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debug

/dev/ippp0

user yourusername

name yourusername

mru 1500

mtu 1500

ipcp-accept-local

ipcp-accept-remote

noipdefault

-vj -vjccomp -ac -pc -bsdcomp

defaultroute

You have to change only two things here: change yourusername in the third and fourth lines to the username that your provider has assigned you for connecting to its system. We won't go through all the options here; see the manual page when in doubt.

ISDN access requires the same security as an analog modem. See "PAP and CHAP," earlier in this chapter, for directions on setting up your pap-secrets or chap-secrets file as required by your service provider.

Now we have got our things together and can start having fun! First run the ipppd daemon:

tigger # /sbin/ipppd pidfile /var/run/ipppd.ippp0.pid file /etc/ppp/ioptions &

The ipppd daemon will now wait for connection requests. Since we have not configured it yet to automatically make a connection, we have to manually trigger the connection. You do this with the following command:

tigger # isdnctrl dial ippp0

You should now check /var/log/messages. There should be lots of messages that start with ipppd. The last of those messages should contain the words local IP address and remote IP address together with the IP addresses. Once you find those messages, you are done. Because we have used the defaultroute option previously, the kernel has set up the default route to use the ISDN connection, and you should now be able to access the wide, wide world of the Internet. Start by pinging your provider's IP address. Once you are done and want to shut down the connection, enter

tigger # isdnctrl hangup ippp0

If you have a flat rate with your ISP, then you can set the huptimeout to 0, and you will stay online all the time without ever hanging up. Of course, this is nice to have, but remember that most ISPs reset the connection after 24 hours, and if you have a dynamic IP address, you will possibly be assigned another IP address every 24 hours.

And If It Does Not Work?

If you have no connection even though your hardware was successfully recognized and you have set up everything as described here, /var/log/messages is again your friend. It is very likely that you will find the cause of the error there, even though it might be buried a bit.

The most common error is specifying the password or the username incorrectly. You know that you have a problem with the authentication if you see a line such as:

PAP authentication failed

or

CHAP authentication failed

in the logfile. Check your chap-secrects or pap-secrets file very carefully. Your provider might also be able to see from its logfiles where exactly the authentication went wrong.

Of course, your provider might not support synchronous PPP as described here, even though most providers do nowadays. If this is the case, ask your provider for exact settings.

If it still does not work, ask your provider. A good ISP has a phone support line and can help you connect your Linux box. If your provider tells you that it "only supports Windows," it's time to switch. Many Linux-friendly providers are out there. Often the support staff is using Linux and can help you even though the provider's official policy is not to support Linux.

If for some reason you are stuck with an uncooperative provider, try finding other customers of this provider who also use Linux. Setting up your connection in nonstandard cases means fiddling with the options and parameters of the ISDN subsystem in the kernel and the ipppd daemon, and if somebody else has already found out what to do, you don't have to.

Where to Go from Here?

Once your ISDN connection works and you can access the Internet, you might want to set up some conveniences or other customizations. Here are some suggestions:

Make ipppd dial your remote site automatically. You can do this by setting the default route to the ippp0 device like this: /sbin/route add default netmask 0.0.0.0 ippp0

Now, whenever the kernel needs to send an IP packet to an IP address for which it has no specific