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.
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.
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
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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.
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.