discuss: Red Hat Linux + ISP Dial-up + ISDN External Modem HOWTO
Subject:
Re: Red Hat Linux + ISP Dial-up + ISDN External Modem HOWTO
From:
Tor Slettnes ####@####.####
Date:
21 Jul 2004 23:21:23 -0000
Message-Id: <1090452053.3258.33.camel@knausen>
On Wed, 2004-07-21 at 10:30, Bruno Negrão wrote:
> I've written a howto about how to configure the proper system files to make
> an dial-up connection with an external ISDN modem. The resulting
> configuration is the same as if you had used the "Red Hat Internet
> Connection Wizard". I'll follow the redhat's way of doing this.
Great!
A couple of observations:
- I don't think you need to restrict your document to RedHat users.
Most of your text (save for the 'ifcfg-ppp0' configuration file)
seems pretty generic.
- There does not seem to be anything that is specific to ISDN
connections either, aside from the 'cN=X' parameter to the AT string.
(And I wonder if that parameter may be vendor-specific as well).
I think your document is just as useful in the context of dialups
over regular/analog modems.
- WVDial is essentially a wrapper around 'pppd', which is covered in
the 'ISP-Connectivity' HOWTO by Michael Strates ####@####.####
Have you considered working with him to merge these two?
Then some comments on the text:
> 4) Information provided by your ISP
>
> Your ISP must provide you the following information: A user and password to
> authenticate your connection and the telephone number your modem will dial
> to connect with them.
It is not always true that ISPs assign usernames and passwords. If they
use the "CHAP" protocol for authentication, then a single "secret" may
be used instead.
> DNS servers and the default route
>
> When the ppp connection is established, the ISP will dynamically assign
> your ppp interface with an IP address and a DNS number. The ppp interface
> will be set as the default route.
The term "DNS number" does not mean anything. You can say "the
address(es) of one or more DNS servers", or simply "one or more DNS
servers".
> When the ppp connection is finished, your previous DNS configuration and
> default route are set up again automatically.
...automatically restored.
> We'll edit/create the following system files:
>
> /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ppp0
> ppp0 interface configuration file. Will be used by /sbin/ifup to activate
> the ppp0 interface and start the connection process.
Non-RedHat users should read "man ifup" for specifics to their system.
> Test the name resolution pinging a well known website: 'ping
> www.nytimes.com'.
In case this fails, it may also be useful to ping an IP address (such as
your ISP's default gateway) to see if the failure is due to a DNS
problem.
> To finish this connection, run the command bellow:
>
> /sbin/ifdown ppp0
>
> Now, check with 'netstat -rn' if your previous default route (if there was
> one) is correctly in place again.
You may want to mention the 'demand', 'idle', and 'persist'/'nopersist'
options to 'pppd' for on-demand dialling.
In any case - this is a common problem which I think is worth
documenting!
-tor
