Ubuntu Manpage: pppoe-server - user-space PPPoE server

NAME

       pppoe-server - user-space PPPoE server

SYNOPSIS

       pppoe-server [options]

DESCRIPTION

       pppoe-server is a user-space server for PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) for Linux and other
       UNIX systems.  pppoe-server works in concert with the pppoe client to respond to PPPoE discovery  packets
       and set up PPPoE sessions.

OPTIONS

-F The -F option causes pppoe-server not to fork and become a daemon. The default is to fork and
become a daemon.

-I interface
The -I option specifies the Ethernet interface to use. Under Linux, it is typically eth0 or eth1.
The interface should be "up" before you start pppoe-server, but need not have an IP address. You
can supply multiple -I options if you want the server to respond on more than one interface.

-X pidfile
This option causes pppoe-server to write its process ID to pidfile. Additionally, it keeps the
file locked so that only a single process may be started for a given pidfile.

-q /path/to/pppd
Specifies the full path to the pppd program. The default is determined at compile time. One use
of this option is to supply a wrapper program that modifies the arguments passed to pppd. This
lets you do things not directly supported by the server (for example, specify IPv6 addresses.)

-Q /path/to/pppoe
Specifies the full path to the pppoe program. The default is determined at compile time. This
option is only relevant if you are not using kernel-mode PPPoE.

-T timeout
This option is passed directly to pppoe; see pppoe(8) for details. If you are using kernel-mode
PPPoE, this option has no effect.

-C ac_name
Specifies which name to report as the access concentrator name. If not supplied, the host name is
used.

-S name
Offer a service named name. Multiple -S options may be specified; each one causes the named
service to be advertised in a Service-Name tag in the PADO frame. The first -S option specifies
the default service, and is used if the PPPoE client requests a Service-Name of length zero.

-m MSS This option is passed directly to pppoe; see pppoe(8) for details. If you are using kernel-mode
PPPoE, this option has no effect.

-x n Limit the number of sessions per peer MAC address to n. If a given MAC address attempts to create
more than n sessions, then its PADI and PADR packets are ignored. If you set n to 0 (the
default), then no limit is imposed on the number of sessions per peer MAC address.

-s This option is passed directly to pppoe; see pppoe(8) for details. In addition, it causes pppd to
be invoked with the sync option.

-L ip Sets the local IP address. This is passed to spawned pppd processes. If not specified, the
default is 10.0.0.1.

-R ip Sets the starting remote IP address. As sessions are established, IP addresses are assigned
starting from ip. pppoe-server automatically keeps track of the pool of addresses and passes a
valid remote IP address to pppd. If not specified, a starting address of 10.67.15.1 is used.

-D Delegate the allocation of IP addresses to pppd. If specified, no local and remote addresses
passed to pppd.

-N num Allows at most num concurrent PPPoE sessions. If not specified, the default is 64.

-O fname
This option causes pppoe-server to tell pppd to use the option file fname instead of the default
/etc/ppp/pppoe-server-options.

-p fname
Reads the specified file fname which is a text file consisting of one IP address per line. These
IP addresses will be assigned to clients. The number of sessions allowed will equal the number of
addresses found in the file. The -p option overrides both -R and -N.

In addition to containing IP addresses, the pool file can contain lines of the form:

a.b.c.d-e

which includes all IP addresses from a.b.c.d to a.b.c.e. For example, the line:

1.2.3.4-7

is equivalent to:

1.2.3.4
1.2.3.5
1.2.3.6
1.2.3.7

-r Tells the PPPoE server to randomly permute session numbers. Instead of handing out sessions in
order, the session numbers are assigned in an unpredictable order.

-u Tells the server to invoke pppd with the unit option. Note that this option only works for pppd
version 2.4.0 or newer.

-o offset
Instead of numbering PPPoE sessions starting at 1, they will be numbered starting at offset+1.
This allows you to run multiple servers on a given machine; just make sure that their session
numbers do not overlap.

-f disc:sess
The -f option sets the Ethernet frame types for PPPoE discovery and session frames. The types are
specified as hexadecimal numbers separated by a colon. Standard PPPoE uses frame types 8863:8864.
You should not use this option unless you are absolutely sure the peer you are dealing with uses
non-standard frame types.

-k The -k option tells the server to use kernel-mode PPPoE on Linux. This option is available only
on Linux kernels 2.4.0 and later, and only if the server was built with kernel-mode support.

-i The -i option tells the server to completely ignore PADI frames if there are no free session
slots.

-h The -h option prints a brief usage message and exits.

OPERATION

       pppoe-server listens for incoming PPPoE discovery packets.  When a session is established,  it  spawns  a
       pppd process.  The following options are passed to pppd:

       nodetach noaccomp nobsdcom nodeflate nopcomp novj novjccomp
       default-asyncmap

       In  addition,  the local and remote IP address are set based on the -L and -R options.  The pty option is
       supplied along with a pppoe command to initiate the PPPoE session.  Finally, additional pppd options  can
       be placed in the file /etc/ppp/pppoe-server-options (which must exist, even if it is just empty!)

       Note  that  pppoe-server  is meant mainly for testing PPPoE clients.  It is not a high-performance server
       meant for production use.

AUTHORS