1 This is the README file for ppp-2.3, a package which implements the
2 Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) to provide Internet connections over
9 The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) provides a standard way to establish
10 a network connection over a serial link. At present, this package
11 supports IP and the protocols layered above IP, such as TCP and UDP.
12 The Linux port of this package also has support for IPX.
14 This software consists of two parts:
16 - Kernel code, which establishes a network interface and passes
17 packets between the serial port, the kernel networking code and the
18 PPP daemon (pppd). This code is implemented using STREAMS modules on
19 SunOS 4.x, Solaris 2.x, System V Release 4, and OSF/1, and as a
20 line discipline under Ultrix, NextStep, NetBSD, FreeBSD, and Linux.
22 - The PPP daemon (pppd), which negotiates with the peer to establish
23 the link and sets up the ppp network interface. Pppd includes support
24 for authentication, so you can control which other systems may make a
25 PPP connection and what IP addresses they may use.
31 The file SETUP contains general information about setting up your
32 system for using PPP. There is also a README file for each supported
33 system, which contains more specific details for installing PPP on
34 that system. The supported systems, and the corresponding README
39 Digital Unix (OSF/1) README.osf
40 NetBSD, FreeBSD README.bsd
42 SunOS 4.x README.sunos4
43 System V Release 4 README.svr4
44 Ultrix 4.x README.ultrix
46 In fact, only the Linux and Solaris 2 ports have been tested in this
47 release. Code for the other systems is still included; if you use it,
48 let me know how it works. If I don't hear from anyone it will
49 probably get dropped in a subsequent release. AIX 4 is no longer
50 supported, since I don't have a maintainer for the AIX 4 port. If you
51 want to volunteer, contact me.
53 In each case you start by running the ./configure script. This works
54 out which operating system you are using and creates symbolic links to
55 the appropriate makefiles. You then run `make' to compile the
56 user-level code, and (as root) `make install' to install the
57 user-level programs pppd, chat and pppstats.
59 The procedures for installing the kernel code vary from system to
60 system. On some systems, the kernel code can be loaded into a running
61 kernel using a `modload' facility. On others, the kernel image has to
62 be recompiled and the system rebooted. See the README.* files for
65 N.B. Since 2.3.0, leaving the permitted IP addresses column of the
66 pap-secrets or chap-secrets file empty means that no addresses are
67 permitted. You need to put a "*" in that column to allow the peer to
68 use any IP address. (This only applies where the peer is
69 authenticating itself to you, of course.)
72 What's new in ppp-2.3.10.
73 *************************
75 * Pppd now supports `plugins', which are pieces of code (packaged as
76 shared libraries) which can be loaded into pppd at runtime and which
77 can affect its behaviour. The intention is that plugins provide a
78 way for people to customize the behaviour of pppd for their own
79 needs without needing to change the base pppd source. I have added
80 some hooks into pppd (places where pppd will call a function
81 pointer, if non-zero, to replace some of pppd's code) and I will be
82 receptive to suggestions about places to add more hooks. Plugins
83 are supported under Linux and Solaris at present.
85 * We have a new maintainer for the Solaris port, Adi Masputra of Sun
86 Microsystems, and he has updated the Solaris port so that it should
87 work on 64-bit machines under Solaris 7 and later.
89 * Pppd now has an `allow-ip' option, which takes an argument which is
90 an IP address (or subnet) which peers are permitted to use without
91 authenticating themselves. The argument takes the same form as each
92 element of the allowed IP address list in the secrets files. The
93 allow-ip option is privileged and may be specified multiple times.
94 Using the allow-ip option should be cleaner than putting a line like
95 `"" * "" address' in /etc/ppp/pap-secrets.
97 * Chat can now substitute environment variables into the script. This
98 is enabled by the -E flag. (Thanks to Andreas Arens for the patch.)
100 * If the PAP username and password from the peer contains unprintable
101 characters, they will be translated to a printable form before
102 looking in the pap-secrets file. Characters >= 0x80 are translated
103 to a M- form, and characters from 0 to 0x1f (and 0x7f as well) are
104 translated to a ^X form. If this change causes you grief, let me
105 know what would be a better translation. It appears that some peers
106 send nulls or other control characters in their usernames and
109 * Pppd has new `ktune' and `noktune' options, which enable/disable
110 it to change kernel settings as appropriate. This is only
111 implemented under Linux, and requires the /proc filesystem to be
112 mounted. Under Linux, with the ktune option, pppd will enable IP
113 forwarding in the kernel if the proxyarp option is used, and will
114 enable the dynamic IP address kernel option in demand mode if the
115 local IP address changes.
117 * Pppd no longer requires a remote address to be specified for demand
118 dialling. If none is specified, it will use a default value of
119 10.112.112.112+unit_number. (It will not propose this default to
122 * The default holdoff is now 0 if no connect script is given.
124 * The IPV6 code from Tommi Komulainen, which I unfortunately only
125 partially merged in to ppp-2.3.9, has been fixed and updated.
127 * The linux compilation glitches should be fixed now.
130 What was new in ppp-2.3.9.
131 **************************
133 * Support for the new generic PPP layer under development for the
136 * You can now place extra options to apply to specific users at the
137 end of the line with their password in the pap-secrets or
138 chap-secrets file, separated from the IP address(es) with a "--"
139 separator. These options are parsed after the peer is authenticated
140 but before network protocol (IPCP, IPXCP) or CCP negotiation
143 * Pppd will apply the holdoff period if the link was terminated by the
144 peer. It doesn't apply it if the link was terminated because the
145 local pppd thought it was idle.
147 * Synchronous support for Solaris has been added, thanks to John
148 Morrison, and for FreeBSD, thanks to Paul Fulghum.
150 * IPV6 support has been merged in, from Tommi Komulainen. At the
151 moment it only supports Linux and it is not tested by me.
153 * The `nodefaultip' option can be used in demand mode to say that pppd
154 should not suggest its local IP address to the peer.
156 * The `init' option has been added; this causes pppd to run a script
157 to initialize the serial device (e.g. by sending an init string to
158 the modem). Unlike the connect option, this can be used in a
159 dial-in situation. (Thanks to Tobias Ringstrom.)
161 * There is a new `logfile' option to send log messages to a file as
164 * There is a new, privileged `linkname' option which sets a logical
165 name for the link. Pppd will create a /var/run/ppp-<linkname>.pid
166 file containing its process ID.
168 * There is a new `maxfail' option which specifies how many consecutive
169 failed connection attempts are permitted before pppd will exit. The
170 default value is 10, and 0 means infinity. :-)
175 What was new in ppp-2.3.8.
176 **************************
178 * The exit status of pppd will now indicate whether the link was
179 successfully established, or if not, what error was encountered.
181 * Pppd has two new options: fdlog <n> will send log messages to file
182 descriptor <n> instead of standard output, and nofdlog will stop log
183 messages from being sent to any file descriptor (they will still be
184 sent to syslog). Pppd now will not send log messages to a file
185 descriptor if the serial port is open on that file descriptor.
187 * Pppd sets an environment variable called PPPLOGNAME for scripts that
188 it runs, indicating the login name of the user who invoked pppd.
190 * Pppd sets environment variables CONNECT_TIME, BYTES_SENT and
191 BYTES_RCVD for the ip-down and auth-down scripts indicating the
192 statistics for the connection just terminated. (CONNECT_TIME is in
195 * If the user has the serial device open on standard input and
196 specifies a symbolic link to the serial device on the command line,
197 pppd will detect this and behave correctly (i.e. not detach from its
198 controlling terminal). Furthermore, if the serial port is open for
199 reading and writing on standard input, pppd will assume that it is
200 locked by its invoker and not lock it itself.
202 * Chat now has a feature where if a string to be sent begins with an
203 at sign (@), the rest of the string is taken as the name of a file
204 (regular file or named pipe), and the actual string to send is taken
207 * Support for FreeBSD-2.2.8 and 3.0 has been added, thanks to Paul
210 * The Tru64 (aka Digital Unix aka OSF/1) port has been updated.
212 * The system panics on Solaris SMP systems related to PPP connections
213 being established and terminated should no longer occur.
215 * Fixed quite a few bugs.
218 What was new in ppp-2.3.7.
219 **************************
221 * Pppd can now automatically allocate itself a pseudo-tty to use as
222 the serial device. This has made three new options possible:
224 - `pty script' will run `script' with its standard input and output
225 connected to the master side of the pty. For example:
226 pppd pty 'ssh -t server.my.net pppd'
227 is a basic command for setting up a PPP link (tunnel) over ssh.
228 (In practice you may need to specify other options such as IP
231 - `notty' tells pppd to communicate over its standard input and
232 output, which do not have to be a terminal device.
234 - `record filename' tells pppd to record all of the characters sent
235 and received over the serial device to a file called `filename'.
236 The data is recorded in a tagged format with timestamps, which can
237 be printed in a readable form with the pppdump program, which is
238 included in this distribution.
240 * Pppd now logs the connect time and number of bytes sent and received
241 (at the level of the serial device) when the connection is
244 * If you use the updetach or nodetach option, pppd will print its
245 messages to standard output as well as logging them with syslog
246 (provided of course pppd isn't using its standard input or output as
249 * There is a new `privgroup groupname' option (a privileged option).
250 If the user running pppd is in group `groupname', s/he can use
251 privileged options without restriction.
253 * There is a new `receive-all' option, which causes pppd to accept all
254 control characters, even the ones that the peer should be escaping
255 (i.e. the receive asyncmap is 0). This is useful with some buggy
258 * The default asyncmap is now 0.
260 * There is a new `sync' option, currently only implemented under
261 Linux, which allows pppd to run on synchronous HDLC devices.
263 * If a value for the device name or for the connect, disconnect,
264 welcome or pty option is given in a privileged option file
265 (i.e. /etc/ppp/options or a file loaded with the `call' option), it
266 cannot be overridden by a non-privileged user.
268 * Many bugs have been fixed, notably:
269 - signals are not blocked unnecessarily, as they were in 2.3.6.
270 - the usepeerdns option should work now.
271 - the SPEED environment variable for scripts is set correctly.
272 - the /etc/ppp/auth-down script is not run until auth-up completes.
273 - the device is opened as root if it is the device on standard
275 - pppd doesn't die with the ioctl(PPPIOCSASYNCMAP) error under linux
276 if a hangup occurs at the wrong time.
278 * Some error messages have been changed to be clearer (I hope :-)
281 What was new in ppp-2.3.6.
282 **************************
284 * Pppd now opens the tty device as the user (rather than as root) if
285 the device name was given by the user, i.e. on the command line or
286 in the ~/.ppprc file. If the device name was given in
287 /etc/ppp/options or in a file loaded with the `call' option, the
288 device is opened as root.
290 * The default behaviour of pppd is now to let a peer which has not
291 authenticated itself (e.g. your ISP) use any IP address to which the
292 system does not already have a route. (This is currently only
293 supported under Linux, Solaris and Digital Unix; on the other
294 systems, the peer must now authenticate itself unless the noauth
297 * Added new option `usepeerdns', thanks to Nick Walker
298 <nickwalker@email.com>. If the peer supplies DNS addresses, these
299 will be written to /etc/ppp/resolv.conf. The ip-up script can then
300 be used to add these addresses to /etc/resolv.conf if desired (see
301 the ip-up.local.add and ip-down.local.add files in the scripts
304 * The Solaris ppp driver should now work correctly on SMP systems.
306 * Minor corrections so that the code can compile under Solaris 7,
307 and under Linux with glibc-2.1.
309 * The Linux kernel driver has been restructured for improved
312 * Pppd now won't start the ip-down script until the ip-up script has
316 What was new in ppp-2.3.5.
317 **************************
319 * Minor corrections to the Digital UNIX and NetBSD ports.
321 * A workaround to avoid tickling a bug in the `se' serial port driver
322 on Sun PCI Ultra machines running Solaris.
324 * Fixed a bug in the negotiation of the Microsoft WINS server address
327 * Fixed a bug in the Linux port where it would fail for kernel
328 versions above 2.1.99.
331 What was new in ppp-2.3.4.
332 **************************
334 * The NeXT port has been updated, thanks to Steve Perkins.
336 * ppp-2.3.4 compiles and works under Solaris 2.6, using either gcc or
339 * With the Solaris, SVR4 and SunOS ports, you can control the choice
340 of C compiler, C compiler options, and installation directories by
341 editing the svr4/Makedefs or sunos4/Makedefs file.
343 * Until now, we have been using the number 24 to identify Deflate
344 compression in the CCP negotiations, which was the number in the draft
345 RFC describing Deflate. The number actually assigned to Deflate is
346 26. The code has been changed to use 26, but to allow the use of 24
347 for now for backwards compatibility. (This can be disabled with the
348 `nodeflatedraft' option to pppd.)
350 * Fixed some bugs in the linux driver and deflate compressor which
351 were causing compression problems, including corrupting long
352 incompressible packets sometimes.
354 * Fixes to the PAM and shadow password support in pppd, from Al
357 * Pppd now sets some environment variables for scripts it invokes
358 (ip-up/down, auth-ip/down), giving information about the connection.
359 The variables it sets are PEERNAME, IPLOCAL, IPREMOTE, UID, DEVICE,
362 * Pppd now has an `updetach' option, which will cause it to detach
363 from its controlling terminal once the link has come up (i.e. once it
364 is available for IP traffic).
367 What was new in ppp-2.3.3.
368 **************************
370 * Fixed compilation problems under SunOS.
372 * Fixed a bug introduced into chat in 2.3.2, and compilation problems
373 introduced into the MS-CHAP implementation in 2.3.2.
375 * The linux kernel driver has been updated for recent 2.1-series
376 kernel changes, and it now will ask kerneld to load compression
377 modules when required, if the kernel is configured to support kerneld.
379 * Pppd should now compile correctly under linux on systems with glibc.
382 What was new in ppp-2.3.2.
383 **************************
385 * In 2.3.1, I made a change which was intended to make pppd able to
386 detect loss of CD during or immediately after the connection script
387 runs. Unfortunately, this had the side-effect that the connection
388 script wouldn't work at all on some systems. This change has been
391 * Fix compilation problems in the Linux kernel driver.
394 What was new in ppp-2.3.1.
395 **************************
397 * Enhancements to chat, thanks to Francis Demierre. Chat can now
398 accept comments in the chat script file, and has new SAY, HANGUP,
399 CLR_ABORT and CLR_REPORT keywords.
401 * Fixed a bug which causes 2.3.0 to crash Solaris systems.
403 * Bug-fixes and restructuring of the Linux kernel driver.
405 * The holdoff behaviour of pppd has been changed slightly: now, if
406 the link comes up for IP (or other network protocol) traffic, we
407 consider that the link has been successfully established, and don't
408 enforce the holdoff period after the link goes down.
410 * Pppd should now correctly wait for CD (carrier detect) from the
411 modem, even when the serial port initially had CLOCAL set, and it
412 should also detect loss of CD during or immediately after the
413 connection script runs.
415 * Under linux, pppd will work with older 2.2.0* version kernel
416 drivers, although demand-dialling is not supported with them.
418 * Minor bugfixes for pppd.
421 What was new in ppp-2.3.
422 ************************
424 * Demand-dialling. Pppd now has a mode where it will establish the
425 network interface immediately when it starts, but not actually bring
426 the link up until it sees some data to be sent. Look for the demand
427 option description in the pppd man page. Demand-dialling is not
428 supported under Ultrix or NeXTStep.
430 * Idle timeout. Pppd will optionally terminate the link if no data
431 packets are sent or received within a certain time interval.
433 * Pppd now runs the /etc/ppp/auth-up script, if it exists, when the
434 peer successfully authenticates itself, and /etc/ppp/auth-down when
435 the connection is subsequently terminated. This can be useful for
438 * A new packet compression scheme, Deflate, has been implemented.
439 This uses the same compression method as `gzip'. This method is free
440 of patent or copyright restrictions, and it achieves better
441 compression than BSD-Compress. It does consume more CPU cycles for
442 compression than BSD-Compress, but this shouldn't be a problem for
443 links running at 100kbit/s or less.
445 * There is no code in this distribution which is covered by Brad
446 Clements' restrictive copyright notice. The STREAMS modules for SunOS
447 and OSF/1 have been rewritten, based on the Solaris 2 modules, which
448 were written from scratch without any Clements code.
450 * Pppstats has been reworked to clean up the output format somewhat.
451 It also has a new -d option which displays data rate in kbyte/s for
452 those columns which would normally display bytes.
454 * Pppd options beginning with - or + have been renamed, e.g. -ip
455 became noip, +chap became require-chap, etc. The old options are
456 still accepted for compatibility but may be removed in future.
458 * Pppd now has some options (such as the new `noauth' option) which
459 can only be specified if it is being run by root, or in an
460 "privileged" options file: /etc/ppp/options or an options file in the
461 /etc/ppp/peers directory. There is a new "call" option to read
462 options from a file in /etc/ppp/peers, making it possible for non-root
463 users to make unauthenticated connections, but only to certain trusted
464 peers. My intention is to make the `auth' option the default in a
467 * Several minor new features have been added to pppd, including the
468 maxconnect and welcome options. Pppd will now terminate the
469 connection when there are no network control protocols running. The
470 allowed IP address(es) field in the secrets files can now specify
471 subnets (with a notation like 123.45.67.89/24) and addresses which are
472 not acceptable (put a ! on the front).
474 * Numerous bugs have been fixed (no doubt some have been introduced :-)
475 Thanks to those who reported bugs in ppp-2.2.
481 This package supports two packet compression methods: Deflate and
482 BSD-Compress. Other compression methods which are in common use
483 include Predictor, LZS, and MPPC. These methods are not supported for
484 two reasons - they are patent-encumbered, and they cause some packets
485 to expand slightly, which pppd doesn't currently allow for.
486 BSD-Compress is also patent-encumbered (its inclusion in this package
487 can be considered a historical anomaly :-) but it doesn't ever expand
488 packets. Neither does Deflate, which uses the same algorithm as gzip.
494 The BSD-Compress algorithm used for packet compression is the same as
495 that used in the Unix "compress" command. It is apparently covered by
496 U.S. patents 4,814,746 (owned by IBM) and 4,558,302 (owned by Unisys),
497 and corresponding patents in various other countries (but not
498 Australia). If this is of concern, you can build the package without
499 including BSD-Compress. To do this, edit net/ppp-comp.h to change the
500 definition of DO_BSD_COMPRESS to 0. The bsd-comp.c files are then no
501 longer needed, so the references to bsd-comp.o may optionally be
502 removed from the Makefiles.
508 The comp.protocols.ppp newsgroup is a useful place to get help if you
509 have trouble getting your ppp connections to work. Please do not send
510 me questions of the form "please help me get connected to my ISP" -
511 I'm sorry, but I simply do not have the time to answer all the
512 questions like this that I get.
514 If you find bugs in this package, please report them to the maintainer
515 for the port for the operating system you are using:
517 Linux Paul Mackerras <Paul.Mackerras@cs.anu.edu.au>
518 Solaris 2 Adi Masputra <adi.masputra@sun.com>
519 SunOS 4.x Adi Masputra <adi.masputra@sun.com>
520 Digital Unix (OSF/1) Sowmini Varadhan <varadhan@zk3.dec.com>
521 NetBSD Matthew Green <mrg@eterna.com.au>
522 FreeBSD Peter Wemm <peter@haywire.DIALix.COM>
523 NeXTStep Steve Perkins <perkins@cps.msu.edu>
524 System V Release 4 Matthias Apitz <Matthias.Apitz@SOFTCON.de>
525 Ultrix 4.x Paul Mackerras (for want of anybody better :-)
531 All of the code can be freely used and redistributed. The individual
532 source files each have their own copyright and permission notice; some
533 have a BSD-style notice and some are under the GPL.
539 The primary site for releases of this software is:
541 ftp://cs.anu.edu.au/pub/software/ppp/
544 ($Id: README,v 1.21 1999/09/17 05:20:36 paulus Exp $)