1WVDIAL(1) General Commands Manual WVDIAL(1)
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6 wvdial - PPP dialer with built-in intelligence.
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10 wvdial --help | --version | --chat | --config | option=value | --no-
11 syslog | section...
12
15 wvdial is an intelligent PPP dialer, which means that it dials a modem
16 and starts PPP in order to connect to the Internet. It is something
17 like the chat(8) program, except that it uses heuristics to guess how
18 to dial and log into your server rather than forcing you to write a
19 login script.
20 When wvdial starts, it first loads its configuration from
22 /etc/wvdial.conf and ~/.wvdialrc which contains basic information about
23 the modem port, speed, and init string, along with information about
24 your Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as the phone number, your
25 username, and your password.
26 Then it initializes your modem and dials the server and waits for a
28 connection (a CONNECT string from the modem). It understands and
29 responds to typical connection problems (like BUSY and NO DIALTONE).
30 Any time after connecting, wvdial will start PPP if it sees a PPP
32 sequence from the server. Otherwise, it tries to convince the server
33 to start PPP by doing the following:
34 - responding to any login/password prompts it sees;
36 - interpreting "choose one of the following"-style menus;
38 - eventually, sending the word "ppp" (a common terminal server com‐
40 mand).
41 If all of this fails, wvdial just runs pppd(8) and hopes for the best.
43 It will bring up the connection, and then wait patiently for you to
44 drop the link by pressin CTRL-C.
45
48 Several options are recognized by wvdial.
49 --chat Run wvdial as a chat replacement from within pppd, instead of
51 the more normal method of having wvdial negotiate the connection
52 and then call pppd.
53 --remotename
55 Override the Remote Name setting in the dialer configuration
56 section of the configuration file. This is mainly useful when
57 you dial to multiple systems with the same user name and pass‐
58 word, and you don't want to use inheritance to override this
59 setting (which is the recommended way to do it).
60 --config [configfile]
62 Run wvdial with configfile as the configuration file (instead of
63 /etc/wvdial.conf). This is mainly useful only if you want to
64 have per-user configurations, or you want to avoid having dial-
65 up information (usernames, passwords, calling card numbers,
66 etc.) in a system wide configuration file.
67 --no-syslog
69 Don't output debug information to the syslog daemon (only useful
70 together with --chat).
71 --help Prints a short message describing how to use wvdial and exits.
73 --version
75 Displays wvdial's version number and exits.
76 wvdial is normally run without command line options, in which case it
78 reads its configuration from the [Dialer Defaults] section of
79 /etc/wvdial.conf. (The configuration file is described in more detail
80 in wvdial.conf(5) manual page.)
81 One or more sections of /etc/wvdial.conf may be specified on the com‐
83 mand line. Settings in these sections will override settings in
84 [Dialer Defaults].
85 For example, the command:
87 wvdial phone2
88 will read default options from the [Dialer Defaults] section, then
90 override any or all of the options with those found in the [Dialer
91 phone2] section.
92 If more than one section is specified, they are processed in the order
94 they are given. Each section will override all the sections that came
95 before it.
96 For example, the command:
98 wvdial phone2 pulse shh
99 will read default options from the [Dialer Defaults] section, then
101 override any or all of the options with those found in the [Dialer
102 phone2] section, followed by the [Dialer pulse] section, and lastly the
103 [Dialer shh] section.
104 Using this method, it is possible to easily configure wvdial to switch
106 between different internet providers, modem init strings, account
107 names, and so on without specifying the same configuration information
108 over and over.
109
112 "Intelligent" programs are frustrating when they don't work right.
113 This version of wvdial has only minimal support for disabling or over‐
114 riding its "intelligence", with the "Stupid Mode", "Login Prompt", and
115 "Password Prompt" options. So, in general if you have a nice ISP, it
116 will probably work, and if you have a weird ISP, it might not.
117 Still, it's not much good if it doesn't work for you, right? Don't be
119 fooled by the fact that wvdial finally made it to version 1.00; it
120 could well contain many bugs and misfeatures. Let us know if you have
121 problems by sending e-mail to <wvdial@nit.ca>.
122 Also, there is now a mailing list for discussion about wvdial. If you
124 are having problems, or have anything else to say, send e-mail to
125 <wvdial-list@lists.nit.ca>.
126 You may encounter some error messages if you don't have write access to
128 /etc/ppp/pap-secrets and /etc/ppp/chap-secrets. Unfortunately, there's
129 really no nice way around this yet.
130
132 /etc/wvdial.conf
133 Configuration file which contains modem, dialing, and login
134 information. See
135 /dev/ttyS*
137 Serial port devices.
138 /etc/ppp/peers/wvdial
140 Required for correct authentication in pppd version 2.3.0 or
141 newer.
142 /etc/ppp/{pap,chap}-secrets
144 Contains a list of usernames and passwords used by pppd for
145 authentication. wvdial maintains this list automatically.
146
149 Dave Coombs and Avery Pennarun for Net Integration Technologies, as
150 part of the Worldvisions Weaver project. We would like to thank SuSE
151 and RedHat for adding a number of various cool features to Thanks guys!
152
155 wvdial.conf(5), wvdialconf(1), pppd(8), chat(8).
156 FAQ: http://www.dsb3.com/wvdial/
158Worldvisions WvDial May 2001 WVDIAL(1)