1 .\" $FreeBSD: src/usr.sbin/pppctl/pppctl.8,v 1.12.2.8 2003/03/11 22:31:30 trhodes Exp $
7 .Nd PPP control program
13 .Xo Oo Ar host : Oc Ns
14 .Ar Port | LocalSocket
18 .Ar command Oo ; Ar command Oc Ar ...
22 This utility provides command line control of the
24 daemon. Its primary use is to facilitate simple scripts that
25 control a running daemon.
29 utility is passed at least one argument, specifying the socket on which
31 is listening. Refer to the
35 for details. If the socket contains a leading '/', it
38 socket. If it contains a colon, it is treated as a
40 pair, otherwise it is treated as a TCP port specification on the
41 local machine (127.0.0.1). Both the
45 may be specified numerically if you wish to avoid a DNS lookup
46 or don't have an entry for the given port in
49 All remaining arguments are concatenated to form the
51 that will be sent to the
53 daemon. If any semi-colon characters are found, they are treated as
55 delimiters, allowing more than one
60 .Bd -literal -offset indent
61 pppctl 3000 set timeout 300\\; show timeout
64 Don't forget to escape or quote the ';' as it is a special character
71 enters interactive mode, where commands are read from standard input.
72 When reading commands, the
74 library is used, allowing command-line editing (with
76 defining editing behaviour). The history size
80 The following command line options are available:
83 Display all data sent to and received from the
87 displays only non-prompt lines received. This option is ignored in
92 instead of the default 2 seconds when connecting. This may be required
93 if you wish to control a daemon over a slow (or even a dialup) link.
95 Specify the password required by the
97 daemon. If this switch is not used,
99 will prompt for a password once it has successfully connected to
109 can be used to automate many frequent tasks (you can actually control
111 in any mode except interactive mode). Use of the
113 option is discouraged (even in scripts that aren't readable by others)
116 listing may reveal your secret.
118 The best way to allow easy, secure
120 access is to create a local server socket in
121 .Pa /etc/ppp/ppp.conf
122 (in the correct section) like this:
123 .Bd -literal -offset indent
124 set server /var/run/internet "" 0177
129 to create a local domain socket, with srw------- permissions and no
130 password, allowing access only to the user that invoked
134 man page for further details.
136 You can now create some easy-access scripts. To connect to the internet:
137 .Bd -literal -offset indent
139 test $# -eq 0 && time=300 || time=$1
140 exec pppctl /var/run/internet set timeout $time\\; dial
144 .Bd -literal -offset indent
146 exec pppctl /var/run/internet set timeout 300\\; close
149 To check if the line is up:
150 .Bd -literal -offset indent
152 pppctl -p '' -v /var/run/internet quit | grep ^PPP >/dev/null
153 if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
160 You can even make a generic script:
161 .Bd -literal -offset indent
163 exec pppctl /var/run/internet "$@"
168 to control when dial-on-demand works. Suppose you want
170 to run all the time, but you want to prevent dial-out between 8pm and 8am
171 each day. However, any connections active at 8pm should continue to remain
172 active until they are closed or naturally time out.
176 entry for 8pm which runs
177 .Bd -literal -offset indent
178 pppctl /var/run/internet set filter dial 0 deny 0 0
181 will block all further dial requests, and the corresponding 8am entry
182 .Bd -literal -offset indent
183 pppctl /var/run/internet set filter dial -1
186 will allow them again.
188 The following environment variables are understood by
190 when in interactive mode:
191 .Bl -tag -width XXXXXXXXXX
193 The number of history lines. The default is 20.
195 The edit mode. Only values of "emacs" and "vi" are accepted. Other values
196 are silently ignored. This environment variable will override the
212 utility first appeared in