2 General information

Contrary to what some people think, it does not mean "Peer to Peer Processing"; although you may do peer-peer communications using TCP/IP over a PPP link.

This is not a job for a general user. If you can convince your administration people that PPP is a `good thing' then you stand a chance of getting it implemented. If you can't, then you probably can't use PPP.

However, if you are using a system which is supported by the people who are marketing the "TIA" (The Internet Adapter) package, then there is hope. I do not have much information on this package, however, from what I have found, they plan to support PPP in "the next version". (My information may be old. Contact them directly. Information on TIA is available at ftp.marketplace.com in the /pub/tia directory.)

A Linux port is on their list.

If your system is not supported by TIA and you can't convince the admin group to support PPP then you should use the `term' package. Some service providers will object to you running `term'. They have many different reasons, however the most common is `security concerns'.

Do not replace the driver in the kernel with a version from the pppd package!!!

The second part is the `daemon' process, pppd. This is a required process. The source to it is in the file ppp-2.1.2b.tar.gz located on sunsite.unc.edu in the /pub/Linux/system/Networking/serial directory.

It should also be somewhere on ftp.funet.fi.

For kernels before 1.1.13, the necessary driver is included in the daemon code.

Start by reading the README file and then the README.linux file. The documentation sources are listed below.

A: There are several sources of information for the PPP protocol as implemented under Linux.

• The README file in the source package.
• The README.linux file in the source package.
• The Net-2-HOWTO document.
• The Network Administration Guide.
• The pppd man page.
• The ppp FAQ document. (This is not it, by the way.)

The HOWTO file is stored in the usual place for the Linux HOWTOs. That is currently on sunsite.unc.edu in the directory /pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO.

The Network Administration Guide is available in the docs/linux-doc-project/nag directory on sunsite. It is published by O'Riellly and Associates. So, if you want a really professional document, then buy a copy from your local bookstore.

The `man' pages are included in the source package. You will probably have to move them to the normal man directory, /usr/man/man8 before the man command may find them. Alternately, you may use nroff and more to view them directly.

The PPP faq document describes the PPP protocol itself and the various implementations. You will find the FAQ for the usenet news group, comp.protocols.ppp, archived on rtfm.mit.edu in the /usenet directory. It is in eight parts at the present time.

Very few questions are related directly to the Linux port. Most of the questions are general use of the ppp package and are exactly applicable to the remainder of the pppd users.

Please, if you must use usenet for PPP questions, use comp.protocols.ppp.

Please see the question regarding errors which normally occur at the modem's disconnection. They are not the cause of a problem, only a symptom. Posting a message with only those errors is also meaningless.

What is needed is the output of the system log (syslog) when you run the pppd program with the option `debug'. In addition, if you are using chat then please use the `-v' option to run the sequence with verbose output.

Please include the output from the kernel's startup. This shows the various kernel hardware information such as your UART type, PPP version, etc.

Please include all information that you can relating to the problem. However your system configuration, disk drive configuration, terminal type, mouse location and button status, etc. are irrelevant. What is important is the system to which your are trying to contact, the ppp (or terminal server) that they are using, the modem types and speed that you are using, etc.

Take care and go through the output. Remove the references to the telephone number, your account name, and the password. They are not important to analyzing the problem and would pose a security risk to you if you published them to usenet. Also discard the lines which neither come from the kernel nor pppd.

Do NOT run the pppd program with the option `kdebug 7' and post that!

If the problem warrants examining the data stream, then you will be contacted by email and asked to mail the trace. Usenet already costs too much for too many people.

Information is written to various levels. The debug information is written to the debug level. The informational messages are written to the info level. The errors are written to the error level. Please include all levels the the `local2' group which come from the pppd process.

In addition, please do not delete the time stamp information. It is important.