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Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Manuel Ricart
ISBN: 078971826x
Publication Date: 12/22/98

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Chapter 8
Accessing the Network

In This Chapter

  Connecting to the Network
  Configuring a New Dialup Account
  Setting Up a Modem

These days, a computer that cannot access a network or the Internet is not interesting. Linux provides more networking services and network reliability than many other operating systems. Many of the networking technologies PCs have today owe their existence in grand part to UNIX. With Linux you have the ability not only to access the networking services as a client, but also to provide these services as a server. Many Web servers on the Internet are running under Linux because of its reliability and flexibility.

This chapter covers the basics of how to connect to the Internet using Linux.

How you connect your computer to the network will depend on the hardware you have. If your computer is participating on a network and you have direct access to the Internet from your network, all you need is an Ethernet card. If you installed your card before you installed Linux, the installation program configured the card so you can use it. The only thing you might need to do is configure your name services so that your computer knows how to access Domain Name System (DNS; covered in greater detail in the section “Configuring DNS Servers” later in this chapter). If you installed Linux prior to adding your network card, you’ll have to use lisa to change your hardware configuration (see Chapter 21, “LISA—Linux Installation and System Administration Utility,” for tips on how to use lisa).

If your computer doesn’t have direct access to the Internet, you’ll need to use your modem and set up a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection with an Internet service provider (ISP). An ISP provides connection services to the Internet for a modest monthly fee. When you connect to your ISP, your computer will be “on the Net,” and you can use network services such as http (www), ftp, news, and so on.

Connecting to the Network Using a Dialup (PPP) Connection

Linux includes PPP and other protocols that you can use to connect to the Internet and private networks. PPP is by far the most popular dialup networking protocol supported by ISPs today. Typically, setting up PPP under UNIX has been a daunting task for the novice. Luckily, KDE provides a graphical tool, kppp, that you can use to configure a dialup connection easily.

Before you can connect, you will need to know the connection details to your ISP, such as dialup number, login, password, gateway, and DNS server IP addresses.

Adding an Internet Connection with Kppp

Before you can configure a PPP connection using kppp, you’ll need to edit the /etc/ppp/options file. By default, this file can contain a line with the option lock. This option is for the PPP software to manage a lock on a connection and the hardware. Kppp does this itself, so you’ll need to remove this option. To edit the /etc/ppp/options file, you need to have superuser (root) privileges. For this you can either log out of the system and log in as root or follow the procedure “Starting a Superuser KFM Session” as outlined in Chapter 7, “Working with Disks.”

The only change that you might need to make to the file is to comment out the lock option (the only option by default on the /etc/ppp/options file). To comment something out, you put a pound or hash symbol (#) as the first letter in the line. Your edited file should look like this:

     #lock

The pound symbol tells PPP to ignore the rest of the line. Save your file and exit any superuser KFM windows and KEdit sessions. If you opted for logging in as root, you should log in again using your own account. You are now ready to begin configuring a PPP connection to your ISP.

To start kppp, you can go to your application starter menu and choose kppp under the Internet program group. After selecting kppp, you will see a dialog box like the one pictured in the next figure.

If a connection were defined, you could select it, supply a login and password to your PPP account, and click Connect to dial it up. By default, there won’t be any connections set up for you to use, so you’ll have to define one. You do this by clicking the Setup button. This will present you with a window like the one depicted in the following figure.


Kppp can be started from the application starter menu under the Internet program group.


Techno Talk:  The Mini Command Line

The KDE Desktop provides you with an easy way to type commands without having to use a shell. The Mini Command Line is a small panel where you can type a command, program name, or even the path to a file to start a new KFM window. After you type in the command and hit Enter, the minicli, as this program is called, will go away and execute your command.

To access a minicli window, hit Alt+F2 on your keyboard. On the little panel that is displayed, type the name of a command or program you want to access. For example, type kppp to have that program launch.

Minicli can also open KFM windows. To open a KFM window focused to a directory, type the path to the directory in the minicli panel and hit Enter. If you specify the name of a file instead of a directory, the application registered for that file type will open (in many cases, this will be KEdit, the KDE editor).

To read man documentation pages, enter man:programname, where programname is the name of the tool or command you want to read about. See Chapter 15, “Help Please,” for more information on using man.



The kppp window. The Connect to menu allows you to select the ISP you want to connect to. The Login ID and Password correspond to those assigned to you by your ISP. The Show Log Window box is useful for debugging your connection as you can see the details of the connection as it happens.


The kppp Configuration window is where you configure ISP settings.


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