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wvdial

WVDIAL(1)                                                            WVDIAL(1)



NAME
       wvdial - PPP dialer with built-in intelligence.


SYNOPSIS
       wvdial  --help  |  --version | --chat | --config | option=value | --no-
       syslog | 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 and ~/.wvdialrc which contains basic information about
       the modem port, speed, and init string, along  with  information  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 following:


        - 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  com-
              mand).

       If  all of this fails, wvdial just runs pppd(8) and hopes for the best.
       It will bring up the connection, and then wait  patiently  for  you  to
       drop the link by pressin CTRL-C.


OPTIONS
       Several 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.

       --remotename
              Override  the  Remote  Name  setting in the dialer configuration
              section of the configuration file. This is  mainly  useful  when
              you  dial  to multiple systems with the same user name and pass-
              word, and you don't want to use  inheritance  to  override  this
              setting (which is the recommended way to do it).

       --config [configfile]
              Run wvdial with configfile as the configuration file (instead of
              /etc/wvdial.conf). This is mainly useful only  if  you  want  to
              have  per-user configurations, or you want to avoid having dial-
              up information  (usernames,  passwords,  calling  card  numbers,
              etc.) in a system wide configuration file.

       --no-syslog
              Don't output debug information to the syslog daemon (only useful
              together with --chat).

       --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
       in wvdial.conf(5) manual page.)

       One  or  more sections of /etc/wvdial.conf may be specified on the com-
       mand 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] section, 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] section, 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] section.

       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 specifying the same configuration  information
       over and over.


BUGS
       "Intelligent"  programs  are  frustrating  when  they don't work right.
       This version of wvdial has only minimal support for disabling or  over-
       riding  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@nit.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@lists.nit.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. See

       /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 Net Integration Technologies, as
       part of the Worldvisions Weaver project. We would like  to  thank  SuSE
       and RedHat for adding a number of various cool features to Thanks guys!


SEE ALSO
       wvdial.conf(5), wvdialconf(1), pppd(8), chat(8).

       FAQ:   http://www.dsb3.com/wvdial/



Worldvisions WvDial                May 2001                          WVDIAL(1)