sms-gateway

SMS gateway for sending and receiving SMS messages

hardware used:

The following hardware was used for this project:

• Raspberry PI 3 with 32GB Micro-SD
• Huawei 3131 3G USB modem

software used:

The following software was used for making this collection of scripts work:

• Raspbian (Linux distribution for Raspberry pi)
• SMS Server Tools 3 (http://smstools3.kekekasvi.com/) as the SMS daemon

SMS Server Tools 3:

The SMS Server Tools 3 is a SMS Gateway software which can send and receive short messages through GSM modems and mobile phones.

You can send short messages by simply storing text files into a special spool directory. The program monitors this directory and sends new files automatically. It also stores received short messages into another directory as text files.

The program can be run as a SMS daemon which can be started automatically when the operating system starts.

The program can run other external programs or scripts after events like reception of a new message, successful sending and also when the program detects a problem. These programs can inspect the related text files and perform automatic actions.

Installation of SMS Server Tools 3:

• Log in as root on the Linux system
• use Wget or any other method to get the TAR file on the linux machine "wget http://smstools3.kekekasvi.com/packages/smstools3-3.1.21.tar.gz" (please note, this might not be the newest version, check the website for the newest version available.)
• untar the file: "tar -xzf smstools*.tar.gz"
• run "make"
• run "make install"

Done! the SMS Server Tools 3 utility is now installed and ready for use.

configuring SMS Server Tools 3:

After installing SMS Server Tools 3, make sure your USB modem or any other supported device is plugged in to a suitable USB port and check if it is being recognized by running the command: "cd /dev/" and check if TTYUSBxx (where xx is a number) is shown, this is the Serial interface of your USB modem.

Once the device is properly detected we can continue with the configuration of SMS Server Tools 3.

Open the configuration file of SMS Server Tools 3:

nano /etc/smsd.conf

Paste this information into the file (overwriting existing configuration file if you start from scratch)

# Example smsd.conf. Read the manual for a description

devices = GSM1
logfile = /var/log/smsd.log
loglevel = 5
spool_directory_order = yes
delaytime_mainprocess = 1
delaytime = 5
eventhandler =

[GSM1]
device = /dev/ttyUSB2
init = AT^CURC=0
incoming = yes
baudrate = 9600
pin = 0000
memory_start = 0
detect_unexpected_input = no
decode_unicode_text = no
#incoming_utf8 = false

Change the following values:

• devices = GSMx (if you have multiple modems installed, increment as required)
• eventhandler = "Location to eventhandler script" ( for more details, see http://smstools3.kekekasvi.com/index.php?p=eventhandler )
• device = /dev/ttyUSB2 ( In our case ttyUSB2 is the serial interface of our modem )
• init = AT^CURC=0 ( These are optional commands that the daemon sends to the modem when initializing the modem itself (this command disables Debugging echo's on the serial interface) )
• pin = 0000 ( this is the pin-code which is on the sim-card in the modem )

The rest of the settings are default, and can be kept this way.

To get the full list of options, follow this link: http://smstools3.kekekasvi.com/index.php?p=configure

Using SMS Server Tools 3:

There are 2 main methods of sending message using SMS Server Tools 3

• Creating a SMS file in the "/var/spool/sms/outgoing" folder
• Using the Binary "sendsms" to send an sms-gateway

method 1: creating SMS file

Following is an example or a valid SMS file which will be processed by SMS Server Tools 3:

To: 31612345678

This a test-message to be sent to the above number

• Please note the Capital "T" in the To: line, this is essential!
• The Phone number should be formatted as above (country number without 00 or + , followed by the phone number without the leading 0)
• The blank line after the phone number and options is also needed when creating an SMS file, this tells the daemon that the message itself is coming up.

There is also an option to parse options to the daemon by using the SMS file, and example of a SMS file with an option is:

To: 31612345678
Flash: yes

This a flash SMS message!

Here you can see that the "Flash" option is set to Yes, this SMS message will be sent as a flash message, which will show it directly on the phone of the recipient.

To see all the options, go to: http://smstools3.kekekasvi.com/index.php?p=fileformat

method 2: using "sendsms" command:

There is also the possibility to send an sms using the "sendsms" command.

This is the most easy way to interface with the Sms Server Tools.

An example command is:

sendsms 31612345678 'This is a test SMS using the binary'

As you can see this is a really easy way to send an sms, you do not need to worry about formatting whatsoever.