20.7 smpppd as Dial-up Assistant
Some home users do not have a dedicated line connecting them to the
Internet. Instead, they use dial-up connections. Depending on the dial-up
method (ISDN or DSL), the connection is controlled by ipppd or pppd.
Basically, all that needs to be done to go online is to start these
programs correctly.
If you have a flat-rate connection that does not generate any additional
costs for the dial-up connection, simply start the respective daemon.
Control the dial-up connection with a KDE applet or a command-line
interface. If the Internet gateway is not the host you are using, you
might want to control the dial-up connection by way of a network host.
This is where smpppd is involved. It provides a uniform interface for
auxiliary programs and acts in two directions. First, it programs the
required pppd or ipppd and controls its dial-up properties. Second, it
makes various providers available to the user programs and transmits
information about the current status of the connection. As smpppd can also
be controlled by way of the network, it is suitable for controlling
dial-up connections to the Internet from a workstation in a private
subnetwork.
20.7.1 Configuring smpppd
The connections provided by smpppd are automatically configured by
YaST. The actual dial-up programs KInternet and cinternet are also
preconfigured. Manual settings are only required to configure additional
features of smpppd, such as remote control.
The configuration file of smpppd is
/etc/smpppd.conf. By default, it does not enable
remote control. The most important options of this configuration file
are:
- open-inet-socket = yes|no
-
To control smpppd via the network, this option must be set to
yes. The port on which smpppd listens is
3185. If this parameter is set to
yes, the parameters
bind-address, host-range, and
password should also be set accordingly.
- bind-address = ip address
-
If a host has several IP addresses, use this parameter to determine at
which IP address smpppd should accept connections. The default is to
listen at all addresses.
- host-range = min ipmax ip
-
The parameter host-range defines a network range.
Hosts whose IP addresses are within this range are granted access to
smpppd. All hosts not within this range are denied access.
- password = password
-
By assigning a password, limit the clients to authorized hosts. As
this is a plain-text password, you should not overrate the security it
provides. If no password is assigned, all clients are permitted to
access smpppd.
- slp-register = yes|no
-
With this parameter, the smpppd service can be announced in the
network via SLP.
More information about smpppd is available in the
smpppd(8) and
smpppd.conf(5) man pages.
20.7.2 Configuring KInternet and cinternet for Remote Use
KInternet and cinternet can be used to control a local or remote smpppd.
cinternet is the command-line counterpart of the graphical KInternet. To
prepare these utilities for use with a remote smpppd, edit the
configuration file /etc/smpppd-c.conf manually or
using KInternet. This file only uses four options:
- sites = list of sites
-
Here, tell the front-ends where to search for smpppd. The front-ends
test the options in the order specified here. The
local option orders the establishment of a
connection to the local smpppd. The gateway option
points to an smpppd on the gateway. The config-file
indicates, that the connection should be established to the smpppd
specified in the server and
port options in the
/etc/smpppd-c.conf file. slp
orders the front-ends to connect to an smpppd found via SLP.
- server = server
-
Here, specify the host on which smpppd runs.
- port = port
-
Here, specify the port on which smpppd runs.
- password = password
-
Insert the password selected for smpppd.
If smpppd is active, you can now try to access it, for example, with
cinternet --verbose --interface-list.
If you experience difficulties at this point, refer to the
smpppd-c.conf(5) and
cinternet(8) man pages.
