

Replace /path/to/directory with the pathname of the actual directory where the programs should be installed. The programs that are installed are (as ﬁlenames from the root of the source directory):

gw/bearerbox

gw/smsbox

gw/wapbox

The version number of the gateway is added to the ﬁle names during installation. This makes it easier to have several versions installed, and makes it easy to go back to an older version if the new version proves problematic.

Kannel consists of three programs called boxes: the bearer box is the interface towards the phones. It accepts WAP and SMS messages from the phones and sends them to the other boxes. The SMS box handles SMS gateway functionality, and the WAP box handles WAP gateway functionality. There can be several SMS boxes and several WAP boxes running and they don’t have to run on the same host. This makes it possible to handle much larger loads.

Using pre-compiled binary packages

Installing Kannel from RPM packages

This chapter explains how to install, upgrade and remove Kannel binary RPM packages.

Before you install Kannel, check that you have libxml2 installed on your system:

rpm -q libxml2

WAP and SMS gateway specifications

Nokia has long been a pivotal player in the telecommunications industry, and its contributions to mobile communication technology are numerous. Among these contributions, the Nokia WAP and SMS Gateway stand out as essential elements in enabling mobile internet access and messaging services in the early days of wireless communication.

The Nokia WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) gateway was introduced to facilitate mobile access to the internet and to allow users to interact with web services through their mobile devices. Built on a client-server architecture, the WAP gateway acted as a bridge between the mobile network and the internet, translating traditional web content into a format that mobile devices could effectively render. This conversion was crucial, given the limitations of early mobile devices regarding screen size, processing power, and network bandwidth.

One of the main features of the Nokia WAP gateway was its ability to provide users with real-time access to information such as weather updates, news, and stock prices. By using a lightweight markup language called WML (Wireless Markup Language), the gateway allowed developers to create mobile-friendly websites that could be accessed via WAP-enabled devices. This marked a significant step toward the mobile internet we know today, creating a new realm of possibilities for developers and users alike.

Another critical aspect of Nokia's offering was the SMS (Short Message Service) gateway. The SMS gateway provided a robust platform for sending and receiving text messages across various mobile networks. It enabled seamless communication between devices, regardless of the underlying technology. This feature made SMS a popular choice for both personal communication and business applications, such as marketing campaigns and customer service notifications.

The Nokia SMS gateway utilized established protocols, such as SMPP (Short Message Peer-to-Peer), to ensure reliable message delivery and efficient interaction between SMS applications and mobile networks. Its characteristics included scalability, allowing service providers to handle large volumes of messages, and flexibility to integrate with existing applications and systems.

In summary, the Nokia WAP and SMS gateway played a vital role in the evolution of mobile communication. With features that enabled mobile internet access and streamlined messaging capabilities, these technologies laid the groundwork for the mobile-centric world we live in today. Their legacy continues to influence mobile application development and the broader telecommunications landscape. As the industry progresses, the innovations introduced by Nokia serve as a reminder of the foundational technologies that paved the way for modern mobile experiences.

Nokia WAP and SMS gateway manual Installing the gateway, Using pre-compiled binary packages

Models: WAP and SMS gateway