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05. Checking and Debugging Modern SIP Applications with SALSA Format and Tools

Presented by Vladimir Beloborodov, Mera Software Services.

Modern IP-based communications need to be secure for their users. While it is a requirement, extremely important for privacy and safety, it often makes testing and debugging of the signaling plane(s) in VoIP applications quite challenging for their developers. Sniffing packets in the middle with tools like Wireshark becomes more problematic, especially when it comes to troubleshooting problems in the field.

A viable alternative approach in this situation is dumping the captured (sent and received) signaling packets right at the client's level. Or with browser tools and plug-ins, in the case of Web / WebRTC applications. However, at the moment there is no common, standardised format that would be good for such type of activity – and that would be sufficiently succinct and yet flexible and expressive for modern and future needs of event logging and archiving of the signaling messages in different types of communication applications. Including light, embedded, or web clients.

This session presents the newly proposed SALSA format ("Simple Application Log and Signaling Archive"). The SALSA specs are in development for about a year now, together with some sample tools for them – both the specs and the tools being planned for the open / open-source public release in 2016. The preliminary results are promising and are worth of presenting them to public audience at this stage.

The session starts with a brief overview of the limitations and challenges related to using low-level dump formats, like PCAP, and tools like Wireshark, for modern VoIP / WebRTC development needs. It continues with a review of SALSA and its design principles. After that, several live demos will be made – with a follow-up discussion and Q&A interactions with the audience. Constructive questions and comments during the course of the presentation are welcomed as well.