Specifying Information for Communicating With the Dial-in Server

To communicate with a dial-in server, you need to gather information about the server. Then edit a few files. Most significantly, you must configure the communications requirements of all dial-in servers that the dial-out machine needs to call. You can specify options about a dial-in server, such as an ISP phone number, in the /etc/ppp/options.ttyname file. However, the optimum place to configure peer information is in /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name files.

/etc/ppp/peers/peer-name File

Use the /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name file to provide information for communicating with a particular peer. /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name allows ordinary users to invoke preselected privileged options that users are not allowed to set.

For example, a nonprivileged user cannot override the noauth option if noauth is specified in the /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name file. Suppose the user wants to set up a link to peerB, which does not provide authentication credentials. As superuser, you can create a /etc/ppp/peers/peerB file that includes the noauth option. noauth indicates that the local machine does not authenticate calls from peerB.

The pppd daemon reads /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name when pppd encounters the following option:

call  peer-name

You can create a /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name file for each target peer with which the dial-out machine needs to communicate. This practice is particularly convenient for permitting ordinary users to invoke special dial-out links without needing root privileges.

Typical options that you specify in /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name include the following:

• user user-name

  Supply user-name to the dial-in server, as the login name of the dial-out machine, when authenticating with PAP or CHAP.

• remotename peer-name

  Use peer-name as the name of the dial-in machine. remotename is used in conjunction with PAP or CHAP authentication when scanning the /etc/ppp/pap-secrets or /etc/ppp/chap-secrets files.

• connect "chat chat_script..."

  Open communication to the dial-in server by using the instructions in the chat script.

• noauth

  Do not authenticate the peer peer-name when initiating communications.

• noipdefault

  Set the initial IP address that is used in negotiating with the peer to 0.0.0.0. Use noipdefault when setting up a link to most ISPs to help facilitate IPCP negotiation between the peers.

• defaultroute

  Install a default IPv4 route when IP is established on the link.

See the pppd(1M) man page for more options that might apply to a specific target peer.

/etc/ppp/peers/myisp.tmpl Template File

The /etc/ppp/peers/myisp.tmpl file contains helpful comments about the /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name file. The template concludes with common options that you might use for an /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name file:

connect "/usr/bin/chat -f /etc/ppp/myisp-chat" 
user myname             
remotename myisp        
noauth                 
noipdefault             
defaultroute            
updetach                
noccp                   

To use /etc/ppp/peers/myisp.tmpl at your site, rename /etc/ppp/peers/myisp.tmpl to /etc/ppp/peers/.peer-name. Replace peer-name with the name of the peer to be called. Then modify the file contents as needed by your site.

Where to Find Examples of the /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name Files

To find examples of the /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name files, refer to the following:

• For a dial-out machine, see How to Define the Connection With an Individual Peer.

• For a local machine on a leased line, see How to Configure a Machine on a Leased Line.

• For support of PAP authentication on a dial-out machine, see How to Add PAP Support to the PPP Configuration Files (Dial-out Machine).

• For support of CHAP authentication on a dial-out machine, see How to Add CHAP Support to the PPP Configuration Files (Dial-out Machine).

• For support of PPPoE on a client system, see Setting Up the PPPoE Client.