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Lesson 8 Configuring PPP clients
Objective Use Dialup Configuration Tool to configure a PPP Connection

Using Dialup Configuration Tool to configure PPP Connection

To configure a PPP connection, you need only know a few parameters:
  1. The phone number of your ISP
  2. Your username
  3. Your password

If you have more than one modem, you will also need to select the one to use.

Checking your PPP connection

To debug your PPP connection or simply to better understand how it works, you can run through the steps below. They will help you understand where information is being stored and how tools can be used to track this information.

Check that your PPP interface is working

One way to do this is with the ping command. From the Terminal window, type ping along with any Internet address you know. For example: 
ping www.handsonhistory.com
PING handsonhistory.com (198.60.22.8) from 192.168.0.43 : 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from handsonhistory.com (198.60.22.8): icmp_seq=0 ttl=240 time=120 msec
64 bytes from handsonhistory.com (198.60.22.8): icmp_seq=1 ttl=240 time=116 msec
64 bytes from handsonhistory.com (198.60.22.8): icmp_seq=2 ttl=240 time=120 msec


−−− www.handsonhistory.com ping statistics −−−
4 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 25% packet loss
round−trip min/avg/max/mdev = 116.816/119.277/120.807/1.779 ms

Press Ctrl+C to end the ping command. The lines above show the responses from http://www.handsonhistory.com.
It sent back packets from the IP address 198.60.22.8 in response to each one it received. You can see the sequence of packets (icmp_seq) and the time it took for each response (in milliseconds).
If you receive packets in return, you will know two things: first, that your connection is working, and second, that your name to address translation (from the DNS addresses in /etc/resolv.conf) is working.

RP3 Configuration Tool

Red Hat Linux comes with a tool called the Red Hat PPP (RP3) Configuration Tool. It is related to the RP3 Dialer, which you use to connect to your PPP interface. Once your modem is properly configured, the RP3 Configuration Tool allows you to set up a new dial-up connection, quickly and easily. To run the configuration tool from the GUI, you:
  1. Click the GNOME main menu button
  2. Select Internet
  3. Select Dialup Configuration Tool

Try out the tool now with the following Simulation.

Configuring Ppp Connection
You can also set up a new dial-up connection with the RP3 configuration utility by typing rp3-config at a command prompt. The next lesson shows you how to activate a PPP connection.