Dialup Interfaces - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 5 - DEPLOYMENT Deployment Manual

Chapter 14. Network Interfaces
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
Since the default value for the USERCTL directive is no if it is not specified, users cannot bring this
interface up and down. To give users the ability to control the interface, create a clone by copying
ifcfg-eth0 to ifcfg-eth0-user and add the following line to ifcfg-eth0-user:
USERCTL=yes
This way a user can bring up the eth0 interface using the /sbin/ifup eth0-user command
because the configuration options from ifcfg-eth0 and ifcfg-eth0-user are combined. While
this is a very basic example, this method can be used with a variety of options and interfaces.
The easiest way to create alias and clone interface configuration files is to use the graphical
Network Administration Tool. For more information on using this tool, refer to
Configuration.

14.2.5. Dialup Interfaces

If you are connecting to the Internet via a dialup connection, a configuration file is necessary for the
interface.
PPP interface files are named using the following format:
ifcfg-ppp<X>
where <X> is a unique number corresponding to a specific interface.
The PPP interface configuration file is created automatically when wvdial, the Network
Administration Tool or Kppp is used to create a dialup account. It is also possible to create and edit
this file manually.
The following is a typical ifcfg-ppp0 file:
DEVICE=ppp0
NAME=test
WVDIALSECT=test
MODEMPORT=/dev/modem
LINESPEED=115200
PAPNAME=test
USERCTL=true
ONBOOT=no
PERSIST=no
DEFROUTE=yes
PEERDNS=yes
DEMAND=no
IDLETIMEOUT=600
Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) is another dialup interface, although it is used less frequently. SLIP
files have interface configuration file names such as ifcfg-sl0.
Other options that may be used in these files include:
DEFROUTE=<answer>
where <answer> is one of the following:
• yes — Set this interface as the default route.
• no — Do not set this interface as the default route.
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Chapter 15, Network