Which Version of Solaris PPP to Use

Solaris PPP 4.0 is the PPP implementation that is supported by the Solaris 9 operating environment. The Solaris 9 operating environment does not include the earlier asynchronous PPP (asppp) software. Asynchronous PPP configuration is discussed in the Solaris 8 System Administrator Collection at http://www.docs.sun.com.

Why Use Solaris PPP 4.0?

If you currently use asppp, consider migrating to Solaris PPP 4.0. Note the following differences between the two Solaris PPP technologies:

• Transfer modes

  asppp supports asynchronous communications only. Solaris PPP 4.0 supports both asynchronous communications and synchronous communications.

• Configuration process

  Setting up asppp requires configuring the asppp.cf configuration file, three UUCP files, and the ifconfig command. Moreover, you have to preconfigure interfaces for all users who might log in to a machine.

  Setting up Solaris PPP 4.0 requires defining options for the PPP configuration files, or issuing the pppd command with options. You can also use a combination of both the configuration file and command-line methods. Solaris PPP dynamically creates and removes interfaces. You do not have to directly configure PPP interfaces for each user.

• Solaris PPP 4.0 features not available from asppp

  • MS-CHAPv1 and MS-CHAPv2 authentication

  • PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) , to support ADSL bridges

  • PAM authentication

  • Plug-in modules

  • IPv6 addressing

  • Data compression that uses Deflate or BSD compress

Solaris PPP 4.0 Upgrade Path

If you are converting an existing asppp configuration to Solaris PPP 4.0, you can use the translation script that is provided with this release. For complete instructions, refer to How to Convert From asppp to Solaris PPP 4.0.