Using PPP Diagnostics for Troubleshooting

If you have problems with a link after successfully establishing modem connections, you can use PPP-level diagnostics for troubleshooting. PPP-level diagnostics report detailed information about the activities of a link to help you determine where it is failing.

To obtain diagnostic information, add the line debug_level 8 to the path section of the asppp.cf file. (If you are very knowledgeable about data communications, you might want to use debug level 9, which provides very detailed information.) Here is a sample configuration file that invokes PPP diagnostics.

ifconfig ipdptp0 plumb nomada nubian-ppp up
path
   interface ipdptp0
   peer_system_name nubian-ppp   #The name in the /etc/uucp/Systems file
   inactivity_timeout 300        #Allow five minutes before timing out
   debug_level 8                 #Start up PPP diagnostics for this link

For complete details about the aspppd.conf file, refer to "Editing the /etc/asppp.cf Configuration File".

How to Set Diagnostics for Your Machine

Set diagnostics on the host you want to monitor as follows:

1. Become superuser.

2. Change to the /etc directory.

3. Edit the current asppp.cf file and add the following to the path section: debug_level 8.

4. Save the file, making sure the permissions are set to 600.

5. Kill the current aspppd daemon and restart it.

   # kill PID # aspppd

   where PID is the process ID for aspppd.

   PPP reports diagnostic information in /var/adm/log/asppp.log.