PPPCONFIG(8)

📦 version 2.3.31, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 NAME 💖

okay bestie, meet pppconfig — she's the one who sets up pppd so you can actually connect to the Internet. no cap, that's literally the whole job description. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

pppconfig [--version] | [--help] | [[--dialog] | [--whiptail] |
[--gdialog] [--noname] | [providername]]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so pppconfig is a dialog-based, interactive, menu-driven utility — think of it like a little bestie walking you through setup step by step — and she's here to automate setting up a dial-out ppp connection. she gives you extensive explanations at every single step, so you're never just standing there like ??? 🧚

she supports PAP, CHAP, and chat methods of authentication. she uses the standard ppp configuration files and sets ppp up so that the standard pon and poff commands can do their thing and control ppp. ✨

some of the features she's serving:

  • Multiple ISP's with separate nameservers. 👑
  • Modem detection.
  • Dynamic DNS.
  • Dial on demand.
  • Allow non-root users to run ppp.
  • Uses the gdialog GUI dialog replacement if possible. 🦋
before you run pppconfig, you gotta know some things first, okay? 💀 you need to know what sort of authentication your isp requires, the username and password they want you to use, and the phone number. and if they make you use chat authentication, you also need the login and password prompts plus any other prompts and responses required for login. if you can't get this info from your isp, you could try dialing in with minicom and working through the procedure until you get that garbage that indicates ppp has started on the other end. iconic detective work honestly. 🕵️

pppconfig lets you configure connections to multiple providers — yes, plural, she's versatile. for example, you might call your isp 'provider', your employer 'theoffice' and your university 'theschool'. then you connect to your isp with 'pon', your office with 'pon theoffice', and your university with 'pon theschool'. slay. 🌈

she can determine which serial port your modem is on — but the serial port must already be configured. this is normally done when installing Linux, so like, it's usually already handled. 🙈

she can help you set your nameservers, or, if your ISP uses 'dynamic DNS', she can set up ppp to use that. 🎀

she can configure ppp for demand dialing, so that your ppp connection will come up automatically. but — and this is important — she will not start pppd for you. you must still start pppd yourself ('pon' will do it). pppd will then wait in the background for you to attempt to access the Net and bring up the link. she's the planner, not the driver. 😭

🫶 the nameserver tea, explained 🫶

if you select "Static" in the "Configure Nameservers" screen, pppconfig will create a file in the /etc/ppp/resolv directory named after the provider you are configuring, and it'll contain "nameserver" lines for each of the IP numbers you gave. this file gets substituted for /etc/resolv.conf when the connection comes up. the provider name is passed in the ipparam variable so that 0dns-up knows which file to use. the original resolv.conf gets put back when the connection goes down. 🔁

you can edit this file if you wish and add such things as "search" or "domain" directives or additional nameservers. but be sure and read the resolv.conf man page first, though — the "search" and "domain" directives probably do not do what you think they do. i said what i said. 💀

if you select "dynamic" in the "Configure Nameservers" screen, pppconfig will configure pppd for 'dynamic DNS' and create a file in the /etc/ppp/resolv directory named after the provider you are configuring — but containing nothing. when the connection comes up, the nameservers supplied by your ISP will be added and the file substituted for /etc/resolv.conf. you can edit this file if you wish and add such things as "search" or "domain" directives or additional nameservers. ✨

if you select "None" in the "Configure Nameservers" screen, pppconfig will create no file in /etc/ppp/resolv and will leave /etc/resolv.conf alone. ipparam is not set to the provider name and so is free for the administrator to use. free real estate. 🏡

📁 FILES 📁

  • /etc/ppp/peers/provider — the standard pppd options file for the default service provider.
  • /etc/ppp/peers/<name> — the pppd options file for the provider that you have named <name>.
  • /etc/ppp/peers/provider.bak — a backup copy of /etc/ppp/peers/provider.
  • /etc/chatscripts/provider — the standard chat script for the default service provider.
  • /etc/chatscripts/<name> — the chat script for the provider that you have named <name>.
  • /etc/chatscripts/provider.bak — a backup copy of /etc/chatscripts/provider.
  • /etc/ppp/resolv — a directory where resolv.conf files for each provider are stored.
  • /etc/ppp/ip-up.d/0dns-up — a script that arranges for the correct resolv.conf file to be copied into place when a connection comes up.
  • /etc/ppp/ip-down.d/0dns-down — a script that arranges for the original resolv.conf file to be copied into place when a connection goes down.
  • /etc/init.d/dns-clean — a script that runs 0dns-down at bootup to clean up any mess left by a crash. 🧹
  • /var/run/pppconfig — a directory where temporary files created by 0dns-up are stored.
  • /var/run/pppconfig/resolv.conf.bak.<provider> — a backup copy of the original resolv.conf file. 0dns-down restores /etc/resolv.conf from it.
  • /var/run/pppconfig/0dns.<provider> — a backup copy of the resolv.conf file for <provider>. 0dns-down uses it to determine if /etc/resolv.conf has been overwritten by another process.
  • /etc/ppp/pap-secrets and /etc/ppp/chap-secrets — these are described in the pppd documentation. pppconfig may add lines to these files and will change lines that it previously added.

📝 NOTES 📝

pppconfig requires pppd 2.3.7 or higher. no ancient pppd energy allowed, bestie. 💅

🎀 TO DO 🎀

Add full support for MSCHAP. it's on the vision board. ✨

💀 BUGS 💀

Don't tell pppconfig to find your modem while pppd is running. like fr fr, just don't. chaos will ensue and nobody wants that. 😭

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

chat(8), gpppon(1), plog(1), poff(1), pon(1), pppd(8), and whiptail(1). go read those too, iykyk. 📚

👑 AUTHOR 👑

pppconfig was written by John Hasler <jhasler@debian.org>. legend behavior. 🫶

This man page may be treated as if it were in the public domain. I waive all rights. generous queen fr. 💖

and that's the whole page, bestie! this one came from the Debian GNU/Linux System Manager's Manual, Version 2.3.16. go forth and pon responsibly. ✨🦋💅

📦 where this page comes from