A Pocket Guide to Installing PPP
and
Connecting to the Internet

• Log in as Root or become SU.
• If necessary, rebuild the kernel with networking and PPP support.
• Make certain all the networking utilities have been installed.
• Check the loopback interface.

The commands /sbin/route -n and /sbin/ifconfig -lo should display 127.0.0.0 and 127.0.0.1 as destination and inet addr respectively.

If the above does not check out, see if the file /etc/hosts contains the line
127.0.0.1 localhost. If not, add the line to the file and give the command
ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1 to install the loopback driver.

Create the file /etc/resolv.conf with the following line:
nameserver 111.111.111.1, but substitute the IP address of your ISP for the 111.111.111.1.

Check that everything is working correctly up to this point by giving a ping localhost command. You should get output that looks like
PING localhost (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 tt1=225 time=0.8 ms
Use Control-C to stop the test.

Create a chat_script, based on the following template:

ABORT BUSY ABORT 'NO CARRIER' "" ATZ OK ATDT1111111 CONNECT "" ogin: yourname word: yourpassword

Of course, substitute your ISP's login phone number for 1111111, your login name for yourname and your password for yourpassword.

Now start up X to try to log on manually. Type the following in an Xterm:

/usr/sbin/pppd connect "/usr/sbin/chat -f chat_script" /dev/cua0 38400 -detach crtscts modem defaultroute

Note that this MUST be all on one line with no CR's.

Now start up your Web browser and see if you connect.

If everything works, you can put the above in a shell script (everything on ONE LINE), and move the script to /usr/local/bin. The chat_script can stay in your user root directory (~/). The final step is to create a button or clickable icon in the window manager to activate the log on script.

The following books are recommended for further reference:
The Linux Network Administrator's Guide, by Olaf Kirch
Linux System Administrator's Survival Guide, by Timothy Parker.

Also check the
PPP HOWTO
at Sunsite for more detailed info.