Commands Reference, Volume 4

pppdial Command

Purpose

Establish an asynchronous connection with a remote system for use by the PPP (Point to Point Protocol) subsystem.

Syntax

pppdial [ -t TimeOut ] [ -v ] [ -d VerboseFile ] -f ChatFile

The pppdial command provides the capability to establish a connection with a remote system over an asynchronous device. It is used with the pppattachd daemon as the means for carrying out the dialog with modems and remote systems to the point where PPP frames should be sent. The pppdial command uses standard input (stdin) and standard output (stdout) as the devices over which the dialog occurs.

Errors and messages are logged using the syslog facility.

Flags

-d VerboseFile	Logs the chat activity to VerboseFile. If VerboseFile does not exist, the pppdial command creates it. If VerboseFile does exists, the pppdial command appends the output to the existing file. This flag applies only to AIX 4.2 or later.
-f ChatFile	Specifies the file which contains the dialog that is to occur over the tty device. The content of ChatFile conforms to the syntax of the Basic Networking Utility (BNU)/UNIX to UNIX Copy Program (UUCP).
-t TimeOut	Specifies the number of seconds to wait before timing out during the Expect phase of the chat activity. This flag applies only to AIX 4.2 or later.
-v	Logs the chat activity using the syslog facility. This flag applies only to AIX 4.2 or later.

Exit Status

This command returns the following exit values:

0	Successful completion.
!0	An error occurred.

Security

Access Control: Any User

Examples

To establish a connection with a remote system, enter on the command line in one line:

/usr/sbin/pppattachd client /dev/tty0 connect "/usr/sbin/pppdial
-v -f /home/pppuser/dialer.file"

The ChatFile named /home/pppuser/dialer.file contains:

''
atdt4311088
CONNECT
\\d\\n
ogin
pppuser
ssword
pppuserpwd

with the following meaning:

''            Expect a nul string
atdt4311088   Send the modem the dial command
              4311088 is the phone number to dial
CONNECT       Expect connect from the modem
\\d\\n        Delay for 1 second then send a new line
ogin          Expect the string ogin
pppuser       Send the string pppuser
              pppuser is the user id on the remote system
ssword        Expect the string ssword
pppuserpwd    Send the string pppuserpwd
              pppuserpwd is the password of the user pppuser on the
              remote system

The remote system must have a user pppuser defined with a password pppuserpwd and a $HOME/.profile containing:

exec pppattachd server 2>/dev/null

This is a very simplistic example. The example requires that the PPP subsystem is running on both the client and server (or remote) system. The example requires that the client system have a modem defined on /dev/tty0. The ChatFile contains the number 4311088 to dial. The remote system must also have a user defined with a password and a .profile which starts a PPP attachment on the remote system. The device (/dev/tty0), phone number, user, user password and mechanism starting the PPP attachment are variable and should reflect the current values on the server system.

Files

/usr/sbin/pppdial

Contains the pppdial command.

Related Information

The pppattachd daemon, pppcontrold daemon.

The syslog subroutine.

Asynchronous Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) Subsystem Overview in AIX 5L Version 5.1 System Management Guide: Communications and Networks.