Linux Modem sharing mini-HOWTO

Author:  Friedemann Baitinger,  baiti@toplink.net
last update:

v1.01, 11 February 1997 source now in HTML format, added a reference on where
                to get 'cu', also added a reference on where to get
                mserver. '-s' parameter added to 'cu' example.

V1.00, 06/12/97 Initial release

1. Introduction

2. The Server Side

  a)  a modem attached to a /dev/ttySx device

  b)  an 'isdn4linux'-emulated modem mapped to a /dev/ttyIx device

The easiest setup I can think of uses a five lines perl script to implement a 'modem demon':

    $ cat /usr/sbin/modemd

    #!/usr/bin/perl
    select((select(STDOUT), $| = 1)[$[]);
    select((select(STDIN), $| = 1)[$[]);
    exec 'cu -s 115200 -l /dev/ttyS1';
    die '$0: Cant exec cu: $!\n';

The modem demon is started by the INETD process if a client connects to the appropriate port as described below. The 'modemd simply connects the socket handle with STDIN and STDOUT of the 'cu' command and lets 'cu' handle the actual modem device. In case you don't have 'cu' on your system, please install the 'UUCP' package, 'cu' is usually part of 'UUCP'.

The existence of the modem demon must be made known to the INETD process by updating its configuration file, usually /etc/inetd.conf like:

    #
    # modem daemon
    #
    modem stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/modemd /dev/ttyS1

In order to make this work, an entry to '/etc/services' needs to be added like:

    modem           2006/tcp        modemd

This associates a symbolic name with an explicit port, 2006 in the example. The portnumber could be any number not already assigned to an existing service. After these changes have been made, a signal must be sent to the inetd process in order to let inetd re-read and process its configuration file:

    $ ps |grep inetd
    194  ?  S     0:00 /usr/sbin/inetd

    kill -HUP 194
 

Now the server side is ready to accept requests from clients. The correct function can be verified by:

    $ telnet localhost modem

    Trying 127.0.0.1...
    Connected to localhost.
    Escape character is '^]'.

You are now connected to the modem. You can now issue 'AT' command in order to verify the setup:
 
    atz
    atz
    OK

    ati1
    ati1
    Linux ISDN
    OK

    ^]
    telnet>quit
    $ 

Instead of using the Perl script as a modem server, there is also a program named 'mserver' available on ftp://ftp.innet.be/pub/staff/carl/ . In case it is not there anymore, you may want to use 'archie' or any other search engine in order to locate the mserver archive. I haven't had the opportunity yet to install and use mserver.

3. The Client Side

DialOut/IP presents the shared modem on a new virtual COM port that it adds to Windows.  This virtual COM port can be used by Windows programs as if the shared modem is directly connected.  Most client applications (including Windows 95 dial-up networking) accept this and work as if there were a real COM port and modem, with the general exception being fax applications or any others that need access to UART control lines. DialOut/IP can be configured to provide Telnet protocol processing, but that feature applies to certain modem pool products and not to the Linux setup described in this file.  Note that, despite its name, DialOut/IP can be used also by applications that wait for incoming calls.

On www.tactical-sw.com there is a page for downloading a fully functional evaluation version that times out in 1-2 weeks. Installation and configuration is handled by a setup program, with installation details in the README.TXT file.  When you run DialOut/IP, you enter the IP address and port number of the shared modem.

DialOut/IP is a commercial product that is licensed on a per-modem basis, that is, the price depends on the number of modems that you are sharing. The license states that you can install the software on any number of PC's that access the shared modems.

4. Security Considerations

I suggest to install and configure tcp-wrappers in order to protect the modem sevrer against unauthorized access.

5. Examples