Asterisk itself is a PBX application that runs atop flavors of *nix. It is configured and scripted solely through tens of text configuration files. Generally, to get an Asterisk system up-and-running, you need to get a Unix-like OS up-and-running on the target server hardware, followed by installation of Asterisk (which typically involves building/compiling from source), and finally configuration of Asterisk by editing the various .conf files.

AsteriskNow is a self-contained Linux OS and Asterisk environment that tries to automate most of this for you and provide you with a more user-friendly administration interface. When you install AsteriskNow, it installs Linux AND Asterisk AND a nice fluffy web GUI front-end for Asterisk (FreePBX) onto your server for you. Note that the fact that it comes with a web GUI does not preclude you from editing the .conf files directly, if you are so inclined (although it is generally not recommended that you continue to use FreePBX if you do so...it will likely not have a clue what you did behind its back and your manual changes will probably not mesh well with how it wants to do things).

-- Nathan

Last edited by Nathan Anderson; 07/10/13 07:54 AM.