# Getting Started

The AEL parser (pbx_ael.so) is completely separate from the module that parses extensions.conf (pbx_config.so). To use AEL, the only thing that has to be done is the module pbx_ael.so must be loaded by Asterisk. This will be done automatically if using 'autoload=yes' in /etc/asterisk/modules.conf. When the module is loaded, it will look for 'extensions.ael' in /etc/asterisk/. extensions.conf and extensions.ael can be used in conjunction with each other if that is what is desired. Some users may want to keep extensions.conf for the features that are configured in the 'general' section of extensions.conf.

To reload extensions.ael, the following command can be issued at the CLI:

*CLI> ael reload