Multitech ISI5634/PCI lnstallation

[Dapo Salami]

l used to have problems with the installation of Multitech ISI5634 modem on RedHat Linux mainly for the purpose of a Remote Access Server/Dial-in Server. l later came up with the solution which l believe will be of help to people as well.




A REPORT ON THE CONFIGURATION
OF Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) SERVER
FOR A REMOTE ACCESS SYSTEM (RAS) IMPLEMENTED WITH A DIAL-UP ACCESS






Written By
Dapo SALAMI


29th of April, 2004








TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page

Introduction
1.1 Background 3
1.2 Purpose and Scope 3
1.3 Objective 3
Methodologies and Procedure.
2.1 Materials and Methods 4
2.1.1 Materials 4
2.1.2 Methods 4
2.2 Setting up the PPP files 4
2.2.1 Configuration 5
2.2.2 Edit the login.config file 5
2.2.3 Edit the mgetty.config 5
2.2.4 Set up the options file 6
2.2.5 Create and edit options.ttyM1a 6
2.2.6 Set up the pap-secrets file 7
2.2.7 Create Linux Users 7
2.3 Remote Client Configuration 8
2.3.1 For Windows OS 8
Results and Discussion
3.1 General Discussion 10
3.2 Conclusion and Recommendation. 10




CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background
Remote Access System (RAS) is defined, according to the Webopedia Computer Dictionary, as the ability to log onto a network from a distant location. Generally, this implies a computer, a modem, and some remote access software to connect to the network. Whereas remote control refers to taking control of another computer, remote access means that the remote computer actually becomes a full-fledged host on the network. The remote access software dials in directly to the network server. The only difference between a remote host and workstations connected directly to the network is slower data transfer speeds.

1.2 Purpose and Scope
RAS with respect to Dial-up connectivity is used to establish a network connection between a Web-Application Server, for PC-Banking, and a remote system or client that accesses the resources on the server for an appropriate transaction. The scope of this report is restricted but not limited to the following:

 Setting up the RAS Server on Linux Operating System
 Configuration of PPP server option files
 Setting up the Client System on Windows 2000 and XP
 Phone cable Connectivity
1.3 Objective
The main objective of this report is to present the stepwise configuration of Remote Access System with the use of Dial-up to establish network connectivity for the implementation of PC-Banking. This configuaration was done with Multitech ISI5634PCI Modem 4/8 ports. Linux Driver comes with the Modem, it also contains the installation Maual for the Hardware and driver installation.
CHAPTER TWO
Methodologies and Procedure.
2.1 Materials and Methods
2.1.1 Materials
Server Requirement;
i. A server-enabled Linux Operating System Installation
ii. A working multi-port modem (port(s) specification depends on the application)
iii. A direct phone line (landline)
iv. A working phone cable, RJ11

Client Requirement;
i. A client/workstation system running Windows 2000/XP Operating System.
ii. A direct phone line (Landline)
iii. A working modem port
iv. A working phone cable, RJ11.

2.1.2 Methods
Server Set-up;
The Server runs Linux OS version 7.2.The installation must include packages like mgetty, mgettyvoice, mgettysendfax, make, minicom, pppd and the kernel source. If one or more of these is not included during the installation, it is advisable that it should be installed for a proper set up.

2.2 Setting up the PPP files
The Point-to-Point Protocol was set up with respect to each of the concerned files that are responsible for the configuration of Linux PPPP Dial-in Server.

2.2.1 Configuration
2.2.2 Edit the login.config file
1. Uncomment the AutoPPP line in the /etc/mgetty+sendfax/login.config file and add auth before login.

/AutoPPP/ a_ppp /usr/sbin/pppd auth login debug

2.2.3 Edit the mgetty.config
2. Adjust the baud rate to the desired throughput in the /etc/mgetty+sendfax/mgetty.config file. The default value is 38400 but it can be set to 57600 for 56K modems. Also Uncomment the following lines;

debug 9
modem-check-time -1
port-owner uucp
port-group uucp
port-mode 0664

3. Add the following line to the bottom of the /etc/inittab file:

ppp0:345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty –x 3 ttyM1a

N.B. You can have as many lines of ppp* (*=1,2,3, …) as there are modem ports. ttyM1a can be changed to the port used by the modem. M1a is the port created by the Multitech ISI modem driver, for a 4-port modem, it has ttyM1a-ttyM1d.
The ports can be queried by using setserial –g /dev/ttyM1a command. The log file can be viewed using tail /var/log/mgetty.log.M1a command.


2.2.4 Set up the options file
4. Put the following options in the /etc/options file:


asyncmap a0000
netmask 255.255.0.0
proxyarp
lock
modem
debug 5
login
-pap
-chat

Set the netmask to the network settings. The keyword proxyarp ensures that the PPP client can see the rest of the LAN by telling Linux Server to add an entry to the ARP table and to add the proxy itself as the router for the LAN traffic destined to the PPP client

2.2.5 Create and edit options.ttyM1a
5. Create or edit the /etc/ppp/options.ttyM1a, where ttyM1a is the port which the modem is connected to. Add host names separated by colons as shown below. These names must exist in the /etc/host file.

6. Grant suid root access to the pppd by typing: chmod u+s /usr/sbin/pppd. This allows the pppd to have access to the protected network resources.


7. Force the Linux runtime system to re-read the /etc/inittab file by typing : init q.

8. Set the IP forwarding feature so that the server routes the client requests to the rest of the LAN, type:

# echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward

2.2.6 Set up the pap-secrets file
9. Set-up the pap-secrets file in the /etc/ppp/pap-secrets file for each client/workstation.

# client server secret IP Address
user * testing 192.168.0.11
* * * *

N.B. pap-secrets recognizes space as a character, so space must be delimited before the entry for any of the columns above. Client is the username given the remote workstation, server is the name of the Dial-up Server system, secret is the password given the remote workstation and IP Address is the IP of the remote system as determined by the Server Administrator.

Server name, depicted with “*” as above, is not a compulsory character field . * above depicts any client/user login grant/access without the entry of username and password. Username, password and IP Address specification by the administrator depicts a compulsory login access with username and password from the user of the remote system.


2.2.7 Create Linux Users
10. Now, create some regular linux users that correspond to the /etc/ppp/pap-secrets file. Use the same password that has been entered in that file. If you do not want to do this step then you must remove the "login" option from the command line of ppp kept in /etc/mgetty+sendfax/login.config.


To test the setup so far, use the terminal program 'minicom'. type "minicom -s" to setup the ttyM1a which is the port through which communication is established.
i. Select Serial Port setup in configuration window
ii. Select A to set the Serial device such as /dev/ttyM1a
iii. Select E to set the baudrate
iv. ESC to exit
iv. Select Exit to communicate with the port
v. Issue AT commands and make sure it returns OK

If it returns OK that means that the modem is working, then go ahead to dial a nearby phone. Use ATDT***** command to dial a nearby phone where ***** is the phone number, the modem can also be dialed into by calling the phone number from a nearby phone, repeating “RING” will be displayed at the minicom console when dialing into the modem. This indicates that the modem is working fine.
The next procedure is to setup the client workstation for it to be able to dial the server.

2.3 Remote Client Configuration

Setting up the client or the remote system takes the following procedures:

2.3.1 For Windows OS;

Start-Settings-Network and Dial-up Connections-Make New Connection.
At this point, it will be required to provide Area Code, Country Code, Type of Connection (Dial-up using the modem/ISDN to connect to Network), Phone Number to dial, Name of Company, etc.
The connection can be opened for configuration by double-clicking on the connection name, general properties for the modem was setup with respect to a corresponding modem speed as specified in the /etc/mgetty+sendfax/mgetty.config file
Options settings remain as they are, check Advanced(custom settings) and click the settings tab button to check “only” Unencrypted password PAP protocol while all other protocols are left unchecked. For security properties, check the TCP/IP protocol and specify the components with respect to the IP Address as specified in the etc/ppp/pap-secrets file.


























CHAPTER THREE
Results and Discussion.

3.1 General Discussion
After the above set up is completed, it is now time to dial into the Dial-up server from the remote client. Simply double-click on the connection name to display the user login interface, enter the same username and password as specified in the Linux user and in the the etc/ppp/pap-secrets file. When connection is established, the connection-icon will prompt the user for a successful connection in the taskbar.

Immediately after a successful connection is established, the web-application can now be used over the established connection. This is done by typing an appropriate URL, for example http://10.8.0.23:8080/expertedge, where 10.8.0.23 is the IP address of the remote server and 8080 is the port through which the Web-application resources are made available and expertegde is the first instance/login-page of the application.

3.2 Conclusion and Recommendation.
Dial-up connectivity is a great tool used in achieving Remote Access System implementation, as this can also be deployed for use in many other projects, therefore there is more to the setup of Dial-up Server than the above written texts, a further survey on common PPP/Dial-up error messages is recommended for a grounded knowledge of the proper understanding of PPP Dial-up Server. The internet will be of good help for this.

[Sweety]

Hi Dapo Salami,

The Information you have provide is really very good I appriciate it and I hope it will be usefull for many people world wide.. Keep posting this kind of stuff..

- Sweety.