-This is the README file for ppp-2.3, a package which implements the
+This is the README file for ppp-2.4, a package which implements the
Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) to provide Internet connections over
serial lines.
-In this first beta release, the ports for SunOS, Solaris, NetBSD and
-OSF/1 are believed to be working correctly. The Linux port mostly
-works, but still has some known bugs. The remaining ports haven't
-been tested extensively. For information on the current status of the
-NeXTStep port, see http://www.thoughtport.com:8080/PPP/.
-
Introduction.
*************
The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) provides a standard way to establish
a network connection over a serial link. At present, this package
supports IP and the protocols layered above IP, such as TCP and UDP.
-The Linux port of this package also supports IPX.
+The Linux port of this package also has support for IPX.
This software consists of two parts:
- Kernel code, which establishes a network interface and passes
packets between the serial port, the kernel networking code and the
PPP daemon (pppd). This code is implemented using STREAMS modules on
-SunOS 4.x, Solaris 2.x, System V Release 4, and OSF/1, and as a
-line discipline under Ultrix, NextStep, NetBSD, FreeBSD, and Linux.
+SunOS 4.x and Solaris, and as a line discipline under Linux and FreeBSD.
- The PPP daemon (pppd), which negotiates with the peer to establish
the link and sets up the ppp network interface. Pppd includes support
for authentication, so you can control which other systems may make a
PPP connection and what IP addresses they may use.
+The primary platforms supported by this package are Linux and Solaris.
+Code for SunOS 4.x is included here but is largely untested. I have
+code for NeXTStep, FreeBSD, SVR4, Tru64 (Digital Unix), AIX and Ultrix
+but no active maintainers for these platforms. Code for all of these
+except AIX is included in the ppp-2.3.11 release.
+
Installation.
*************
that system. The supported systems, and the corresponding README
files, are:
- SunOS 4.x README.sunos4
- NetBSD, FreeBSD README.bsd
- Ultrix 4.x README.ultrix
Linux README.linux
- OSF/1 README.osf
- NeXTStep README.next
Solaris 2 README.sol2
- System V Release 4 README.svr4
+ SunOS 4.x README.sunos4
In each case you start by running the ./configure script. This works
out which operating system you are using and creates symbolic links to
user-level code, and (as root) `make install' to install the
user-level programs pppd, chat and pppstats.
-The procedures for installing the kernel code vary from system to
-system. On some systems, the kernel code can be loaded into a running
-kernel using a `modload' facility. On others, the kernel image has to
-be recompiled and the system rebooted. See the README.* files for
-details.
+N.B. Since 2.3.0, leaving the permitted IP addresses column of the
+pap-secrets or chap-secrets file empty means that no addresses are
+permitted. You need to put a "*" in that column to allow the peer to
+use any IP address. (This only applies where the peer is
+authenticating itself to you, of course.)
-(Unfortunately, AIX 4 is no longer supported, since I don't have a
-maintainer for the AIX 4 port. If you want to volunteer, contact me.)
+What's new in ppp-2.4.0.
+************************
-What's new in ppp-2.3.
-**********************
+* Multilink: this package now allows you to combine multiple serial
+ links into one logical link or `bundle', for increased bandwidth and
+ reduced latency. This is currently only supported under the
+ Linux-2.3.99pre5 or later kernels.
-* Demand-dialling. Pppd now has a mode where it will establish the
-network interface immediately when it starts, but not actually bring
-the link up until it sees some data to be sent.
+* All the pppd processes running on a system now write information
+ into a common database. I used the `tdb' code from samba for this.
-* Idle timeout. Pppd will optionally terminate the link if no data
-packets are sent or received within a certain time interval.
+* New hooks have been added.
-* Pppd now runs the /etc/ppp/auth-up script, if it exists, when the
-peer successfully authenticates itself, and /etc/ppp/auth-down when
-the connection is subsequently terminated.
+For a list of the changes made during the 2.3 series releases of this
+package, see the Changes-2.3 file.
-* A new packet compression scheme, Deflate, has been implemented.
-This uses the same compression method as `gzip'. This method is free
-of patent or copyright restrictions, and it achieves better
-compression than BSD-Compress. It does consume more CPU cycles for
-compression than BSD-Compress, but this won't be a problem for links
-running at 100kbit/s or less.
-* There is now no code in this distribution which is covered by Brad
-Clements' restrictive copyright notice. The STREAMS modules for SunOS
-and OSF/1 have been rewritten, based on the Solaris 2 modules, which
-were written from scratch without any Clements code.
+Compression methods.
+********************
-* Pppstats has been reworked to clean up the output format somewhat.
-It also has a new -d option which displays data rate in kbyte/s for
-those columns which would normally display bytes.
+This package supports two packet compression methods: Deflate and
+BSD-Compress. Other compression methods which are in common use
+include Predictor, LZS, and MPPC. These methods are not supported for
+two reasons - they are patent-encumbered, and they cause some packets
+to expand slightly, which pppd doesn't currently allow for.
+BSD-Compress is also patent-encumbered (its inclusion in this package
+can be considered a historical anomaly :-) but it doesn't ever expand
+packets. Neither does Deflate, which uses the same algorithm as gzip.
Patents.
Contacts.
*********
-Bugs in the the SunOS, Solaris 2, NetBSD and Ultrix ports, and bugs in
-pppd, chat or pppstats should be reported me at:
-
- email: Paul.Mackerras@cs.anu.edu.au
-
- mail: Dr Paul Mackerras
- Dept. of Computer Science
- Australian National University
- Canberra ACT 0200
- AUSTRALIA
-
- fax: +61-6-249-0010
-
-Bugs in other ports should be reported to the maintainer for that port
-(see the appropriate README.* file) or to me.
+The comp.protocols.ppp newsgroup is a useful place to get help if you
+have trouble getting your ppp connections to work. Please do not send
+me questions of the form "please help me get connected to my ISP" -
+I'm sorry, but I simply do not have the time to answer all the
+questions like this that I get.
-Thanks to:
+If you find bugs in this package, please report them to the maintainer
+for the port for the operating system you are using:
- Brad Parker (brad@fcr.com)
- Greg Christy (gmc@quotron.com)
- Drew D. Perkins (ddp@andrew.cmu.edu)
- Rick Adams (rick@seismo.ARPA)
- Chris Torek (chris@mimsy.umd.edu, umcp-cs!chris).
+Linux Paul Mackerras <paulus@linuxcare.com>
+Solaris 2 Adi Masputra <adi.masputra@sun.com>
+SunOS 4.x Adi Masputra <adi.masputra@sun.com>
Copyrights:
***********
-All of the code can be freely used and redistributed.
+All of the code can be freely used and redistributed. The individual
+source files each have their own copyright and permission notice; some
+have a BSD-style notice and some are under the GPL.
Distribution:
The primary site for releases of this software is:
- ftp://cs.anu.edu.au/pub/software/ppp/
+ ftp://linuxcare.com.au/pub/ppp/
-($Id: README,v 1.5 1996/07/01 05:27:42 paulus Exp $)
+($Id: README,v 1.23 2000/04/13 11:59:40 paulus Exp $)
projects / ppp.git / blobdiff