  ISP-Connectivity-mini-HOWTO
  Michael Strates, mstrates@croftj.net
  v2.0.1, 2001-11-28

  This document describes how to setup PPP, connect up to your ISP, con­
  figure mail and news, get a permanent IP (if available), get a domain
  name, and have a bonda fide system running in a little over thirty
  minutes.

  Archived Document Notice: This document has been archived by the LDP
  because it does not apply to modern Linux systems. It is no longer
  being actively maintained.
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Table of Contents


  1. Introduction

     1.1 New versions of this document
     1.2 Feedback
     1.3 Standard Disclaimer
     1.4 Copyright Information

  2. Connecting to the Outside World

     2.1 Talking and Communicating with pppd and chat
     2.2 IP's, Domain Names and Subnets

  3. Electronic Mail on your Linux Box



  ______________________________________________________________________



  1.  Introduction

  The main goal of this document obviously is to make the new user
  friendly with the many terms of connecting your Linux PC up to the
  Internet, obtaining IP addresses, domain names, and setting things up.
  This guide is intended for the intermediate user in mind, although
  intelligent newbies shouldn't have any problems.



  1.1.  New versions of this document

  New versions of this document will be periodically posted to
  comp.os.linux.answers.  They will also be added to the various
  anonymous FTP sites who archive such information, including:

  ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO

  In addition, you should generally be able to find this document on the
  Linux Documentation Project page via:

  http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/


  1.2.  Feedback

  I certaintly welcome any feedback about this HOWTO, spelling mistakes,
  how it all worked out, thankyou notes and critisisms. I hope I helped
  a few people with this HOWTO, and if I did, I'd be really happy to
  hear from you.

  mstrates@croftj.net

  http://linloft.home.ml.org/


  1.3.  Standard Disclaimer

  No liability for the contents of this documents can be accepted.  Use
  the concepts, examples and other content at your own risk.  As this is
  a new edition of this document, there may be errors and inaccuracies,
  that may of course be damaging to your system.  Proceed with caution,
  and although this is highly unlikely, I don't take any responsibility
  for that.

  Naturally, there are probably better and easier ways to do things in
  this document. There will always be another way in the Linux World.
  This is the way I've done things, and that's the way I'll be
  presenting them in this HOWTO.



  1.4.  Copyright Information

  This document is copyrighted (c)1997 Michael Strates and distributed
  under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, which can be
  obtained from http://www.fsf.org/licenses/fdl.html.


  2.  Connecting to the Outside World

  In this document, we'll explain how to do this using PPP (Point to
  Point Protocol), a popular protocol nearly always used over the
  Internet. It allows your modem to speak to the outside world. This is
  what applications like Trumpet Winsock in Windows 3.x did, and many
  other programs that you've probably have never seen.

  In Linux, we use a thing called chat to do the dialing up to the ISP
  and then use a utility called pppd to 'use' the connection. In a
  sense, chat is your dialer, and pppd is your protocol. We'll describe
  how to setup both below.

  2.1.  Talking and Communicating with pppd and chat

  Probably the easiest way to go about things is to make a shell script
  in root's home directory called ppp-connect and involke the script
  whenever you wish to make your connection. We'll discuss this method.

  Open up your favourite editor as root on  /ppp-connect. You'll then
  have to decide on your parameters.

  pppd connect 'chat -v "" "your_init_string" "" ATDTisp_number CONNECT
  "" ogin: your_username word: your_passwd' /dev/tty(0/1/2) speed modem

  pppd involkes /usr/sbin/pppd on my system, then loads up chat to do
  the dialing. Chat sends your_init_string to the modem, then dials
  isp_number. It then waits for CONNECT, then waits for ogin: (l removed
  as the first character is sometimes lost), sends your_passwd, chat
  then terminates and hands the show over to pppd.

  The last of the command specifies your modem port (mine's /dev/ttyS1).
  In most cases it will be ttyS1 (COM2: in DOS), ttyS0 (COM1: in DOS),
  or if your using Slackware, cua1 or cua0. The speed is the speed of
  the modem. I use 115200 for my modem (a 33.6k). If you have got a
  fairly recent computer (one with a 16550 UART), then I wouldn't go any
  lower than 57600.  Otherwise, for 14.4k 38400. Modem just tells pppd
  that it's a serial/modem based connection. Remove the -v option if you
  don't want verbose logging to your logfiles.

  The scenario below is one of a person who dials up an ISP that
  automatically starts PPP for them, ie; they don't have a shell that
  actually starts. This is his command in his  /ppp-connect:

  pppd connect 'chat "" "ATZ" "" ATDT555-1800 CONNECT "" ogin: johnny
  word: blackjak' /dev/ttyS1 115200 modem

  But for some people, they're ISP starts up a shell and doesn't
  automatically start PPP this may be a problem. Luckily, chat can deal
  with that too. You just add another command to your chat script. For
  example, below this johnny character is using an ISP that just dumps
  him to a shell, requiring him to type ppp to get a ppp connection. His
  shell prompt ends with a $.  pppd connect 'chat "" "ATZ" ""
  ATDT555-1800 CONNECT "" ogin: johnny word: blackjak $ ppp' /dev/ttyS1
  115200 modem

  If it's more than one word, ensure you quote it. I hope you can see
  the drift of this, and are able to create your own script up to suit
  your connection. Simply modify either the first johnny or the second
  johnny script to suit your taste, port, server, etc and save the file.

  Now you've made your file, ensure that only root can execute, read or
  write to it. This is extreemly important. Also make sure nobody can
  read your logfiles, if you decide to leave the -v option in, as your
  password is seen in cleartext in the logs (I don't see much need for
  -v, if you don't know what I'm talking about, leave -v out).

  2.2.  IP's, Domain Names and Subnets

  For most people using the options above, a changing IP address won't
  bother them. These people include basic, easy going users, that just
  have dialup accounts, and aren't very technically minded. For those
  people, skim read this section, I'll come to important things you need
  to do to setup your system properly. Newbies, skip the sections
  dealing with permanent IP, Domain Names, Subnets, and just read the
  last bit of this section.

  Getting a permanent IP address might be free for your ISP, so if in
  doubt ask them. Personally, I'd pay for a permanent IP address. It
  lets you send e-mail to and from using a unique IP or domain, etc. If
  you want to get yourself a permanent IP, write an e-mail to
  root@yourisp.com, and ask him nicely if he can arrange a permanent IP
  for you.

  When you get your permanent IP address, grep through your /etc
  directory to find where your old IP addresses are. I had to change
  files in my sendmail directory and /etc/hosts. There are some other
  key files that you will only discover with grepping. Open up
  /etc/hosts, and add your new IP address in the standard format. Reboot
  your computer, and you should be ready to go.

  You'll now need to change your chat script to reflect your new
  settings.  If you are forced into PPP as soon as you start your
  connection, you'll need to tell your System Administrator of your ISP
  to ensure their PPP system recognises that you have a permanent IP
  address and allocates you that instead of a changing one. If you get
  dumped at a shell prompt, and you need to type ppp or something to
  start the connection, instead of typing that, change your  /ppp-
  connect script to send this instead of just ppp or whatever when it
  sees $ or whatever your shell prompt is.


  /usr/sbin/pppd :Your_IP_Address

  Substitute your IP address for the IP address your ISP gave to you. Be
  sure you encapsulate the thing in " " marks when you put it into your
  chat script. If this doesn't work, consult your ISP where your PPP
  daemon is located, and ask him for the command to give. You could just
  try leaving it as is and seeing if the server will recognise you and
  give you your rightful address.

  The next thing probably to do is to get yourself a domain name. I know
  that in Australia, .asn.au and .org.au are free. In the United States,
  you can get a .us domain for free, but they tend to be long. If your
  in Australia, you must go to http://www.aunic.net/ to register your
  domains. In the United States, it is http://www.internic.net/ .

  To register domains you need to be able to provide DNS services, and
  gorey stuff like that. If your ISP can't provide these, throw out an
  official .asn.au or whatever domain out the window, and get a Monolith
  Internet Domain.

  Monolith offer free domains to anybody and anyone all around the
  world.  Everything is done without human interaction, via a web forms
  interface with your browser. Your domain comes in the form of
  Your_Choice.ml.org.  Monolith will then host the DNS locally for you.
  If you want to send and receive mail from that domain, ask your ISP to
  become a mail exchanger for you.

  Go to http://www.ml.org/ and fill out an application, enter the NIC
  with your username and password, and make a FREED domain. You'll need
  to enter your IP address, so have that ready. Your domain will be in
  the DNS in a couple of days.

  Okay now, we'll move onto the newbies section, or for those people who
  can't get a permanent IP address or a domain name. All you have to do
  is edit /etc/hosts as root, call your site something that won't clash,
  give it a 10.10.10 or something for an IP address and reboot your
  computer.

  There you go, you've just setup your computer with pppd and chat in
  just ten minutes. Now let's move onto the next section, which deals
  with Electronic Mail.

  3.  Electronic Mail on your Linux Box

  One of the most important aspects of the Internet, is it's fasinating
  capaiblity to transfer mail to and from countries, or more locally
  perhaps. Linux is extreemly strong in easy mail packages for the
  console.  The one we're going to document today is called Pine
  (Program for Internet Mail and News), made by the University of
  Washington, and to download the mail, a program called Fetchmail, made
  by Eric S. Raymond. Both should be included in your Linux
  distribution.

  Fetchmail is a program that downloads your e-mail from your server
  using POP, transfers the mail onto your computer and then deletes it
  off the server, much like programs like Eudora or Microsoft Internet
  Mail/Exchange do. To configure and automate fetchmail, you use a file
  in your home directory called .fetchmailrc. Simply open up
   /.fetchmailrc (Remember: your doing this bit as yourself, not as
  root) with your favourite editor and observe the command lin eoptions
  below:

  poll mail.yourisp.com proto pop3 user login_name password your_passwd

  user login_name with pass your_passwd is login_name here

  All you have to do is replace mail.yourisp.com with the name of the
  mail server of your ISP, your_passwd with your password, and
  login_name with your login name.

  An important thing to note. For Pine and this procedure to work
  correctly, your login name must corrospond with the login name you use
  on your ISP.  That is your local login name must match the one you use
  on your server, and your e-mail address.

  Next, ensure that .fetchmailrc has the correct permissions (user
  read/write only) and your laughing. Fetchmail can be started in two
  ways, in standard mode (where it'll fetch messages from the server and
  terminate), or in daemon mode (where it will stay active, and
  check/download mail every X seconds). To use daemon mode, type
  fetchmail -a -d(Seconds between Polls). -a ensures it downloads all
  mail. To use the standard mode, just type fetchmail -a.

  Next, you need to setup Pine. Open up Pine, by typing pine at your
  prompt, choose Setup - Configuration. Setup your userdomain as the
  domain in your e-mail address, for example jack@linux.org, would be
  linux.org. Next, setup smtp-server as your POP mail server (the same
  you used in the fetchmail setup). So we enter www.linux.org. If you
  want news, setup your nntp server to your ISP's news server.

  So there you have it folks, everything should be working now. To
  connect up to your ISP, just run  /ppp-connect as root. Then, to get
  your e-mail run fetchmail -a as yourself. To browse your e-mail and
  news, use Pine. Install a text-based browser such as Lynx to browse
  the web if you like.

  Send any comments questions and suggestions to mstrates@croftj.net



