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NAME

       pppconfig - configure pppd to connect to the Internet

SYNOPSIS

       pppconfig  [--version]  |  [--help]  |  [[--dialog]  |  [--whiptail]  |
       [--gdialog] [--noname] | [providername]]

DESCRIPTION

       pppconfig is a dialog based interactive, menu driven  utility  to  help
       automate  setting  up a dial out ppp connection.  It provides extensive
       explanations at each step.  pppconfig  supports  PAP,  CHAP,  and  chat
       methods  of  authentication.   It  uses  the standard ppp configuration
       files and sets ppp up so that the standard pon and poff commands can be
       used to control ppp.  Some features supported by pppconfig are:
       - Multiple ISP’s with separate nameservers.
       - Modem detection.
       - Dynamic DNS.
       - Dial on demand.
       - Allow non-root users to run ppp.
       - Uses the gdialog GUI dialog replacement if possible.

       Before  running  pppconfig  you should know what sort of authentication
       your isp requires, the username and password that they want you to use,
       and  the phone number.  If they require you to use chat authentication,
       you will also need to know the login and password prompts and any other
       prompts  and  responses  required  for  login.   If  you can’t get this
       information from your isp you could try dialing  in  with  minicom  and
       working  through the procedure until you get the garbage that indicates
       that ppp has started on the other end.

       pppconfig allows you to configure connections  to  multiple  providers.
       For  example,  you  might  call  your  isp  ’provider’,  your  employer
       ’theoffice’ and your university ’theschool’.  Then you can  connect  to
       your  isp  with  ’pon’,  your  office  with  ’pon  theoffice’, and your
       university with ’pon theschool’.

       It can determine which serial port your modem is  on,  but  the  serial
       port must already be configured.  This is normally done when installing
       Linux.

       It can help you set your nameservers, or, if  your  ISP  uses  ’dynamic
       DNS’, it can set up ppp to use that.

       It  can  configure  ppp for demand dialing, so that your ppp connection
       will come up automatically.  It will not, however, start pppd for  you.
       You  must still start pppd yourself (’pon’ will do it).  Pppd will then
       wait in the background for you to attempt to access the Net  and  bring
       up the link.

       If  you select "Static" in the "Configure Nameservers" screen pppconfig
       will create a file in the /etc/ppp/resolv  directory  named  after  the
       provider you are configuring and containing "nameserver" lines for each
       of the IP  numbers  you  gave.   This  file  will  be  substituted  for
       /etc/resolv.conf  when  the  connection comes up.  The provider name is
       passed in the ipparam variable so that 0dns-up knows which file to use.
       The  original  resolv.conf  will  be  put back when the connection goes
       down.  You can edit this file if  you  wish  and  add  such  things  as
       "search" or "domain" directives or additional nameservers.  Be sure and
       read the resolv.conf man page first, though.  The "search" and "domain"
       directives probably do not do what you think they do.

       If you select "dynamic" in the "Configure Nameservers" screen pppconfig
       will configure pppd  for  ’dynamic  DNS’  and  create  a  file  in  the
       /etc/ppp/resolv  directory named after the provider you are configuring
       but containing nothing.  When the connection comes up  the  nameservers
       supplied  by  your  ISP  will  be  added  and  the file substituted for
       /etc/resolv.conf.  You can edit this file if  you  wish  and  add  such
       things as "search" or "domain" directives or additional nameservers.

       If  you  select  "None" in the "Configure Nameservers" screen pppconfig
       will create no file in /etc/ppp/resolv and will leave  /etc/resolv.conf
       alone.  ipparam  is not set to the provider name and so is free for the
       administrator to use.

FILES

       /etc/ppp/peers/provider is the  standard  pppd  options  file  for  the
       default service provider.

       /etc/ppp/peers/<name>  is  the  pppd options file for the provider that
       you have named <name>.

       /etc/ppp/peers/provider.bak     is      a      backup      copy      of
       /etc/ppp/peers/provider.

       /etc/chatscripts/provider  is  the standard chat script for the default
       service provider.

       /etc/chatscripts/<name> is the chat script for the  provider  that  you
       have named <name>.

       /etc/chatscripts/provider.bak      is      a     backup     copy     of
       /etc/chatscripts/provider.

       /etc/ppp/resolv  is  a  directory  where  resolv.conf  files  for  each
       provider are stored.

       /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/0dns-up  is  a  script  that  arranges for the correct
       resolv.conf file to be copied into place when a connection comes up.

       /etc/ppp/ip-down.d/0dns-down is a script that arranges for the original
       resolv.conf file to be copied into place when a connection goes down.

       /etc/init.d/dns-clean  is  a  script  that  runs 0dns-down at bootup to
       clean up any mess left by a crash.

       /var/run/pppconfig is a directory  where  temporary  files  created  by
       0dns-up are stored.

       /var/run/pppconfig/resolv.conf.bak.<provider>  is  a backup copy of the
       original resolv.conf file.  0dns-down  restores  /etc/resolv.conf  from
       it.

       /var/run/pppconfig/0dns.<provider>  is a backup copy of the resolv.conf
       file   for   <provider>.    0dns-down   uses   it   to   determine   if
       /etc/resolv.conf has been overwritten by another process.

       /etc/ppp/pap-secrets  and  /etc/ppp/chap-secrets  are  described in the
       pppd documentation.  pppconfig may add lines to these  files  and  will
       change lines that it previously added.

NOTES

       pppconfig requires pppd 2.3.7 or higher.

TO DO

       Add full support for MSCHAP.

BUGS

       Don’t tell pppconfig to find your modem while pppd is running.

SEE ALSO

       pon(1), poff(1), gpppon(1), plog(1), pppd(8), chat(8), and whiptail(1).

AUTHOR

       pppconfig was written by John Hasler <jhasler@debian.org>.

COPYRIGHT

       This man page may be treated as if it were in  the  public  domain.   I
       waive all rights.