V3.

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 Front cover

Linux Network
Administration I: TCP/IP and
TCP/IP Services
(Course Code LX07)

Lab Set Up Guide

ERC 3.2

IBM Certified Course Material

Lab Set Up Guide

Trademarks
IBM® is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
The following are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United
States, or other countries, or both:
AIX® DB2® Domino™
Lotus Notes® Lotus® Notes®
SecureWay®
Microsoft, Windows and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States, other countries, or both.
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other
countries.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States and other countries.
Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

September 2003 Edition

The information contained in this document has not been submitted to any formal IBM test and is distributed on an “as is” basis without
any warranty either express or implied. The use of this information or the implementation of any of these techniques is a customer
responsibility and depends on the customer’s ability to evaluate and integrate them into the customer’s operational environment. While
each item may have been reviewed by IBM for accuracy in a specific situation, there is no guarantee that the same or similar results will
result elsewhere. Customers attempting to adapt these techniques to their own environments do so at their own risk.

© Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 1999, 2003. All rights reserved.
This document may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of IBM.
Note to U.S. Government Users — Documentation related to restricted rights — Use, duplication or disclosure is subject to restrictions
set forth in GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.
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TOC Contents
Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PC Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Network Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Serial Cable Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Well-known Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Set Up Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Appendix A. Null Modem Cable for Use with PPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Alternative to Null-Modem Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Contents iii

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Lab Set Up Guide

iv Linux Network Administration I © Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003

Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part
without the prior written permission of IBM.
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Lab Set Up Guide

TMK Trademarks
The reader should recognize that the following terms, which appear in the content of this
training document, are official trademarks of IBM or other companies:
IBM® is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
The following are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United
States, or other countries, or both:
AIX® DB2® Domino™
Lotus Notes® Lotus® Notes®
SecureWay®
Microsoft, Windows and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States, other countries, or both.
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other
countries.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States and other countries.
Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Trademarks v

Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part
without the prior written permission of IBM.
Lab Set Up Guide

vi Linux Network Administration I © Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003

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LSGp Purpose
This Lab Set Up Guide provides directions for installing, preparing, and verifying the lab
hardware and software in preparation for conducting a class of course LX07.
The Requirements sections of this document may also be used to determine the specific
hardware and software needed to conduct a class.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Purpose vii

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without the prior written permission of IBM.
Lab Set Up Guide

viii Linux Network Administration I © Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003

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Uempty Requirements

Hardware Requirements

PC Requirements
Each pair of students requires one Linux-compatible PC. In addition to that, the instructor
requires a similar PC, positioned so all the students can view the display, preferably
through LCD panel on an overhead projector.
Each PC requires at least the following:
• A Pentium-500 processor or compatible
• 128 MB of memory
• A hard disk of at least 4.1 GB
• A CD-ROM player
• A Fast ethernet adapter card, connected to the classroom network.
All the hardware should be compatible with Linux. To find out if your hardware is compatible
with Linux, visit http://www.redhat.com or http://www.suse.com.

Network Requirements
All computers in the classroom should be connected to each other using a Fast ethernet
LAN (100 Mbps). The classroom network should not be connected to any network
outside the classroom! During the course, students will, among other things, configure
DHCP servers and dynamic routing. These services react to broadcasts on the network
and occasionally do broadcasts themselves, both of which may wreak havoc on a
production network.

Serial Cable Requirements

Each pair of PCs should be connected to each other through a null-modem cable for the
PPP exercise. For the specifications of a null-modem cable, refer to appendix A. It is
important to check the specifications of these null-modem cables, since some
commercially available cables do not support hardware flow control.

Well-known Problems
The following problems occur often, especially in IBM classrooms:

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Requirements 1

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Lab Set Up Guide

• Token Ring: Token Ring is not as well supported as Ethernet in Linux. If at all possible,
run this class under Ethernet. If that is not possible, then contact the instructor
beforehand so that he/she is able to anticipate any problems.
• Laptops: The course material does not allow for the use of PCMCIA network adapters,
which is the common adapter type on laptops. Therefore, it is not recommended to run
this class on laptops. If the class needs to run on laptops, contact the instructor
beforehand so that he/she is able to anticipate any problems.

Software Requirements
All systems (student + instructor) should be preinstalled with either Red Hat Linux 9 or
SuSE Linux Professional 8.2 as per the Set Up instructions provided on the next pages. It
is up to the country curriculum manager to decide whether the class runs on Red Hat or
SuSE. Because the systems need to be preinstalled, it is not advisable to let students
choose what distribution they want to use during class (something which is possible with,
for instance the LX02 and LX03).
In addition to the distributions mentioned above, two extra files are needed:
gq-version.rpm (from Red Hat Linux 7.3) and MigrationTools.tar.gz (downloaded from
http://www.padl.com). For convenience these files are included in the course material
library on the worldwide repository, in a file called LX073LABFILES.ZIP. The installation
instructions in this document include instructions on how to load these files onto the student
and instructor system.

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Uempty Set Up Instructions

Linux Installation
Both the student and instructor systems need to be installed with Linux, either Red Hat
Linux 9 or SuSE Linux Professional 8.2. Follow the instructions for the distribution chosen.
After installation, a little customization needs to be done as well. The instructions for this
are at the end of the installation instructions.

Installing and customizing Red Hat Linux 9 (student and instructor systems)
__ 1. Insert the Red Hat 9 Installation CD 1 into the CD-drive.
__ 2. Turn on the computer.
__ 3. The system will boot from disk, and you will see a screen giving you different
installation options. We will use standard installation, so press Enter.
__ 4. When booting from CD, Red Hat is able to test the CD media before install. If you
are unsure of the quality of your install CDs, you can do this, but be advised that this
may take up to 30 minutes per CD (depending, obviously, on the speed of your CD
drive). If you don’t want to test your media, select Skip.
__ 5. Red Hat Linux will now start the graphical installer. If something fails, it will fall back
into a text install, which will basically ask the same questions. When you see the
“Welcome to Red Hat Linux” screen, click Next.
__ 6. Choose the language for the installation process and click Next.
__ 7. Choose your keyboard model and layout, and click Next.
__ 8. Choose your mouse type and port. If you have a two-button mouse, select "Emulate
3 Buttons" as well. Click Next.
__ 9. Choose the "Custom System" installation type. Click Next.
__ 10. Select "Manually Partition with Disk Druid". Click Next.
__ 11. The Disk Druid screen will now allow you to create your Linux partitions. Remove all
currently existing partitions and create three new partitions:
• One partition will be used as /boot partition. Its mount point should be "/boot",
the filesystem type should be "ext3" and the size of this partition should be
100 Megabytes.
• The second partition will be used as root partition. Its mount point should be
"/" and the filesystem type should be "ext3". Let this partition fill the disk to the
maximum allowable size.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Set Up Instructions 3

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Lab Set Up Guide

• The third partition will be used as swap space. The filesystem type should be
“swap”. (A swap space does not have a mount point.) The size should equal
to the amount of memory in the system, with a maximum of 256 MB.
Click Next. You might get a warning about swap space being less than
available RAM. This warning can be ignored.
__ 12. The next screen will allow you to set up your boot loader. Accept all defaults here.
Click Next.
__ 13. The next screen allows you to configure your network. DO NOT configure any
network adapters; the students will do this in class. So deselect "Activate on boot"
on all devices.
Manually set a hostname for this system. If no hostname is assigned, use
"localhost.localdomain".
Click Next. You might get a few warnings which can be ignored by clicking Continue.
__ 14. At the “Firewall Configuration” screen, choose "No Firewall", then click Next.
__ 15. Use "English (USA)" as default language. Do not add support for any additional
languages. Click Next.
__ 16. Now select your Time Zone, then click Next.
__ 17. In the next screen ("Set Root Password") set the root password to ibmlnx. Click
Next.
__ 18. In the next screen ("Authentication Configuration"), accept all defaults. Click Next.
__ 19. Now you will have to choose which package groups to install. For this course you
will need the following:
• X Window System
• GNOME Desktop Environment
• KDE Desktop Environment
• Graphical Internet
• Text-based Internet
• Graphics
• Server Configuration Tools
• Mail Server
Next to the "Mail Server" group, click "Details" and also select "postfix".
• DNS Name Server
• FTP Server
• News Server
• Network Servers

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Uempty Next to the "Network Servers" group, click "Details" and also select "dhcp",
"am-utils" and "zebra".
• Administration Tools
• System Tools
• Printing Support
Click Next.
__ 20. At the "About To Install" screen, click Next.
__ 21. Red Hat will now format the filesystems and install Red Hat Linux. This may take
anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, depending on the speed of the computer.
When asked for, insert the other Red Hat Linux CDs in the drive and click OK.
__ 22. Skip boot disk creation and click Next.
__ 23. The Red Hat installer will now ask you to select your graphical adapter. Most
graphical adapters can be autodetected and the results of that probe will be listed
here. Click Next.
__ 24. The Red Hat installer will now ask you to select your monitor, if it could not detect it
automatically. If your monitor is not listed, then select an appropriate one from the
“Generic” list of monitors.
__ 25. At the “Customize Graphics Configuration”, check that the resolution, color depth
and refresh rate are set to reasonable values. If necessary, change the values and
test. When X works satisfactory, click Next.
__ 26. Your installation is now complete. Click Exit to reboot. Remove the last Red Hat
installation CD when the tray opens.
__ 27. Once the system has rebooted, log in as root with password ibmlnx.
__ 28. Insert Red Hat Linux 9 CD 2 in the CD drive, and install a few extra RPMs with the
following commands:
# mount /mnt/cdrom
# cd /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
# rpm -ivh mgetty* openldap* dhcp* am-utils*
# cd
# umount /mnt/cdrom
__ 29. Insert Red Hat Linux 9 CD 3 in the CD drive, and install a few extra RPMs with the
following commands:
# mount /mnt/cdrom
# cd /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
# rpm -ivh routed*
# cd
# umount /mnt/cdrom

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Set Up Instructions 5

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Lab Set Up Guide

__ 30. Add two user accounts with the following commands:

# groupadd penguins
# useradd -g penguins -m tux1
# echo tux1 | passwd --stdin tux1
# chmod 700 /home/tux1
# useradd -g penguins -m tux2
# echo tux2 | passwd --stdin tux2
# chmod 700 /home/tux2
__ 31. On the repository, where this course material came from, you will also find a file
named LX073labfiles.zip. Put this file on a floppy and unzip it into /root with the
following commands:
# mount /mnt/floppy
# unzip /mnt/floppy/LX073labfiles.zip
# umount /mnt/floppy
__ 32. Halt the system with the poweroff command. Your system is now ready for an LX07
class.

Installing and customizing SuSE Linux Professional 8.2 (student and instructor
systems)
__ 1. Insert the SuSE 8.2 Professional Binary CD 1 into the CD-drive.
__ 2. Turn on the computer.
__ 3. The system will boot from CD,1 and you will see a screen giving you different
options. Choose Installation and press Enter.
__ 4. SuSE Linux will boot and start up the graphical install method. This may take several
minutes.
__ 5. Select your language and click Accept.
__ 6. If the machine has already been installed with Linux, you will get a warning on this.
Select “New Installation” if that is the case, and click OK.
__ 7. YaST will now show a screen with default installation settings. Check to see if the
settings are correct, and pay particular attention to the following:
• Partitioning should be done so that the root filesystem (/) is at least 3.9 GB.
• The Software groups to be installed are:
- Default system
- Graphical Base System
- KDE Desktop Environment
- GNOME system
1
If the system does not boot from CD, then most likely the BIOS is not set up to boot from CD. Change the BIOS settings and try again.

6 Linux Network Administration I © Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003

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Uempty - Help & Support Documentation

- LDAP Server and Tools
- Network/Server
Click Accept.
__ 8. You will now get a pop-up warning that the installation is about to start. Click Yes.
__ 9. SuSE Linux will now install. Depending on your hardware speed, this might take
over an hour.
Note that SuSE will reboot once during the installation, when it is nearly finished
installing all packages from CD 1. This is normal and the installation is configured so
that the installation process continues automatically after the reboot even though the
system boots from CD. You don’t have to touch the keyboard at all!
__ 10. Feed additional CDs when the install process asks for them.
__ 11. Set the root password to ibmlnx. Click Next.
__ 12. Select "Skip Configuration" at the "Network Configuration" screen. Then click Next.
__ 13. Select “Stand-Alone Machine” and click Next.
__ 14. Do not add any user accounts. Click Next.
__ 15. Read the release notes and click Next.
__ 16. Check and adjust the hardware configuration, if necessary. Then click Next.
__ 17. Click Finish.
__ 18. Log in as root with password ibmlnx.
__ 19. Insert SuSE Linux 8.2 Professional CD 3 in the CD drive, and install a few extra
RPMs with the following commands:
# mount /media/cdrom
# cd /media/cdrom/suse/i586
# rpm -ivh telnet-server* finger-server* rsh-server* talk*
# cd
# umount /media/cdrom
__ 20. Insert SuSE Linux 8.2 Professional CD 4 in the CD drive, and install a few extra
RPMs with the following commands:
# mount /media/cdrom
# cd /media/cdrom/suse/i586
# rpm -ivh routed* mgetty*
# cd
# umount /media/cdrom
__ 21. Add two user accounts with the following commands:
# groupadd penguins

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Set Up Instructions 7

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Lab Set Up Guide

# useradd -g penguins -m tux1

# passwd tux1
New password: tux1
Re-enter new password: tux1
# chmod 700 /home/tux1
# useradd -g penguins -m tux2
# passwd tux2
New password: tux2
Re-enter new password: tux2
# chmod 700 /home/tux2
__ 22. On the repository, where this course material came from, you will also find a file
named LX073labfiles.zip. Put this file on a floppy and unzip it into /root with the
following commands:
# mount /mnt/floppy
# unzip /mnt/floppy/LX073labfiles.zip
# umount /mnt/floppy
__ 23. Halt the system with the poweroff command. This system is now ready for an LX07
class.

Installable image creation

Although not recommended, it is possible to create images of the complete system after
installation and customization. These images can then be stored on (for instance) a
CD-recordable or central server, and can be restored when the new class starts.
However, the image created from a certain PC may only be restored to that same PC, or a
PC which is exactly the same in terms of hardware.

Kickstart and AutoYaST installs

The Kickstart (Red Hat) and AutoYaST (SuSE) installation methods provides a fully
automated network install from a standard NFS server, using a configuration file stored on
floppy disk. The advantage of these installs are:
• An install server only needs to be set up once, and can then be used to support most, if
not all, IBM’s Linux classes, including, but not limited to: LX02, LX03, LX07, LX24, LX25
and LX26. Configuring such a server is typically done by or on behalf of the country
curriculum owner.
It is also possible to put an install server on a laptop, and take this laptop from
classroom to classroom, when needed.
• A kickstart/autoyast configuration file only needs to be created once for each
course/course version. This typically is done by the course owner. The

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Uempty kickstart/autoyast configuration file is then typically put on a floppy or floppy set, which
is then given to the lab setup department, for subsequent installs.
• Compared to image creation (e.g. using Ghost), the space requirements are much
smaller. Ghost will require an disk image for each class, for each type of system in use,
while kickstart/autoyast only requires one install server, and a few floppy images per
class. Kickstart/autoyast is, to a very large extent, not dependent on specific hardware:
one script can be used for a variety of hardware.
For a kickstart/autoyast install, you will need the following:
• An NFS server which exports the Red Hat Linux 9 CDs and/or the SuSE 8.2
Professional CDs.
• A custom boot disk or set of custom boot disks which installs each classroom system.
Configuring the NFS server is beyond the scope of this Lab Setup Guide; a full description
can be found in the lab setup guide of course LX03.

Preparing and executing a Red Hat "Kickstart" install

__ 1. Start a graphical interface with startx, and then start ksconfig. Work through the
screens to configure your kickstart file for your environment, using the installation
steps earlier in this document as a guideline.
Pay particular attention to the list of packages to be installed, the user accounts that
need to be created and the fact that after installation, the network should not be
configured. You will most likely need a %post script to achieve this.
Save the file as "ks.cfg".
__ 2. Insert a blank, formatted floppy disk into the drive, and copy the bootdisk.img image
from the Red Hat CD 1 onto this floppy:
# mount /mnt/cdrom
# dd if=/mnt/cdrom/images/bootdisk.img of=/dev/fd0
# umount /mnt/cdrom
__ 3. Modify the file syslinux.cfg so that the kickstart method is chosen automatically, and
copy the ks.cfg file to disk:
# mount /mnt/floppy
# vi /mnt/floppy/syslinux.cfg
Modify the "default" and "prompt" lines so that they look like this:
default linux ks=floppy
prompt 0
Leave the other lines intact!
# cp /root/ks.cfg /mnt/floppy/ks.cfg

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Set Up Instructions 9

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Lab Set Up Guide

# umount /mnt/floppy
__ 4. Insert a blank, formatted floppy disk into the drive, and copy the drvnet.img image
from the Red Hat CD 1 onto this floppy:
# mount /mnt/cdrom
# dd if=/mnt/cdrom/images/drvnet.img of=/dev/fd0
# umount /mnt/cdrom
To install a classroom system, simply insert the bootdisk.img disk and turn the system on.
When asked for, insert the drvnet.img disk. After about 15-30 minutes (depends on network
bandwidth), your install is finished.
Warning:
Be extremely careful with the kickstart floppy. If this is left in a system by accident, the
complete disk will be wiped out if this system is rebooted!

Preparing and executing a SuSE "AutoYaST" install

__ 1. Start yast autoyast. Work through the screens to configure your autoyast file for
your environment, using the installation steps earlier in this document as a guideline.
Pay particular attention to the list of packages to be installed, the user accounts that
need to be created and the fact that after installation, the network should not be
configured.
Save the file as "lx07.xml", on the install server, in the directory
/export/suse82/profiles.
__ 2. Insert a blank, formatted floppy disk into the drive, and copy the bootdisk image from
the SuSE CD 1 onto this floppy:
# mount /media/cdrom
# dd if=/media/cdrom/boot/bootdisk of=/dev/fd0
# umount /media/cdrom
__ 3. Modify the file syslinux.cfg so that the kickstart method is chosen automatically, and
create the ks.cfg file:
# mount /media/floppy
# vi /media/floppy/syslinux.cfg
Modify the "default" and "prompt" lines so that they look like this:
default linux install=nfs://10.0.0.1/export/suse82
autoyast=file:/profiles/lx07.xml
prompt 0
Leave the other lines intact!
# umount /media/floppy

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Uempty __ 4. Insert a blank, formatted floppy disk into the drive, and copy the modules1 image
from the SuSE CD 1 onto this floppy:
# mount /media/cdrom
# dd if=/media/cdrom/boot/modules1 of=/dev/fd0
# umount /media/cdrom
__ 5. Insert a blank, formatted floppy disk into the drive, and copy the modules3 image
from the SuSE CD 1 onto this floppy:
# mount /media/cdrom
# dd if=/media/cdrom/boot/modules3 of=/dev/fd0
# umount /media/cdrom
To install a classroom system, simply insert the bootdisk disk and turn the system on. When
asked for, insert the modules1 and modules3 disks. After about 15-30 minutes (depends on
network bandwidth), your install is finished.
Warning:
Be extremely careful with the autoyast floppy. If this is left in a system by accident, the
complete disk will be wiped out if this system is rebooted!

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Set Up Instructions 11

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Uempty Appendix A. Null Modem Cable for Use with PPP

The PPP exercises and all subsequent exercises assume the availability of a null-modem
connection between two partner systems. These null-modem cables connect the two
partner systems by plugging into the serial port (COM-port) directly. Null modems can be
bought for less than US$10, so I advise against creating them yourself. However, if you buy
null modems be sure that they are capable of "hardware flow control", meaning that the
flow of data is controlled with the "Ready To Send (RTS)" and "Clear To Send (CTS)" wires
in the cable itself. Certain null modems do not support this type of flow control, simply
because they do not cross-connect the necessary wires to each other.
There are basically two ways to verify whether a null-modem cable is capable of hardware
flow control:
• By testing it out, performing exercise 5.
• By verifying, for instance with a multimeter, that the right cables are cross-connected.
A complete null-modem cable will always be a female-to-female cable, meaning that on
both ends there will be a female (that is, with holes instead of pins) connector. The
connector can either be DB-9 (9 holes) or DB-25 (25 holes). If you look straight into the
connector (with the holes facing towards you) and hold the broadest side on top, the holes
are numbered right to left, top to bottom. So in the case of DB-9, the holes are numbered 1
(top right) through 5 (top left), 6 (bottom right) through 9 (bottom left).
The holes on each connector should be connected to the holes on the other connector as
follows:

Connector connects to

Name Hole # Hole # Hole # Hole # Name

(DB-9) (DB-25) (DB-25) (DB-9)
P-GRND N.A. 1 1 N.A. P-GRND

TxD 3 2 3 2 RxD

RxD 2 3 2 3 TxD

RTS 7 4 5 8 CTS

CTS 8 5 4 7 RTS

DSR 6 6 20 4 DTR
CD 1 8
S-GRND 5 7 7 5 S-GRND

DTR 4 20 6 6 DSR
8 1 CD

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Appendix A. Null Modem Cable for Use with PPP 13
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Lab Set Up Guide

Be sure to verify the connections! Certain commercially available null-modem cables have
only holes TxD, RxD and S-GRND connected, or do not connect CD to DTR. Only
null-modem cables with the layout as described above are certified for the LX07 class.
Radio Shack Inc. sells null-modem adapters and cables which are known to work in this
class. For a DB-9 to DB-9 connection you will need:
• One Null Modem Adapter, DB-9 male to DB-9 female, part number 26-264B. List price
(June, 1999): US$ 5.99
• One 6-foot Shielded RS-232C Cable, DB-9 female to DB-9 female, part number
26-152B. List price (June, 1999): US$ 9.99
In addition to that, if you need to connect to a DB-25 port instead of a DB-9 port on one or
both ends:
• One or two Serial Port Adapters, DB-9 male to DB-25 female, part number 26-287A. List
price (June, 1999): US$ 5.99
Note that other null-modem adapters and cables from other manufacturers may also work.
Abbreviation of terms:
P-GRND Protective Ground
TxD Transmit Data
RxD Receive Data
RTS Ready To Send
CTS Clear To Send
DSR Data Set Ready
DTR Data Terminal Ready
CD Carrier Detect
RI Ring Indicator
S-GRND Signal Ground

Alternative to Null-Modem Cable

From Giovanni Mattamira, an instructor from Italy:
In LX07 and LX24 some exercises require the usage of a serial crossed cable; you
included its design in the course instructor material.
It was very hard for me to find such a cable with the proper features. In the LX07 course it
is necessary because you have to start PPP over it, but what I do in the LX24 class is to
use parallel crossed cables instead: very easy to find (just ask for a laplink-interlink cable
and you are immediately understood), quite cheap, probably faster.

14 Linux Network Administration I © Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003

Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part
without the prior written permission of IBM.
V3.0
Lab Set Up Guide

Uempty All LX24 exercises may be done without problems using the parallel cable: just substitute
"ppp0" with "plip0" after defining by ifconfig and configuring by plipconfig.
I don't know if it is worth to mention this in the lab setup guide, anyway I wanted to share
this, should someone have my same difficulty in finding properly built crossed serial cables.
This solution is not supported in this Lab Setup Guide or in the exercises, but can be used
as long as the instructor is informed beforehand.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003 Appendix A. Null Modem Cable for Use with PPP 15
Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part
without the prior written permission of IBM.
Lab Set Up Guide

16 Linux Network Administration I © Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2003

Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part
without the prior written permission of IBM.
V3.0

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