---
name: "ser"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "ser"
version: "0.9.7-1"
release: "Debian 5.0 (Lenny)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/ser"
---

# ser(8)

very fast and configurable sip proxy

## NAME

ser - very fast and configurable sip proxy

## SYNOPSIS

**ser** \[ **-hcrRvdDEVT** \] \[ **-f** *config-file* \] \[ **-l** *address* \] \[ **-n** *processes-no* \] \[ **-N** *tcp processes-no* \] \[ **-b** *max\_rcv\_buf\_size* \] \[ **-m** *shared\_mem\_size* \] \[ **-w** *working-dir* \] \[ **-t** *chroot-dir* \] \[ **-u** *uid* \] \[ **-g** *gid* \] \[ **-P** *pid-file* \] \[ **-i** *fifo-path* \] \[ **-x** *socket-path* \]

## DESCRIPTION

**ser** or **Sip** **Express** **Router** is a very fast and configurable SIP proxy.

## OPTIONS

- **-h**

  Displays a short usage description, including all available options.

- **-c**

  Checks the config file and displays the aliases and listen interface list.

- **-r**

  Uses dns to check if it is necessary to add a "received=" field to a via.

- **-R**

  Same as  **-r** but uses reverse dns.

- **-v**

  Turns on via host checking when forwarding replies.

- **-d**

  Turns on debugging, multiple **-d** increase the debug level.

- **-D**

  Runs ser in the foreground (it doesn't fork into daemon mode).

- **-E**

  Sends all the log messages to stderr.

- **-T**

  Disables TCP support.

- **-V**

  Displays the version number.

- **-f** *config-file*

  Reads the configuration from   **config-file** (default */etc/ser/ser.cfg* ).

- **-l** *address*

  Listens on the specified address/interface. Multiple  **-l** mean listening on multiple addresses. The address format is  \[proto:\]address\[:port\], where proto = udp\|tcp and address = host\|ip\_address\|interface\_name. Example: -l localhost,  -l udp:127.0.0.1:5080, -l eth0:5062. The default behaviour is to listen on all the ipv4 interfaces.

- **-n** *processes-no*

  Specifies the number of children processes forked per interface (default 8).

- **-N** *tcp processes-no*

  Specifies the number of children processes forked to handle tcp incoming connections (by default is equal to **-n** ).

- **-b** *max\_rcv\_buf\_size*

  Maximum receive buffer size which will not be exceeded by the auto-probing procedure even if the OS allows.

- **-m** *shared\_mem\_size*

  Size of the shared memory which will be allocated (in Megabytes).

- **-w** *working-dir*

  Specifies the working directory. In the very improbable event that  **ser** will crash, the core file will be generated here.

- **-t** *chroot-dir*

  Forces  **ser** to chroot after reading the config file.

- **-u** *uid*

  Changes the user id under which  **ser** runs.

- **-g** *gid*

  Changes the group id under which  **ser** runs.

- **-P** *pid-file*

  Creates a file containing the pid of the main  **ser** process.

- **-i** *fifo-path*

  Creates a fifo, usefull for monitoring **ser** status.

- **-x** *socket-path*

  Creates a unix socket, usefull for monitoring **ser** status ( same as **-i** *fifo-path* but using instead unix sockets).

## FILES

**/usr/sbin/ser**\
 **/etc/ser/ser.cfg**\
 **/usr/lib/ser/modules/\***

## AUTHORS

see  **/usr/share/doc/ser/AUTHORS**

## SEE ALSO

**[ser.cfg(5)](/ser.cfg/5.md)**

Full documentation on ser, including configuration guidelines, FAQs and licensing conditions, is available at *http://www.iptel.org/ser/.*

For reporting  bugs see *http://www.iptel.org/ser/bugs/.*

Mailing lists:

```
serusers@iptel.org - ser user community
serdev@iptel.org - ser development, new features and unstable version
```