wvdial
WVDIAL(1) WVDIAL(1)NAME
wvdial - PPP dialer with built-in intelligence.SYNOPSIS
wvdial --help | --version | section...DESCRIPTION
wvdial is an intelligent PPP dialer, which means that it dials a modem and starts PPP in order to connect to the Internet. It is something like the chat(8) program, except that it uses heuristics to guess how to dial and log into your server rather than forcing you to write a login script. When wvdial starts, it first loads its configuration from /etc/wvdial.conf, which contains basic information about the modem port, speed, and init string, along with infor mation about your Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as the phone number, your username, and your password. Then it initializes your modem and dials the server and waits for a connection (a CONNECT string from the modem). It understands and responds to typical connection problems (like BUSY and NO DIALTONE). Any time after connecting, wvdial will start PPP if it sees a PPP sequence from the server. Otherwise, it tries to convince the server to start PPP by doing the follow ing: - responding to any login/password prompts it sees; - interpreting "choose one of the following"-style menus; - eventually, sending the word "ppp" (a common terminal server command). If all of this fails, wvdial just runs pppd(8) and hopes for the best.OPTIONS
Three options are recognized by wvdial. --chat Run wvdial as a chat replacement from within pppd, instead of the more normal method of having wvdial negotiate the connection and then call pppd. --help Prints a short message describing how to use wvdial and exits. --version Displays wvdial's version number and exits. wvdial is normally run without command line options, in which case it reads its configuration from the [Dialer Defaults] section of /etc/wvdial.conf. (The configuration file is described in more detail later.) One or more sections of /etc/wvdial.conf may be specified on the command line. Settings in these sections will override settings in [Dialer Defaults]. For example, the command: wvdial phone2 will read default options from the [Dialer Defaults] sec tion, then override any or all of the options with those found in the [Dialer phone2] section. If more than one section is specified, they are processed in the order they are given. Each section will override all the sections that came before it. For example, the command: wvdial phone2 pulse shh will read default options from the [Dialer Defaults] sec tion, then override any or all of the options with those found in the [Dialer phone2] section, followed by the [Dialer pulse] section, and lastly the [Dialer shh] sec tion. Using this method, it is possible to easily configure wvdial to switch between different internet providers, modem init strings, account names, and so on without spec ifying the same configuration information over and over. CONFIGURATION FILE The configuration file /etc/wvdial.conf is in Windows "ini" file format, with sections named in square brackets and a number of variable = value pairs within each sec tion. Here is a sample configuration file: [Dialer Defaults] Modem = /dev/ttyS2 Baud = 57600 Init = ATZ Init2 = AT S11=50 Phone = 555-4242 Username = apenwarr Password = my-password [Dialer phone2] Phone = 555-4243 [Dialer shh] Init3 = ATM0 [Dialer pulse] Dial Command = ATDP The sample configuration file above contains all of the options necessary to run the two sample command lines given above. Here is a complete list of settings that wvdial understands: Inherits Normally, all sections inherit from the [Dialer Defaults] section. You can make a section explic itly inherit from another section by naming it in a Inherits = InheritedSection line. Modem The location of the device that wvdial should use as your modem. The default is /dev/modem. Baud The speed at which wvdial will communicate with your modem. The default is 57600 baud. Init1 ... Init9 wvdial can use up to nine initialization strings to set up your modem. Before dialing, these strings are sent to the modem in numerical order. These are particularly useful when specifying multiple sections. See above for an example that uses Init3 to turn the modem's speaker off. The default is "ATZ" for Init1. Phone The phone number you want wvdial to dial. Area Code wvdial inserts the area code between the dial pre fix and the phone number. In general, you will probably wish to leave this out for dialing from home and put into a Area Code string any additional characters you may need to dial remotely. In most of North America, your Phone entry will be 7 digits (555-1234) and your Area Code will be 4 digits (1-818). In local areas with multiple area codes, your Phone entry will be 10 digits (818-555-1234) and your Area Code will be 1 digit (1). In most of europe, your Phone entry will not include your city code, and you might want several different sections with different "Area Code" entries; one with your city code, another with your country code and city code, or whatever else you need to do. Dial Prefix wvdial will insert this string after the dial com mand and before the phone number (including area code, if any). For example, to disable call wait ing (in North America, anyway) set this to "*70". Or in a hotel, you might have to use "9" to get an outside line. A "," character is automatically appended to the dial prefix, which causes a slight pause in dialing. Dial Command wvdial will use this string to tell the modem to dial. The default is "ATDT". Login You must set this to the username you use at your ISP. Login Prompt If your ISP has an unusual login procedure that wvdial is unable to figure out, you can use this option to specify a login prompt. When this prompt is received from your ISP, wvdial will send the Login string. Password You must set this to the password you use at your ISP. Password Prompt If your ISP has an unusual login procedure that wvdial is unable to figure out, you can use this option to specify a password prompt. When this prompt is received from you ISP, wvdial will send the Password string. PPPD Path If your system has pppd somewhere other than /usr/sbin/pppd, you will need to set this option. Force Address This option only applies if you have a static IP address at your ISP, and even then you probably don't need it. Some ISP's don't send the IP address as part of the PPP negotiation. This option forces pppd to use the address you give it. Remote Name If your ISP uses PAP or CHAP authentication, you might need to change this to your ISP's authentica tion name. In most cases, however, it's safe to use the default value, "*". Carrier Check wvdial checks your modem during the connection pro cess to ensure that it is actually online. If you have a weird modem that insists its carrier line is always down, you can disable the carrier check by setting this option to "no". Stupid Mode When wvdial is in Stupid Mode, it does not attempt to interpret any prompts from the terminal server. It starts pppd immediately after the modem con nects. Apparently there are ISP's that actually give you a login prompt, but work only if you start PPP, rather than logging in. Go figure. Stupid Mode is (naturally) disabled by default. New PPPD If you have pppd version 2.3.0 or newer, you'll need to enable this, because new versions require a file /etc/ppp/peers/wvdial. Enabling this options tells pppd to look for this file. Default Reply When wvdial detects a prompt, and it hasn't seen any clues that indicate what it should send as a response to the prompt, it defaults to sending "ppp". Sometimes this is inadequate. Use this option to override wvdial's default prompt response. Auto Reconnect If enabled, wvdial will attempt to automatically reestablish a connection if you are randomly dis connected by the other side. This option is "on" by default. The wvdialconf(1) program can be used to detect your modem and fill in the Modem, Baud, and Init/Init2 options auto matically. BUGS "Intelligent" programs are frustrating when they don't work right. This version of wvdial has only minimal sup port for disabling or overriding its "intelligence", with the "Stupid Mode", "Login Prompt", and "Password Prompt" options. So, in general if you have a nice ISP, it will probably work, and if you have a weird ISP, it might not. Still, it's not much good if it doesn't work for you, right? Don't be fooled by the fact that wvdial finally made it to version 1.00; it could well contain many bugs and misfeatures. Let us know if you have problems by sending e-mail to <wvdial@worldvisions.ca>. Also, there is now a mailing list for discussion about wvdial. If you are having problems, or have anything else to say, send e-mail to <wvdial-list@worldvisions.ca>. You may encounter some error messages if you don't have write access to /etc/ppp/pap-secrets and /etc/ppp/chap- secrets. Unfortunately, there's really no nice way around this yet.FILES
/etc/wvdial.conf Configuration file which contains modem, dialing, and login information. /dev/ttyS* Serial port devices. /etc/ppp/peers/wvdial Required for correct authentication in pppd version 2.3.0 or newer. /etc/ppp/{pap,chap}-secrets Contains a list of usernames and passwords used by pppd for authentication. wvdial maintains this list automatically.AUTHORS
Dave Coombs and Avery Pennarun for Worldvisions Computer Technology, as part of the Worldvisions Weaver project.SEE ALSO
wvdialconf(1), pppd(8), chat(8) Worldvisions August 1998 WVDIAL(1)