[bug]: cel_general_custom.conf cannot override events= set in cel_general_additional.conf

[John-Pear]

FreePBX Version

FreePBX 17

Issue Description

Issue: cel_general_custom.conf cannot override events= set in cel_general_additional.conf

Expected behaviour: Following the standard FreePBX custom config override pattern, adding a [general] section with a specific events= list to /etc/asterisk/cel_general_custom.conf
should override the events=all set in the auto-generated cel_general_additional.conf, which is included first.

Actual behaviour: events=all in cel_general_additional.conf is dominant regardless of include order. Any events= list in cel_general_custom.conf is silently ignored. asterisk -rx "cel
show status" continues to show CEL Tracking Event: ALL.

Root cause: events=all in Asterisk CEL is a flag that enables all events and cannot be overridden by a subsequent events= line in the same config context. Since FreePBX hardcodes
events=all in Cel.class.php line 356 with no UI setting to change it, and the custom file override mechanism doesn't work for this specific setting, there is no supported way to
filter CEL events.

Impact: On a small company with ~300 calls/day, the CEL table accumulates ~1.56 million records/month. CHAN_START, CHAN_END and HANGUP account for 92% of records — the
majority generated by queue ring attempts — with no supported mechanism to reduce this.

Workaround: Directly edit /var/www/html/admin/modules/cel/Cel.class.php line 356, replacing 'events=all' with a specific event list. This is overwritten on CEL module updates.

Fix requested:

1. Add a CEL_EVENTS setting to FreePBX Advanced Settings to control which events are logged, OR
2. Change the hardcoded events=all to a sensible default that excludes CHAN_END (redundant with HANGUP), OR
3. Document that cel_general_custom.conf cannot override the events setting and explain the correct workaround

Operating Environment

Environment

• OS: Debian 12.11
• Asterisk: 22.3.0
• FreePBX: 17.0.28
• CEL Module: 17.0.2.13
• PHP: 8.2.29

Relevant log output

[lgaetz]

As a result of this report, I spent quite a bit of time attempting to modify the cel parameters using the included *custom.conf files and have come to the conclusion that this is probably an asterisk bug. No matter what I do, I'm unable to redefine a line in a *custom.conf once it's been defined in cel.conf or cel_general_additional.conf. This is quite different behavior than any other asterisk conf files in my experience.

[John-Pear]

I can't see it as an Asterisk bug - hardcoding events=all in Cel.class.php with no UI option to change it and no supported override mechanism in FreePBX.
By editing Cel.class.php so it writes a specific event list to cel_general_additional.conf instead of events=all, the custom.conf override problem disappears entirely — because there's no events=all to fight against anymore.

Line 356 of /var/www/html/admin/modules/cel/Cel.class.php.

Before:
'events=all',

After:
'events=CHAN_START,ANSWER,HANGUP,BRIDGE_ENTER,BRIDGE_EXIT,LINKEDID_END,APP_START,APP_END,BLINDTRANSFER,PARK_START,PARK_END',