Setting Up a PPPoE Tunnel (Tasks)

This chapter contains tasks for setting up the participants on either end of the PPPoE tunnel: the PPPoE client and PPPoE access server. Specific topics include the following:

• Major Tasks for Setting Up a PPPoE Tunnel (Task Maps)

• Setting Up the PPPoE Client

• Setting Up a PPPoE Access Server

The tasks use the scenario that was introduced in Planning for DSL Support Over a PPPoE Tunnel as an example. For an overview of PPPoE, refer to Support for DSL Users Through PPPoE.

Major Tasks for Setting Up a PPPoE Tunnel (Task Maps)

The following tables list the major tasks for configuring PPPoE clients and the PPPoE access server. To implement PPPoE at your site, you need to set up only your end of the PPPoE tunnel, either the client side or access-server side.

Table 30-1 Task Map for Setting Up a PPPoE Client

Table 30-2 Task Map for Setting Up a PPPoE Access Server

Setting Up the PPPoE Client

To provide PPP to client systems over DSL, you must first configure PPPoE on the interface that is connected to the modem or hub. Then you need to change the PPP configuration files to define the access server on the opposite end of the PPPoE.

Prerequisites for Setting Up the PPPoE Client

Before you set up the PPPoE client, you must have done the following:

• Installed Solaris 8 Update 6 release or subsequent releases on the client machines to use the PPPoE tunnel

• Contacted the service provider for information about its PPPoE access server

• Had the telephone company or service provider assemble the devices that are used by the client machines. These devices include, for example, the DSL modem and the splitter, which the telephone company rather than you might assemble.

How to Configure an Interface for a PPPoE Client

1. Become superuser on the PPPoE client.

2. Add the name of the Ethernet interface with the DSL connection to the /etc/ppp/pppoe.if file.

   For example, you add the following entry to /etc/ppp/pppoe.if for a PPPoE client that uses hme0 as the network interface that is connected to the DSL modem.

   hme0

   
   

   For more information about /etc/ppp/pppoe.if, go to /etc/ppp/pppoe.if File.

3. Configure the interface for PPPoE use.

   # /etc/init.d/pppd start

   
   

4. (Optional) Verify that the interface is now plumbed for PPPoE.

   # /usr/sbin/sppptun query hme0:pppoe hme0:pppoed

   
   

   You can also use the /usr/sbin/sppptun command to manually plumb interfaces for PPPoE. For instructions, refer to /usr/sbin/sppptun Command.

How to Define a PPPoE Access Server Peer

You define the access server in the /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name file. Many of the options that are used for the access server are also used to define the dial-in server in a dial-up scenario. For a detailed explanation of /etc/ppp/peers.peer-name, refer to /etc/ppp/peers/peer-nameFile.

1. Become superuser on the PPPoE client.

2. Define the service provider's PPPoE access server in the /etc/ppp/peers/peer-name file.

   For example, the following file, /etc/ppp/peers/dslserve, defines the access server dslserve at FarISP that is introduced in Example--Configuration for a PPPoE Tunnel.

   # cat /etc/ppp/peers/dslserve sppptun plugin pppoe.so connect "/usr/lib/inet/pppoec hme0" noccp noauth user Red password redsecret noipdefault defaultroute

   
   

   For a definition of the options in this file, go to /etc/ppp/peers/peer-nameFile for Defining an Access Server Peer.

3. Modify the other PPP configuration files on the PPPoE client.

   1. Configure /etc/ppp/options as described in the instructions for configuring a dial-out machine in Configuring the Dial-out Machine.

   2. Create an /etc/ppp/options.sppptun file. /etc/ppp/options.sppptun defines PPP options for the serial port to which the interface that is plumbed for PPPoE is attached.

      You can use any options that are available for the /etc/ppp/options.ttyname file that is described in /etc/ppp/options.ttynameConfiguration File. You must name the file /etc/ppp/options.sppptun because sppptun is the specified device name in the pppd configuration.

4. Ensure that all users can start PPP on the client.

   # touch /etc/ppp/options

   
   

5. Test if PPP can run over the DSL line.

   # pppd debug updetach call dslserve

   
   

   dslserve is the name that is given to the access server at the ISP that is shown in Example--Configuration for a PPPoE Tunnel. The debug updetach option causes debugging information to display in a terminal window.

   If PPP is running correctly, the terminal output shows the link becoming active. If PPP still does not run, try the following command to see if the servers are running correctly:

   # /usr/lib/inet/pppoec -i hme0

   
   

Where to Go From Here

Setting Up a PPPoE Access Server

If your company is a service provider, you can offer Internet and other services to clients that reach your site through DSL connections. First, you must determine which interfaces on the server to involve in the PPPoE tunnel. Then, you define which services are made available to the users.