Learning Red Hat Linux, Third Edition

Using wvdial

If you have your dial-up network connection working perfectly, you may have little interest in exploring wvdial. However, there are two reasons you should consider learning more about wvdia l: you can use wvdial even if X isn’t working or isn’t installed, and you can use wvdial in shell scripts of your own design. Chapter 13 includes an example script.

The /etc/wvdial.conf File

To configure wvdial, become the root user and issue the following command:

# wvdialconf 
               /etc/wvdial.conf

This command analyzes your system and creates a template configuration file, /etc/wvdial.conf . You must edit this file to specify the username and password your ISP expects.

The contents of the template file look something like this:

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/modem
Baud = 115200
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 S11=55 +FCLASS=0
ISDN = 0
; Phone = <Target Phone Number>
; Username = <Your Login Name>
; Password = <Your Password>

Edit the last three lines of the file, deleting the leading semicolon and space and substituting the proper phone number, username, and password required to connect to your ISP. When you’re done, your file should look something like this:

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/modem
Baud =  115200
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ISDN = 0
Phone = 15625551100
Username = bill100
Password = donttell

Tip

Be sure that only the root user can read the wvdial.conf file. Use a file manager or the shell to change the file’s permissions, if necessary. Otherwise, ...