ISP-Hookup-HOWTO

ISP-Hookup-HOWTO
Egil Kvaleberg, [email protected]
v1.26, 5 March 1998

This document describes how to use Linux to connect to an Internet
Service Provider via a dial-up modem TCP/IP connection. As well as
the basic dial-up procedure and IP establishment, email and news han-
dling is covered.
______________________________________________________________________

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

1.1 Copyright
1.2 Disclaimer
1.3 Translations
1.4 New versions of this document
1.5 Feedback

2. How do I connect to the rest of the world?

2.1 The basic configuration

3. How do I

4. How do I send and receive

5. News

5.1 How do I set up an online news-reader?
5.2 How do I set up an offline news-reader?
5.3 How do I set up C News?
5.4 How do I set up Leafnode?

6. How do I automate the connection procedure?

7. Final words

7.1 Other things I should know about?

8. ISP specific information

8.1 How do I learn more?
8.2 Thanks to

______________________________________________________________________

1. Introduction

This description has been made to answer a few questions about how
dial-up ISP (Internet Service Provider) subscribers may configure and
use Linux.

To aid those who will connect their Linux based machines to an ISP for
the first time, an attempt has been made to cover most issues
encountered. This quite unavoidably will create a certain degree of
overlap with other Linux Howto-documents and LDP books. Reference
should be made to these documents to provide better understanding and
detail.

Much of the existing documentation is targeted towards users with a
certain degree of experience, and first time users will often have
trouble sorting out the relevant information.

To simplify, the examples given will assume the following:

o User name: dirk

o Password: PrettySecret

o Internet service provider: acme.xz

o Email server: mail.acme.xz

o News server: news.acme.xz

o Name server: 193.212.1.0

o Phone number: 12345678

Our dirk will be calling his machine roderick.

All references in the table above should naturally be replaced by
whatever is valid for the ISP one is using. Often, just a minimum of
changes will otherwise be required for users with different ISPs. I
would like to be informed about what problems you encounter on this
account.

1.1. Copyright

Copyright (c) 1996,1997,1998 by Egil Kvaleberg. This document may be
distributed under the terms set forth in the LDP license at

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

1.2. Disclaimer

No liability for the contents of this documents can be accepted. Use
the concepts, examples and other content at your own risk.

One of many possible setups will be described. In the Linux world,
there is usually a number of ways in which to accomplish things.
Paragraphs containing hints to alternatives are marked by ALT: Please
also note that FTP-references often will change slightly as new
versions of programs arrive.

As far as I know, only programs that under certain terms may be used
or evaluated for personal purposes will be described. Most of the
programs will be available complete with source under GNU-like terms.

1.3. Translations

This document has been translated to the following languages:

German, by Cristoph Seibert:

http://tech.appl-opt.physik.uni-essen.de/LinuX/german-howto/DE-ISP-
Verbindung-HOWTO.html

Korean, by Kidong Lee:

http://www.postech.ac.kr/~cessi/howto/ISP-Hookup/ISP-Hookup-HOWTO.html

French, by Eric Jacoboni:

http://www.minet.net/linux/HOWTO-fr/ISP-Hookup-HOWTO.html

Polish, by Piotr Pogorzelski: URL TBA

Norwegian:

http://www.kvaleberg.com/no-linux.html

1.4. 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/

The very latest version of this document should also be available in
various formats from:

ftp://ftp.sol.no/user/egilk/ISP-Hookup-HOWTO.txt

ftp://ftp.sol.no/user/egilk/ISP-Hookup-HOWTO.ps.gz

ftp://ftp.sol.no/user/egilk/ISP-Hookup-HOWTO.tar.gz

http://www.kvaleberg.com/ISP-Hookup-HOWTO.html

1.5. Feedback

All comments, error reports, additional information and criticism of
all sorts should be directed to:

[email protected]

http://www.kvaleberg.com/

2. How do I connect to the rest of the world?

It will be assumed that we have installed the essential networking
software modules from your Linux distribution, and that you have set
up which serial port that is to be used for the

The default configuration will usually only allow direct access to
/dev/modem as user root.

To connect to ISP shell accounts directly, and to experiment with
connection sequences, you may use the minicom program. It is pretty
straight forward to use.

2.1. The basic configuration

Configuration of the machine for use on the net should be done as user
root. Before proceeding any further, ensure that the file
/etc/hosts.deny contains the following line:

ALL: ALL

You would normally want to allow yourself, so add the following line
to /etc/hosts.allow:

ALL: LOCAL

Or if you insist:

ALL: 127.0.0.1

For the following, note that it is meant for those connected via PPP
and with a dynamic IP address. If you have the benefit of a fixed con-
nection, there will be some differences.

It is nice to have a name connected to the machine, a name that the
dynamic IP user really can select as he or she pleases. Put the name
in /etc/HOSTNAME:

roderick

The next step is to set up the name server in

search .
nameserver 193.212.1.0
<nidx>nameserver

The name server must be specified by a numeric IP address, and will be
different from ISP to ISP. If required, you can have up to three dif-
ferent servers, each on a separate line. They will be requested in
the sequence in which they are listed.

If you want to be able to use names like somemachine as an
abbreviation for somemachine.acme.xz, you must replace the first line
with:

search acme.xz

A certain minimum of configuration will also be required in be able to
manage with:

127.0.0.1 localhost
0.0.0.0 roderick

obviously replace 0.0.0.0 with that.

Likewise, a minimum /etc/networks is:

loopback 127.0.0.0
localnet 0.0.0.0

You should also set your external mail domain in

acme.xz

The username and password at the ISP must be specified in
/etc/ppp/pap-secrets

dirk * PrettySecret

For those ISPs using CHAP instead of PAP the filename is
/etc/ppp/chap-secrets.

Finally, the nitty gritty regarding the connection procedure itself
must be specified before PPP can be initiated. This is done in
/etc/ppp/chatscript:

TIMEOUT 5
"" ATZ
OK ATDT12345678
ABORT "NO CARRIER"
ABORT BUSY
ABORT "NO DIALTONE"
ABORT WAITING
TIMEOUT 45
CONNECT ""
TIMEOUT 5
"name:" ppp

Details here may have to be tuned somewhat. The phone number in the
third line must of course be set as required. Some users may need to
replace the ATZ modem initialization string with something more tai-
lored for the modem being used. The last line specifies that one is
expecting a prompt that ends with name:, and that the response should
be ppp when it arrives. Other systems may have other login proce-
dures.

To actually initiate a call, the PPP protocol may be initiated by
issuing the following command:

exec pppd connect \
'chat -v -f /etc/ppp/chatscript' \
-detach crtscts modem defaultroute \
user dirk \
/dev/modem 38400

until the program is killed by typing a ctrl-C. CAny messages con-
cerning the connection will be appended to the system logs. To read
them, try:

tail /var/adm/messages

dmesg

As long as PPP is up, you will have direct access to the Internet and
may use programs like ftp, ncftp, rlogin, telnet, finger etc. All
these programs should be part of the network package.

Further information concerning PPP is also available from:

/usr/lib/ppp/README.linux

/usr/lib/ppp/README.linux-chat

Finally, an additional word about security The file all services that
your machine will offer externally. With the have made, no external
access will be allowed. For those who need it, access must be allowed
explicitly in Local traffic may be allowed by:

ALL: LOCAL

See also man 5 hosts_access.

A final minor issue: A certain confusion exists regarding the names of
the POP protocols. A definition in with just about everything is:

pop2 109/tcp pop-2 # PostOffice V.2
pop3 110/tcp pop-3 pop # PostOffice V.3

ALT: Instead of chatscript, one might use the much more flexible

ALT: Those fortunate enough to have a permanent TCP/IP connection via
e.g. an Ethernet may safely ignore anything about PPP and rather start
concentrating about setting up their network card.

ALT: Others may not have the possibility of using PPP, but may be able
to use SLIP instead, for which there is support in much the same
manner as for PPP. Another possibility is UUCP Others again may have
to rely on exchange of news and email be means of SOUP A description
for the latter case may be found in:

ftp://ftp.sol.no/user/bjorn/Linux-offline.tgz

The TERM program is also an option. Refer to the Term-HOWTO.

3. How do I surf ?

If you think that text is the most important, you might want to use
the Lynx web browser. It is available from:

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Network/info-
systems/lynx-2.3.bin2.tar.gz

If you have installed the X window system, you can also use one of the
many graphical browsers. Chimera may be found at:

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Network/info-
systems/chimera-1.65.bin.ELF.tar.gz

http://www.unlv.edu/chimera/

Mosaic

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Network/info-
systems/Mosaic-2.7b1-aout.tgz

ftp://ftp.NCSA.uiuc.edu/Web/Mosaic/Unix/binaries/2.6

Netscape (aka. Mozilla

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Network/info-systems/netscape-
v11b3.tar.gz

ftp://ftp.cs.uit.no/pub/www/netscape

These browsers are constantly available in new and in various ways
exciting versions.

Use and evaluation of these programs is subject to certain terms.
Please observe them.

4. How do I send and receiveemail

First of all, ensure that sendmail is installed. Sendmail sorts
internal and out-bound mail, and will buffer out-bound mail until such
time it is possible to forward it.

Sendmail is based on a configuration found in example suitable for ISP
users can be found in:

ftp://ftp.sol.no/user/egilk/sendmail.cf This is based on delivery
agent but may easily be changed to use

It is if course required to have an official domain address for out-
bound mail, something which is specified in

# who I masquerade as (null for no masquerading)
DMacme.xz

have the same user name locally as you have at your ISP. If it is dif-
ferent, just specify the full name instead:

[email protected]

Sendmail is now configured for sending directly to the recipient. To
avoid long and repeated connections in those cases where the connec-
tion to the receiving end is slow and irregular, is is usually nice to
use ones ISP as a buffer store. This can be specified by the DS spec-
ification:

# "Smart" relay host (may be null)
DSmail.acme.xz

Beware that sendmail is somewhat sensitive to handling of tab stop
characters in sendmail.cf. You might want to use the characters are
retained unchanged.

Email reception can often be performed via the POP3 protocol, which
can be initiated every time the connection is brought up. A script
for testing this is:

sendmail -q
popclient -3 -v mail.acme.xz -u dirk -p "PrettySecret" \
-k -o /usr/spool/mail/dirk

connection has been established. Beware that this script is just for
testing, so ensure that the local mailbox is left untouched while it
runs. The -k option means that the mail is kept in the ISP mailbox,
and you are simply given a copy of the mail. You would of course want
to remove this option once you are confident that your setup is work-
ing.

Beware that the password will show on the command line. Also note
that popclient is getting old fashioned, and that you should consider
using instead.

A more secure and better version of this script may be found at:

ftp://ftp.sol.no/user/egilk/pop-script.tar.gz

This version of the script requires that procmail is installed, but
that is something you'll never regret anyway. Most distributions
include it, otherwise you may try:
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Mail/mailhandlers/procmail-3.10-2.tar.gz

Procmail is a simple and flexible tool that can sort incoming email
based on a large range of criteria. In addition to being able to
handle automated tasks like vacation messages and such.

Note that when we use procmail directly as in this case, the situation
is somewhat different from what is described in the procmail
documentation. A .forward is not required, and we also don't need a
.procmailrc. The latter is only required if we want to sort the mail.

The user interface for reading and sending of email can be found in
programs like

ALT: Fetchmail has recently become an improved alternative to
popclient. The latest version is available from:

ftp://ftp.ccil.org/pub/esr/fetchmail/fetchmail-3.3.tar.gz

ALT: For an ordinary dial-up ISP user it is not really necessary to
have the sendmail daemon active. To reduce resource usage, and
possibly other problems, one may thus comment out any startup of
sendmail, as is usually found in /etc/rc.d/rc.M (this varies from
distribution to distribution).

ALT: In place of sendmail one might use the simpler description of it
(as well as most other things mentioned here) in the Linux Network
Administrator's Guide.

ALT: There is also an m4 macro package for making a fresh
/etc/sendmail.cf. For a simple installation it might be just as well
to modify an existing configuration.

ALT: There are also simpler although less flexible alternatives for
handling email. Pine may run stand-alone as long as it is configured
properly, for instance. It might even be possible to use newer
versions of some web-browsers.

ALT: Many are very enthusiastic regarding the Emacs companion Gnus as
an email and news handler. Further information can be found at:

http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/

ALT: An alternative to popclient is pop-perl5. It is available from:

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/System/Mail/pop-perl5-1.1.tar.gz

5. News

5.1. How do I set up an online news-reader?

possible to read news online. There are lots of available programs,
two simple alternatives being trn.

To start reading news, the only thing required in terms of
configuration in most cases is to set NNTPSERVER (usually once and for
all in the file .profile):

export NNTPSERVER=news.acme.xz

To get the From-address correct in postings, some programs may
require:

export NNTP_INEWS_DOMAIN=acme.xz

5.2. How do I set up an offline news-reader?

offline and thus reduce phone bills and give greater flexibility, one
must set up a local news-spool of one sort or the other. This
requires some configuration, and there will also be a certain amount
of disk space involved. After initial setup, things should run more
or less by themselves, with only some attention needed from time to
time.

Two different solutions will be described here.

5.3. How do I set up C News?

The solution described here is based on the news-server C News and the
NNTP protocol. C News was originally targeted towards another sort of
configuration, but is flexible enough to handle our situation too.
One might also use the more recent INN news server but it might
require a bit more in terms of resources. Either way, be careful not
to install both; they don't live together easily.

It is crucial that all maintenance of news is done while logged in as
user news, and that all configuration files is placed in
/usr/lib/news. One way of handling this is, while logged in as root
to write su news; cd.

The most important files in the configuration are:

o over active newsgroups. It is updated as required by the command
comp.os.linux.networking y.

o simply contain whatever you want in the Organization: header
field, in our case:

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

o case be set to acme.xz.

o of your site in the Path: thread. In a setup as described here,
using newsx, this name will never leave the machine, so you can set
this to whatever you like as long as you are pretty sure it is
unique. In this case roderick.

o The file fetching and further distribution of news. We will assume
the ISP in our case adds acme.xz to the Path, and that this is the
only news source we have. The example given really tells that we
will accept everything that arrives, and that we will only post
news to acme.xz that it hasn't seen before, and is originally
posted at our own site. In this simplified setup we assume that
the all groups will come from a single source. /all specifies the
distribution, and must be included. The letter F says that
(pointers to) outgoing news articles will be collected in a file.

ME:all/all::
acme/acme.xz:all,!junk/all:FL:

o A subdirectory for the outgoing news must be created, in our case:

mkdir /var/spool/news/out.going/acme

o posting in moderated groups, although this task may usually be
left to the ISP.

C News needs a certain degree of daily maintenance, but this can be
specified once and for all via the command crontab -e setup follows;
it can be tuned as required:

# maintain incoming and outgoing batches
10,40 * * * * /usr/lib/newsbin/input/newsrun

# expire C News, once a day
30 0 * * * /usr/lib/newsbin/expire/doexpire

# monitor and report if needed
00 2 * * sat /usr/lib/newsbin/maint/addmissing
40 3 * * * /usr/lib/newsbin/maint/newswatch
50 3 * * * /usr/lib/newsbin/maint/newsdaily

out (twice every hour), doexpire will delete articles as they get old
(every night at 00:30), and the three last commands does various
supervisory and error correcting tasks.

One should also ensure that things are cleaned up when starting the
machine. As user root, add the following line to /etc/rc.d/rc.local:

su news -c /usr/lib/newsbin/maint/newsboot

News may be collected via the program NewsX, The program can be found
at:

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/news/transport/newsx-0.9.tar.gz
Or:

ftp://ftp.sol.no/user/egilk/newsx-0.9.tar.gz

Setting up NewsX is quite simple. Installation is a classic case of:

make
su
make install
exit

With the setup outlined here, all you have to do is to create the
groups you want to read using the addgroup command.

To fetch articles, user news issues the following commands (assuming
communication via PPP or similar is up):

newsrun
newsx acme news.acme.xz
newsrun

The option -d gives continuous printout to the screen. Refer to the
NewsX documentation for further information.

NewsX will also take care of posting of outgoing news.

To control disposal of articles as they get old, a file explist is
required. The comments in this example should explain what we want to
do:

# hold onto history lines 14 days, nobody gets >120 days
/expired/ x 14 -
/bounds/ x 0-1-120 -

# retain these for 2 months
comp.sources,comp.os.linux.all x 60 -

# noise gets thrown away fast
junk,control x 2 -

# default: 14 days, no archive
all x 14 -

ALT: In a small news-spool, one will usually not need the newsgroup
control. The traffic is huge compared to the possible usefulness. The
main point is that articles will be canceled, and that groups may be
created automatically. To ensure that control messages containing
newgroup not shall mess up things for us, a file called what we will
allow:

comp.os.linux [email protected] yv
all any nq

In this example, all proper groups under comp.os.linux will be created
(y), and the user news will be notified (v). Everything else will be
silently (q) ignored (n). The last line is sufficient if you want to
create all groups manually.

ALT: An alternative to NewsX is suck.

5.4. How do I set up Leafnode?

A different solution altogether is to install the integrated package
handle all tasks required for a personal news spool, and is easy to
configure. It is available via:

http://www.troll.no/freebies/leafnode.html

As for C News, all news maintenance really should be performed as user
news.

The home directory for leafnode is in /usr/lib/leafnode. To install,
write:

cd /usr/lib/leafnode
tar -xzvf leafnode-0.8.tgz
cd leafnode-0.8
make
su
make install

Note in the following that the prefix /usr/local/sbin should be
replaced with /usr/sbin if you installed leafnode from a package.

While still being logged in as root, change the line that controls
NNTP in /etc/inetd.conf:

nntp stream tcp nowait news /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/local/sbin/leafnode

Activate it by:

killall -HUP inetd

Return to user news by writing exit. In /usr/lib/leafnode/config
change the line that defines the NNTP server. In our case:

server = news.acme.xz

Leafnode will look after itself by adding the following command via
crontab -e as user news:

# expire Leafnode, once a day
0 4 * * * /usr/local/sbin/texpire

News exchange is also done as user news by the following command
(assuming PPP is up and running):

/usr/local/sbin/fetch

Users who wants to read news should then use the recipe in How do I
set up an online news-reader?, except that they configure for the
local machine, i.e:

export NNTPSERVER=localhost

That should be all there is to it. The first fetch will transfer a
list of available newsgroups. Leafnode will then monitor what groups
the users are requesting, and adapt to this the next time it is
activated.

Note that leafnode does not seems to work in cases where NNTP
authorization is required. +.LP

ALT: An alternative to leafnode is nntpcache, available from:

ftp://ftp.suburbia.net/pub/nntpcache/nntpcache.tgz ALT: Another
alternative is to use the newsreader pullslrn-pull package. The
newsreader must be compiled with the spool feature set.

6. How do I automate the connection procedure?

Automated handling of news and email is quite easy to implement in
Linux.

First and foremost one should make a that initiates the ISP
connection. Often, this file will simply contain the following:

/usr/sbin/pppd

connect "/usr/lib/ppp/chat -v -f /etc/ppp/chatscript"
crtscts
modem
defaultroute
asyncmap 00000000
user dirk
/dev/modem 38400

To end a connection, use the supplied version of /usr/lib/ppp/ppp-off.

Having tested the functionality of these two scripts, one must then
write scripts that perform the various tasks. The script to collect
email has been described before, and we will here assume it is located
at /home/dirk/pop.

A script for exchange of email can then be produced in /root/mail:

#! /bin/sh
#
# exchange mail
# 10 minutes timeout:
TIMEOUT=600
DT=10

# kick sendmail:
sendmail -q &

# retrieve mail:
su dirk -c /home/dirk/pop

# wait for sendmail to terminate:
t=0
while ! mailq | grep -q "Mail queue is empty"; do
t=$[$t+$DT]
if [ $t -gt $TIMEOUT ] ; then
echo "sendmail -q timeout ($TIMEOUT).."
exit 1
fi
sleep $DT
done

exit 0

The script to exchange news may be placed in /usr/lib/news/news:

#!/bin/sh
#
# exchange news
# must be run as news:
cd /usr/lib/news

#update the outgoing batch (C News):
/usr/lib/newsbin/input/newsrun < /dev/null

#exchange news:
/usr/lib/newsbin/newsx acme news.acme.xz

#and flush the incoming batch:
/usr/lib/newsbin/input/newsrun < /dev/null

A script to connect the various bits and pieces remains, and can be
placed in /root/news+mail:

#!/bin/sh
#
# exchange news and email
# must be run as root
#
if ! /usr/lib/ppp/ppp-on; then
exit 1
fi
trap "/usr/lib/ppp/ppp-off" 1 2 3 15

#exchange news+mail:
/root/mail &
su news -c ~news/news
wait

#disconnect..
/usr/lib/ppp/ppp-off

#update the incoming batch (C News):
su news -c /usr/lib/newsbin/input/newsrun < /dev/null &

exit 0

It is quite easy to make an extension to the above that only will
establish a connection if outgoing email and news is present. Lets
call it /root/news+mail.cond, and keep in mind that the name of the
outgoing news-spool must be updated to suit:

#!/bin/sh
#
# exchange news and email, only if outgoing news or mail
# (C News spool)
if [ -s /var/spool/news/out.going/acme/togo ] ||
! ( mailq | grep -q "Mail queue is empty"); then
/root/news+mail
fi

The only thing remaining is to specify when all this is going to
happen. This is done using the command crontab -e to exchange news
and mail at 07:00 in the morning, and after that every 4th hour
assuming there are outgoing email and news:

00 7 * * * /root/news+mail
00 11,15,19,23 * * * /root/news+mail.cond

Ensure that every component is tested well before you connect them
together. One may later add several other tasks, such as adjustment of
the time of day (using ntpdate), and automatic update (mirroring) of
locally maintained WWW and FTP files up to the ISP (using make and
ftp).

ALT: Depending on ones preferences, it is also possible to turn the
process upside down. Every time a PPP link is initiated, the script
/etc/ppp/ip-up will be started. One may here add whatever magic is
required to start exchange of email and news. See man pppd for
further detail.

ALT: It is also possible to automatically connect PPP whenever network
traffic is detected. This is in many ways the more elegant solution,
but it is quite dependent on a good configuration to avoid frequent
(and costly) connections being made. More information can be found
at:

http://www.dna.lth.se/~erics/diald.html

The diald utility is available from:

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/network/serial/diald-0.16.tar.gz

At the same location one will also find other variations on the theme
PPP connections.

7. Final words

7.1. Other things I should know about?

o Various error messages in the system will normally be issued as
internal email. To ensure that these will actually be read, one
should create an /etc/aliases. Remember the command newaliases
every time you change this. An example that should cover most
eventualities is:

PostMaster: root
ftp: root
news: root
usenet: root
FaxMaster: root
fax: root
WebMaster: root
MAILER.DAEMON: root

o Many programs for Linux may be found at Sunsite, many mirrors and
every time there is a reference to
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/.. one should try to use a mirror
close to home, e.g. ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/linux/sunsite/...

o If you happen to be migrating from Yarn it should be possible to
convert these to standard folders using the yarn2mf available at:

ftp://ftp.sol.no/user/egilk/yarn2mf.zip

8. ISP specific information

More specific information for certain ISPs is available from a variety
of sources:

Demon Internet

ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/unix/linux/Demon/slack3.0.help.tgz

Netcom

http://www.netcom.com/bin/webtech/NetCruiser/Operating_Systems/Linux/linux.cfg.html

PowerTech, Telenor Online, Telia

http://www.kvaleberg.com/no-isp.html

Stanford

http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~wkn/Linux/network/network.html

MCI

http://www.kvaleberg.com/linux-mci.html

SISCOM

http://www.siscom.net/support/linux_setup.htm

AOL is not possible since AOL uses a proprietary protocol.

If you can supply ISP specific information not listed here, please get
in touch.

8.1. How do I learn more?

The Linux Documentation Project book called Linux Network
Administrator's Guide by Olaf Kirch is pretty mandatory for anyone
that will set up and maintain anything involving TCP/IP and Internet

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/linux-doc-project/network-
guide/nag-1.0.ascii.tar.gz

The documentation that follows each software package will normally
give you all the detailed information you need, if not always the
overview. The man-pages will be the first place to look. Try for
instance:

man pppd

You will also find some documentation about certain programs in the
this is not always well structured.

The following HOWTOs will be highly relevant:

o Installation-HOWTO will get the basics sorted.

o NET-2-HOWTO is a very thorough description of installation and
setup of the NET code. Much of this should already have been done
if you use a standard Linux distribution (e.g. Slackware, Red Hat,
Debian). But many sections on setup and troubleshooting will be
very worthwhile.

o Mail-HOWTO explains how to configure various tools. Again, much of
this will already have been done for you when you install a
standard Linux distribution.

o News-HOWTO is for setting up a (conventional) news spool.

o Tiny-News covers yet another alternative for collecting news.

o PPP-HOWTO is a good description of problems you may encounter when
setting up a PPP connection.

o Serial-HOWTO contains everything you need to know about setting up
serial ports.

o Mail-Queue tells you how to send up sendmail to always queue remote
mail but deliver local mail at once.

Red Hat has a mailing list for PPP issues; to join send an email to

redhat-ppp-list-request with the subject line

subscribe

8.2. Thanks to

Information here is collected from many sources. Thanks to the
following that either indirectly or directly have contributed:

Adam Holt <[email protected]>
Arne Coucheron <[email protected]>
Arne Riiber <[email protected]>
Arnt Gulbrandsen <[email protected]>
Bjorn Steensrud <[email protected]>
Gisle Hannemyr <[email protected]>
Hans Amund Rosbach <[email protected]>
Hans Peter Verne <[email protected]>
Harald T Alvestrand <[email protected]>
Harald Terkelsen <[email protected]>
Haavard Engum <[email protected]>
James Youngman <[email protected]>
Johan S. Seland <[email protected]>
John Phillips <[email protected]>
Jorn Lokoy <[email protected]>
Kenneth Tjostheim <[email protected]>
Kjell M. Myksvoll <[email protected]>
Kjetil T. Homme <[email protected]>
Michael Meissner <[email protected]>
N J Bailey <[email protected]>
Nicolai Langfeldt <[email protected]>
Ove Ruben R Olsen <[email protected]>
R. Bardarson <[email protected]>
Steinar Fremme <[email protected]>
Sverre H. Huseby <[email protected]>
Trond Eivind Glomsrod <[email protected]>
Tommy Larsen <[email protected]>
Yves Bellefeuille <[email protected]>