Kppp can make establishing your Internet
connection easy, and easy to modify. A dialer and configuration
application, Kppp works with
pppd, the Point-to-Point Protocol daemon.
To start Kppp, go to the => => =>
.
Type the password for the root account when it's requested. The
opening dialog for Kppp will be "grayed
out," because you haven't created an account yet (see Figure 6-15).
To begin, click on the Setup button. The next
dialog to open will be the Kppp
configuration dialog (similar to Figure 6-16).
In the New Account dialog, you can specify the
account details, such as name, phone number, DNS entries, and other
information. The information is divided into tabbed dialogs.
Click on the New button to enter your Internet
account information.
On the Dial tab, enter the following:
Connection Name: The name you wish to give
your account (for example, Mindspring or My ISP).
Phone Number: The phone number to connect to
your ISP. Click on Add to enter a new
number to this list.
Authentication: From this pulldown list, you
can select a method of login authentication: PAP,
Script-based, Terminal-based, or CHAP. (These are methods used to
verify your login. You may want to check with your ISP to
determine which type of authentication method you must use.) If
you're required to use a script-based login, the section called The Login Script Tab can assist you in entering your
script.
Store password: Check this option if you
don't want to be required to enter your password each time you
want to log on.
You can also customize options you want to pass to
pppd in the Edit pppd
arguments field, by clicking on the Customize
pppd Arguments button.
Unless you know what you're doing, however, you should leave these
additional options alone.
On the IP tab, you should specify whether you'll
be using a dynamic IP address or a static one. A static IP address is
provided to you by your ISP. If you have one of these, check
Static IP Address and enter the address and
Subnet Mask beneath. If your ISP has not provided you with an address,
check the Dynamic IP Address field (see Figure 6-18).
On the Gateway (see Figure 6-19) tab, select either Default
Gateway or Static Gateway. If your ISP
has specified an IP address you should use as a static gateway, enter
that IP number in the space provided.
 | Assigning the Default Route |
|---|
| | Unless you know what you're doing, you should leave Assign
the Default Route to this Gateway box
checked. Unchecking this option could cause problems for your
software when you're online.
|
On the DNS tab (see Figure 6-20), you should enter the name of your ISP's domain
name (such as earthlink.net).
You can select the Automatic configuration option
or you can select Manual and enter the DNS
addresses your ISP provided you with in the DNS IP
Address field. When you've finished typing in the numbers,
click on Add and the numbers will be entered
into the DNS Address List box. (By default, you
won't be able to click on the Add button until
you've entered the entire DNS number in the address field.)
Note that the field Disable existing DNS Servers during
Connection will override the DNS list. If you've entered
DNS numbers, you should leave this option unchecked.
The Login Script tab allows you to specify how
you want to login to your ISP (see Figure 6-21). If
you chose to use a script-based login in the
Authentication procedure of the
Dial tab, you can enter that script here.
Not all ISPs require a script-based login procedure; you should check
with your ISP to find out specific entries which might be necessary in
a login script.
A login script helps your machine negotiate a successful connection
with your ISP. Your machine expects a string of
information from your ISP, then sends a string of
information or prompts.
On the Login Script tab, use the pulldown list
at the left of the dialog to create a series of steps you want your
machine to follow when you log in to your ISP. You can select a
variety of options to create your script, step by step. In the field
to the right of the pulldown list, type in the specific information
you want to supply with the option from the pulldown list.
Click the Add button to add your step. If you
must modify your script, you can choose an option, supply the
information, and use the Insert button to place
it in the script, rather than having to recreate the script manually.
You can also remove a step in your script by highlighting the entry
and clicking the Remove button.
If you have difficulty connecting to your ISP after you configure
Kppp, check the option Show Log
Window on the main Kppp
dialog. The log window will open when you try to connect to your ISP,
showing you what your ISP is expecting and what your machine is
sending.
Table 6-1 shows a sample login script for an ISP
which sends a prompt for the login ID, then for the password, and
finally, after a brief pause, requires that a user send the string
ppp.
Table 6-1. A Sample Login Script
| Option | Enter | Purpose |
|---|
| Expect | ID: | Wait for the ID: login prompt from the server |
| Send | mylogin | Send your login name for the account |
| Expect | word: | Wait for the password prompt from the server |
| Send | mypassword | Send the account's password |
| Expect | welcome to yourisp | Wait for the welcome message from the server |
| Pause | 3 | Specifies a pause
of three seconds (a value for Pause will
be in seconds, by default) |
It may not be necessary for you to use a script-based login procedure;
however, this depends on your ISP's requirements. In some cases, using
PAP or CHAP may
be all that's necessary. Again, check with your ISP for specific login
requirements.
You can enter commands to run at different stages of your connection
on the Execute Tab. For example, type
netscape in the field next to Upon
connect and Netscape will open automatically when you
connect.
On the Accounting tab, you can specify whether
and how you want Kppp to monitor your
online activities (see Figure 6-23).
Accounting is useful if your ISP bills you by the number of bytes
transferred during your time online rather than by a flat monthly
rate. Referred to as volume accounting, this tool will count the
number of bytes to or from your machine on the Internet.
To enable accounting, check the Enable accounting
box at the top of the tab. Then select the appropriate region from the
list of rules beneath. From the pulldown list next to
Volume accounting, select incoming
bytes, outgoing bytes, or both.
Once you're finished filling in information on all of the tabs, click on
OK to create your account.
Next, in the kppp Configuration window, you'll
see your newly created account. If you want to modify the account,
highlight the account by clicking on it once, then selecting the
Edit button to the side of the
Account Setup window.
Now, it's time to provide the location and speed of your modem. Go
back to the Kppp Configuration Dialog and select the
Device tab (see Figure 6-24). Here, you specify where your modem is
located, its baud rate, some hardware settings, and other specifics.
In the Modem Device field, you'll find a
pulldown menu from which you can choose the location of your modem.
The following list is a comparison of serial port names in MS-DOS (and
Windows) and Linux. If you know that your modem is attached to
COM2 under Windows, for example, its location in
Linux will be /dev/ttyS1.
COM1 = /dev/ttyS0
COM2 = /dev/ttyS1
COM3 = /dev/ttyS2
COM4 = /dev/ttyS3
Once you've selected the location of your modem, you can select the
flow control.
Although you have a choice in the pulldown list for Flow
Control, the default, CRTSCTS,
which specifies hardware flow control, is
the recommended setting (XON/XOFF specifies
software flow control).
The following field, Line Termination, allows
you to specify a correct setting for your modem. Often, the
CR/LF entry is correct for most modems. If,
however, you have difficulty querying your
modem (see the section called Testing Your Modem), this may
be one area to which you should return to adjust settings.
In the Connection Speed field, you can select
the highest baud rate for your modem (for example, a 56k modem can
typically be set to 115200).
By default, Use Lock File is checked. This
means that Kppp will lock the
device while you're online, preventing others from
using the modem.
Your entry in the Modem Timeout field
establishes the time, in seconds, during which
Kppp waits for a
CONNECT response after dialing.
From the Modem tab, you can test your modem's
configuration (see Figure 6-25). By adjusting
the slider next to Modem volume, you can modify
the volume of your modem while you're dialing and connecting.
When you select the Modem Commands button,
you'll be presented with the Edit Modem Commands
dialog, which will allow you to modify how your modem dials, connects,
and more.
 | Check Your Modem's Documentation |
|---|
| | Check the documentation supplied with your modem for specifics on
your modem's initialization string, dial string, and other settings.
|
Click on the Query Modem button to have
Kppp search your system to identify the
modem. A window similar to Figure 6-26 will open
to show the progress of the query.
If the query was successful, you'll see the results in the dialog
which follows, showing details which Kppp
has picked up from your modem.
If you click the Terminal button,
Kppp will open a mini-terminal, with which
you can test your modem configuration.
The Graph tab is for the configuration of the
throughput graph. When using the modem, you can view a graph of the
upload and download history. This configuration section lets you
change the colors of that graph.
On the Misc tab, you can set options like
automatic reconnection or disconnection, display of
Kppp on connection, and more.
You can select from the following options:
pppd Timeout: Specifies the time allowed to
establish a connection before giving up.
Dock into Panel on Connect: Select this to
have Kppp displayed as an icon in the
panel once you establish a connection. (This option overrides the
Minimize Window on Connect selection.)
Automatic Redial on Disconnect: Select if you
want to have Kppp immediately redial
your service if you're disconnected.
Show Clock on Caption: Select this to see
a clock displaying your connection time.
Disconnect on X-server shutdown: If you
choose this option, your connection will be terminated when your X
server shuts down.
Quit on Disconnect: When you've disconnected
from your ISP, Kppp will also
quit. Otherwise, you'll return to the initial
Kppp window.
Minimize Window on Connect: This will
automatically minimize Kppp to the
taskbar on connection.
On the Graph tab, you can modify the colors of
the throughput graph, which is a visual chart showing you the bytes
exchanged between your machine and your ISP while you're online.
The About tab displays information about
Kppp, such as its authors, copyright, and
credits.
Once you've configured Kppp, you're ready
to try it out.
From the icon, go to
and click on
. Before the application starts, you'll
be required to enter your root password.
In the main dialog for Kppp which opens,
enter the login ID and password for your Internet account (as in Figure 6-28).
If you want to debug the configuration, or watch the progress of your
connection, check the box marked Show Log Window.
To begin your online session, click on the
Connect button. A window will open, showing the
status of your connection, such as the initialization of your modem
and the progress of the transaction. You can also open the log window
by clicking on the Log button in this progress
window.
Once you've established a connection with your ISP,
Kppp will dock into the panel or become
minimized on the Taskbar, depending on the options you selected when
you configured the application.
To view statistics about your connection, such as the throughput rate
and IP addresses, open the status window of
Kppp and click on the
Details button, which will open a window
showing you statistics about your connection.
To disconnect, if the application is docked into the panel, click once
on the icon to open the connection status window (see Figure 6-29). Then click on the
Disconnect button.
If you chose to minimize the application to the Taskbar, then maximize
the application and click on the Disconnect
button.
