<chapter id="dialog-setup">
<title>Setting up a connection with the dialogs</title>
<para>Setting up a connection with the dialog based setup is not too much more
difficult than using the wizard.</para>
<para>You can reach the setup dialog the same way you did the wizard. Start
&kppp; from your <guimenu>K</guimenu> menu, where you will find its entry in the
<guisubmenu>Internet</guisubmenu> as <guimenuitem>Internet
Dialer</guimenuitem>.</para>
<para>The following dialog will appear:</para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The &kppp; dialer startup screen</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kppp-dialler-tab.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject><phrase>The &kppp; dialer startup screen</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>The &kppp; dialer startup screen</para></caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para>It will probably not have any entries to begin with, and that's what we're
about to do now.</para>
<para>Click the <guibutton>Setup</guibutton> button to begin setting up a new
Internet connection.</para>
<para>This time, choose <guilabel>Dialog setup</guilabel> and you'll see the
following Dialog appear:</para>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The <guilabel>New Account</guilabel> Dialog</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kppp-account-dial-tab.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The <guilabel>New Account</guilabel> Dialog</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption>
<para>The <guilabel>New Account</guilabel> Dialog</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<!-- Make a screenshot of the actual new Account Dialog with no entries -->
<para>The <guilabel>New Account</guilabel> dialog contains the following
sections:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><link linkend="account-dial"><guilabel>Dial</guilabel></link></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><link linkend="account-ip"><guilabel>IP</guilabel></link></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><link linkend="account-gateway"><guilabel>Gateway</guilabel></link></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><link linkend="account-dns"><guilabel>DNS</guilabel></link></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><link linkend="account-login-script"><guilabel>Login
Script</guilabel></link></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><link linkend="account-execute"><guilabel>Execute</guilabel></link></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><link
linkend="account-accounting"><guilabel>Accounting</guilabel></link></para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>You normally won't need to fill in all these, although each of them is
described in the following sections.</para>
<sect1 id="account-dial">
<title>The <guilabel>Dial</guilabel> tab</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Accounts <guilabel>Dial</guilabel> tab</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kppp-account-dial-tab.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Accounts <guilabel>Dial</guilabel> tab</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>The Accounts <guilabel>Dial</guilabel> tab</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para>The <guilabel>Dial</guilabel> tab has the following options:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Connection Name:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>You must give the account a name. This can be anything you like, but if
you have more than one account, each name must be unique.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Phone Number:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specify the phone number to dial. You can use characters such as
<quote>-</quote> to make the number more legible. If you concatenate a series
of numbers separated by a colon (⪚
<userinput>1111111:2222222:3333333</userinput>, &kppp; will try these numbers one
after the other whenever it receives a busy signal. You can use the
<guibutton>Add</guibutton> button to add another number,
<guibutton>Remove</guibutton> to remove a number from the list, and the
<guiicon>up</guiicon> and <guiicon>down</guiicon> arrows to change the order of
the list.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Authentication</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Choose the appropriate method of authentication that &kppp; should use to
log into the server. Check with your provider for more information. Use of
<acronym>PAP</acronym> and <acronym>CHAP</acronym> are described in the chapter
<xref linkend="chap-and-pap"/>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Store password</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Check this option if you want &kppp; to remember your password between
sessions.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guibutton>Customize pppd arguments...</guibutton></term>
<listitem>
<para>This will bring up the <application>pppd</application> arguments dialog.
You can use this dialog to add any desired options that you want &kppp; to hand
to <application>pppd</application>. See the <application>pppd</application> man
page for a list of available options, but unless you know exactly what you are
doing, you should probably restrain yourself from tinkering with these.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="account-ip">
<title>The <guilabel>IP</guilabel> tab</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Accounts <guilabel>IP</guilabel> tab</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kppp-account-ip-tab.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Accounts <guilabel>IP</guilabel> tab</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>The Accounts <guilabel>IP</guilabel> tab</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Dynamic IP Address</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Check this if your <acronym>ISP</acronym> uses dynamic
<acronym>IP</acronym> address assignment. In this case, your
<acronym>IP</acronym> address will change every time you establish a
connection.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Static IP Address</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Check this if your <acronym>ISP</acronym> has given you a static
<acronym>IP</acronym> address. In that case you will also need to fill in that
address in the <guilabel>IP Address</guilabel> box, and any <guilabel>Subnet
Mask</guilabel> if applicable. Ask your <acronym>ISP</acronym> if
unsure. Dynamically assigned addresses are used in the huge majority if
<acronym>ISP</acronym>'s and leaving this checked will in most cases be the
right choice.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry id="auto-configure-hostname">
<term><guilabel>Auto-configure hostname from this IP</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Select this option if you want &kppp; to set the hostname and domain for
your machine after a successful <acronym>ppp</acronym> connection.</para>
<para>This is done by querying the defined Domain Name Server with the
<acronym>IP</acronym> assigned for the <acronym>ppp</acronym> link.</para>
<para>This option is useful for those stand-alone machines which want to use
protocols such as talk, which require the hostname to be the same as your
machine is known on the internet. It overrides the <guilabel>Domain
Name</guilabel> option in the <guilabel>DNS</guilabel> section, and the machine
defaults are restored to their original values when you close the
<acronym>ppp</acronym> connection.</para>
<para>This option is <emphasis>not</emphasis> useful if you just want to connect
to the internet and surf, check mail, or chat. It has the side-effect of
disallowing any new connections to your X server - in other words, you can't
open any more <acronym>GUI</acronym> programs.</para>
<para>Only turn this on if you are absolutely sure you need it.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="account-gateway">
<title>The <guilabel>Gateway</guilabel> tab</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Accounts <guilabel>Gateway</guilabel> tab</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kppp-account-gateway-tab.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Accounts <guilabel>Gateway</guilabel> tab</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>The Accounts <guilabel>Gateway</guilabel> tab</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Default Gateway</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Check this if you want <application>pppd</application> to use the default
Gateway for your machine. This is the default.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Static Gateway</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Check this if you want to specify the Gateway to be used in place of the
default.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Assign the Default Route to this Gateway</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>You almost certainly will need this to be checked (the default).</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="account-dns">
<title>The <guilabel>DNS</guilabel> tab</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Accounts <guilabel>DNS</guilabel> tab</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kppp-account-dns-tab.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Accounts <guilabel>DNS</guilabel> tab</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>The Accounts <guilabel>DNS</guilabel> tab</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Domain Name:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specify the domain name for your machine. As with <acronym>DNS</acronym>
addresses, it is restored to the original specified in
<filename>/etc/resolv.conf</filename> when the connection goes down. If it is
left blank, no changes are made to the domain name specified in
<filename>/etc/resolv.conf</filename></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Configuration:</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Choose between <guilabel>Automatic</guilabel> (the <acronym>ISP</acronym>
will automatically issue you <acronym>DNS</acronym> server addresses when you
connect) and <guilabel>Manual</guilabel>. If you choose manual, the
<guilabel>DNS IP Address</guilabel> section is then enabled.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>DNS IP Address</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>This section is only enabled if you chose <guilabel>Manual</guilabel> in
the previous option. Add the Domain Name Servers assigned to you by your
<acronym>ISP</acronym>. You must specify at least one Domain Name Server for
your <acronym>OS</acronym> to be able to resolve human readable
<acronym>IP</acronym> addresses such as
<systemitem>ftp.kde.org</systemitem>. The <acronym>DNS</acronym> server
addresses supplied must be in numeric form, ⪚
<systemitem>128.231.231.233</systemitem>. These addresses will be added at
runtime to <filename>/etc/resolv.conf</filename>.</para>
<para>Choose the <guibutton>Add</guibutton> button to add each new
<acronym>DNS</acronym> server address to the list box below. Choose
<guibutton>Remove</guibutton> to remove an entry from the list.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Disable existing DNS Servers during Connection</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>If you check this box, any <acronym>DNS</acronym> servers listed in
<filename>/etc/resolv.conf</filename> will be disabled while the connection
remains up.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="account-login-script">
<title>The <guilabel>Login Script</guilabel> tab</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Accounts <guilabel>Login Script</guilabel> tab</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kppp-account-login-script-tab.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Accounts <guilabel>Login Script</guilabel> tab</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>The Accounts <guilabel>Login Script</guilabel> tab</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para>Use this dialog to compose a dial in script for your
<acronym>ISP</acronym> dialup connection. You can use the mini-terminal and the
information supplied by your <acronym>ISP</acronym> to find out what sequence of
actions needs to be executed.</para>
<para>Choose an option from the drop down box on the left, and then add any
parameters for that action in the edit box on the right. Use
<guibutton>Add</guibutton> to add each entry to the <emphasis>bottom</emphasis>
of the script, which is displayed in the lower part of the dialog. Use
<guibutton>Insert</guibutton> to insert an entry anywhere in the script, and use
<guibutton>Remove</guibutton> to delete a line from the script.</para>
<para>The options available are:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Expect</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>&kppp; will wait for the specified string to be received.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Send</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>&kppp; will send the specified string.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Scan</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>&kppp; will scan the input stream for the specified string, and will
store any character from the end of the string up to the next newline, in an
internal buffer. Trailing and leading whitespace will be stripped off.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Save</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Permanently store the previously scanned string in the specified register.
Currently the only valid register is <varname>password</varname>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Pause</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Pause for the specified number of seconds.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Hangup</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>&kppp; will send the <command>hangup</command> to the modem.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Answer</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>&kppp; will set the modem into answer mode.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Timeout</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Change the default timeout to the specified number of seconds dynamically
during the script. You can change the timeout several times during script
execution if necessary.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Prompt</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Prompt the &kppp; user to enter a string, given the specified string as a
hint. The user will see what is typed. If the specified string includes the
mark <userinput>##</userinput>, the mark will be replaced with the current
content of the internal scan buffer, as previously stored with the
<guilabel>scan</guilabel> command.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>PWPrompt</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Prompt the &kppp; user to enter a string, given the specified string as a
hint. An asterisk will be printed for each character the user types.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>ID</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>If the <guilabel>Login ID</guilabel> field on &kppp;'s main dialog is filled in,
send that <acronym>ID</acronym>. If the <guilabel>Login ID</guilabel> field is not
filled in, prompt the &kppp; user to enter an <acronym>ID</acronym>, given the
specified string as a hint. The user will see what is typed. On a second pass,
such as in a loop on a second iteration, or during callback authentication, the
prompt will be displayed regardless of whether the <guilabel>Login ID</guilabel> field
is filled in.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Password</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>If the <guilabel>Password</guilabel> field on &kppp;'s main dialog is
filled in, send that password. If the <guilabel>Password</guilabel> field is
not filled in, prompt the &kppp; user to enter a password, with the specified
string as a hint. An asterisk will be printed for each character typed. On a
second pass, such as in a loop on a second iteration, or during callback
authentication, the prompt will be displayed regardless of whether the
<guilabel>Password</guilabel> field is filled in.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>LoopStart</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>&kppp; will wait for the specified string to be received. It will save
the string for use by <varname>LoopEnd</varname>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>LoopEnd</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>&kppp; will wait for the specified string to be received to exit the loop.
If the string given by the corresponding <varname>LoopStart</varname> is
received first, it will trigger a jump to the line after
<varname>LoopStart</varname>, enabling repetition of username/password style
paired dialogs.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<sect2>
<title>Example Scripts</title>
<example>
<title>A simple example login script</title>
<para>Here is a simple example script I could use to connect to my
<acronym>ISP</acronym></para>
<screen>
Expect ID: <lineannotation># wait for ID:</lineannotation>
Send myid <lineannotation># you have to substitute myid with your id</lineannotation>
Expect word: <lineannotation># wait for 'password'</lineannotation>
Send 4u3fjkl <lineannotation># send my password '4u3fjkl'</lineannotation>
Expect granted <lineannotation># My ISP send 'Permission granted' on login success.</lineannotation>
Send ppp <lineannotation># This starts a ppp connection for
# me on the ISP side.</lineannotation>
</screen>
</example>
<example>
<title>A login script that prompts for ID and password, and has loops.</title>
<para>Here is a script for the same account with an <acronym>ID</acronym> and
password prompt. This script will prompt for <acronym>ID</acronym> and password
each time, no matter what is typed into the <guilabel>Login ID</guilabel> and
<guilabel>password</guilabel> fields on &kppp;'s main screen.</para>
<para>This script also illustrates the use of the LoopStart/LoopEnd structure.
If something goes wrong during the login procedure, for example, I mistype the
password, my <acronym>ISP</acronym> will print an error message and restart the
id/password loop by issuing the string <computeroutput>ID:</computeroutput>
again. If the string <computeroutput>ID:</computeroutput> is caught before the
LoopEnd keyword was parsed, &kppp; will start the script again, from the line
after the LoopStart keyword.</para>
<screen>
LoopStart ID: <lineannotation># wait for ID:</lineannotation>
Prompt Enter ID: <lineannotation># Prompt me for my ID and send it off.</lineannotation>
Expect word: <lineannotation># wait for 'password'</lineannotation>
PWPrompt Enter Password: <lineannotation># Prompt me for my password and send it off.</lineannotation>
LoopEnd granted <lineannotation># My ISP send 'Permission granted' on login success.</lineannotation>
Send ppp <lineannotation># This starts a ppp connection for me</lineannotation>
</screen>
</example>
<example>
<title>Prompts for information not filled in on the main dialog.</title>
<para>Here is the script that I actually use to connect to my
<acronym>ISP</acronym>. This script will prompt for <acronym>ID</acronym> and
password only if I haven't filled in the respective fields on &kppp;'s main
dialog.</para>
<screen>
LoopStart ID: <lineannotation># wait for ID:</lineannotation>
ID Enter ID: <lineannotation># Prompt me for my ID and send it off.</lineannotation>
Expect word: <lineannotation># wait for 'password'</lineannotation>
Password Enter Password <lineannotation># Prompt me for my password and send it off.</lineannotation>
LoopEnd granted <lineannotation># My ISP send 'Permission granted' on login success.</lineannotation>
Send ppp <lineannotation># This starts a ppp connection for me</lineannotation>
<lineannotation># on the ISP side</lineannotation>
</screen>
</example>
<example>
<title>A script for an <acronym>ISP</acronym> using challenge/response
authentication.</title>
<para>Here is a script that I use to connect to an <acronym>ISP</acronym> which
is using some sort of challenge/response authentication. Usually you got a
hardware token (a smart card with a display and calculator like keypad) from the
<acronym>ISP</acronym>. You have to know a password to use the token. After
dialing in your <acronym>ISP</acronym> displays your challenge. You have to
type in the challenge to your token and get a dynamic password as a
response. Then you have to enter that password.</para>
<screen>
LoopStart ID: <lineannotation># wait for ID:</lineannotation>
ID Enter ID: <lineannotation># Prompt me for my ID and send it off.</lineannotation>
Scan Challenge: <lineannotation># Scan for 'Challenge' and store everything behind up to the next newline.</lineannotation>
Expect Password: <lineannotation># wait for 'password'</lineannotation>
Prompt Your token is ## - Enter Password # Prompt me for my password and send it off.
LoopEnd granted <lineannotation># My ISP sends 'Permission granted' on login success.</lineannotation>
Send ppp <lineannotation># This starts a ppp connection for me
# on the ISP side</lineannotation>
</screen>
</example>
<example>
<title>Using Scan and Save in scripts</title>
<para>The following log shows the login procedure of a fictitious
<acronym>ISP</acronym> that provides a new password on each login. The new
password has to be verified and recorded for the next session. </para>
<screen> University of Lummerland
Login:mylogin
Password:
The password for your next session is: YLeLfkZb
Please record and enter it for verification.
Verification:YLeLfkZb
1 = telnet
2 = SLIP
3 = PPP
Your choice:
</screen>
<para>&kppp; can be used to this cumbersome task for you, eliminating the risk
of losing that little sheet of paper that holds your current password at the
same time. The key part of the following script is the combination of Scan/Save
keywords.</para>
<screen>
7 Expect Login: <lineannotation># wait for login prompt</lineannotation>
ID <lineannotation># send ID</lineannotation>
Expect Password: <lineannotation># wait for password prompt</lineannotation>
Password <lineannotation># send password</lineannotation>
Scan is: <lineannotation># wait for '... next session is:' and
# scan the preceding password</lineannotation>
Save password <lineannotation># save the new password for next login</lineannotation>
Expect Verification: <lineannotation># wait for 'Verification:'</lineannotation>
Password <lineannotation># send new password</lineannotation>
Expect choice: <lineannotation># wait for a prompt that let's you choose</lineannotation>
<lineannotation># between different options (telnet, SLIP, PPP)</lineannotation>
Send 3 <lineannotation># choose option 3, i.e. PPP</lineannotation>
</screen>
</example>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="account-execute">
<title>The <guilabel>Execute</guilabel> tab</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Accounts <guilabel>Execute</guilabel> tab</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kppp-account-execute-tab.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Accounts <guilabel>Execute</guilabel> tab</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>The Accounts <guilabel>Execute</guilabel> tab</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para>Here you can select commands to run at certain stages of the connection.
These commands are run with your real user id, so you cannot run any commands
here requiring root permissions, unless you are of course dialled in as root (a
bad thing to do for many reasons!)</para>
<para>Make sure to supply the whole path to the program, otherwise &kppp; may
not be able to find it.</para>
<para>You can add commands to be run at four distinct times during the
connection process:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Before Connect</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Run this command before the dialing is initiated, so it is already
running when you connect to your <acronym>ISP</acronym>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Upon Connect</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Run this command only after a successful connection is
made.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Before disconnect</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Run this command while still connected, before hanging up the
modem.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Upon disconnect</guilabel></term>
<listitem>
<para>Run this command after the connection has been closed.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>You might for example want to run <application>leafnode</application> as
soon as you have connected, or check your mail. You might want to make sure any
mail in your queue is sent, before you close your connection down. You might
want a <quote>clean-up</quote> script to tidy up logs and clear your cache after
you have disconnected.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="account-accounting">
<title>The <guilabel>Accounting</guilabel> tab</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>The Accounts <guilabel>Accounting</guilabel> tab</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="kppp-account-accounting-tab.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Accounts <guilabel>Accounting</guilabel> tab</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>The Accounts <guilabel>Accounting</guilabel> tab</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para>Check the <guilabel>Enable Accounting</guilabel> box to enable or disable
telephone cost accounting for this account.</para>
<para>Select from the list the applicable rule for your telecoms
provider.</para>
<para>If you can't find one, you can write one yourself by copying the supplied
template, which you will find in an <link
linkend="appendix-accounting-template">appendix</link>.</para>
<para>The final option on this page is <guilabel>Volume Accounting</guilabel>,
described below.</para>
<sect2>
<title>Volume Accounting</title>
<sect3>
<title>What is volume accounting?</title>
<para>Basically, it means to count the number of bytes transmitted to and from
the Internet. &kppp; can count incoming bytes, outgoing bytes, or both. It's
up to you what you want (or must) use.</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>Why should I use volume accounting?</title>
<para>Many Internet Service Providers bill their customers based on the number
of bytes transferred. Even more commonly, <acronym>ISP</acronym>'s offer a flat
rate up to some arbitrary transfer limit, and then charge more for every
megabyte above this limit. &kppp; shows you your current volume and can help
you keep your bills to the minimum. Of course, even if you're not billed based
on volume, you can turn on volume accounting just to satisfy your own
curiosity.</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>What type of volume accounting should I select?</title>
<para>That depends mainly on your provider. Many of them only count how many
megabytes you download from the Internet,and ignore how much you send. In that
case you should choose <guilabel>Bytes In</guilabel>. If you have to pay for
both, you should choose <guilabel>Bytes In and Out</guilabel>. <guilabel>Bytes
Out</guilabel> is really only here for completeness, as we're not aware of any
providers using it as a billing basis. It might be useful to those of you
running a web or &FTP; server at home though.</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>Drawbacks</title>
<para>Unfortunately, there is a drawback on volume accounting. &kppp; will only
count the number of bytes, regardless of their origin. Many providers set their
limit only for Internet access, and not for data on their own network. Some
providers set different limits for data that is on their own network, in the
same country, and coming from overseas. So, if you're doing not much
websurfing, and getting most of your pages from your <acronym>ISP</acronym>'s
own proxy cache, then your provider is probably not charging you for that data.
&kppp; will not know these <acronym>IP</acronym> packets are coming from the
proxy, and so it will count them. So if you this situation applies to you, or,
as another example, your provider uses a caching news server such as
<application>nntpcached</application>, then the volume reported by &kppp; may be
higher than the amount you are going to be billed for. On the bright side, at
least &kppp; will never underestimate your bills.</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</chapter>