Scenario: Configure a PPP connection from a server that provides connectivity for other systems through an ISP

Situation

Suppose you are responsible for maintaining an iSeries™ server for MyCompany, a small manufacturing company in Boone, Iowa. As part of providing this support, you need to establish a connection between electronic customer support and MyCompany's iSeries server.

Since MyCompany has an Internet bound network connection, you can create a connection from your iSeries server through your modem to a dial up point-to-point (PPP) connection. Because your network includes three other iSeries servers, you also want to consider providing connectivity to electronic customer services through the Universal Connection from MyCompany's main server.

Solution

Create a Universal Connection to IBM® through the a dialup point-to-point connection over the Internet. In this case, you establish a connection through the Connection Manager on your local iSeries server through a point-to-point Internet connection to electronic customer support. In this case, your main server can act as a connecting point for the other three MyCompany servers in your company that need to connect to electronic customer support services, as described in Configure a multi-hop connection through a remote server. As part of your server configuration and setup, the wizard will create an L2TP terminator profile, or you can select an existing L2TP terminator profile. See L2TP (virtual line) for additional information about L2TP terminator profiles. In addition, the wizard will configure the Service and Support proxy.

Advantages

This scenario provides the following advantages:

Objectives

In this scenario, the customer wants to ensure that IBM can support the MyCompany system over the network though a point to point connection through MyCompany's Internet service provider (ISP) connection. The objectives of this scenario are as follows:

Details

The following diagram illustrates connecting the MyCompany iSeries server to electronic customer support through an point-to-point ISP connection.

Diagram that depicts a PPP connection from a server that provides connectivity for other systems through an ISP

Configuring Universal Connection

Using Universal Connection

When a Service Application wants to use the Universal Connection to communicate with IBM the following will occur:

Prerequisites and assumptions

The prerequisites for enabling electronic customer support over a point-to-point ISP connection include:

Current® system configuration steps

Assuming that TCP/IP configuration already exists and works, complete the following steps to set up the Universal Connection when you connect to electronic customer support when your local server acts as a connection point for the other three servers in MyCompany:

  1. Complete the planning work sheet.
  2. Start the iSeries Navigator and select the Universal Connection wizard.
  3. Enter the service, address, and county information on the Universal Connection wizard dialogs.
  4. Under Connect from current system or partition, select the ISP connection type.
  5. Select a connection profile for your ISP from the Select Profile dialog.
  6. Specify that you want this iSeries server to function as a connecting point through which other servers or partitions connect to electronic customer support.
  7. Select an interface the other servers use when connecting to electronic customer support.
  8. Create or select an L2TP terminator profile.You need these profiles to provide the connectivity to other systems that connect to electronic customer support through your server.
  9. Configure a Service and Support proxy server.
  10. Review the Summary window to ensure that the configuration meets your requirements, and click Finish to save your configuration.
  11. When prompted, Test the connection from your server to electronic customer support.
  12. Configure a Backup configuration.

Scenario: Configure a PPP connection from a server that provides connectivity for other systems through an ISP

After you complete the prerequisites, you are ready to begin configuring the Universal Connection through the wizard.

Step 1: Complete the planning work sheet.

The following planning work sheet illustrates the type of information you need before configuring the point-to-point ISP connection. You use this information when running the Universal Connection wizard.

Planning work sheet Answers
Service information
  • Company
  • Contact name
  • Telephone number
  • Help desk or pager number
  • Fax number
  • Alternate fax number
  
  • MyCompany
  • Tom Smith
  • 515–870–9990
  • 515–870–9942
  • 515–870–5586
  • 515–870–5587
Company address
  • Street address
  • City or locality
  • State or province
  • Country (or region)
  • Postal code
  • National language version
  • Electronic mail address
  • Alternate electronic mail address
  • Media for PTFs (fixes)
  
  • 94 West Proctor St.
  • Boone
  • Iowa
  • United States
  • 55902
  • English (2924)
  • myname@company.com
  • myname@othercompany.com
  • Automatic selection
Location
  • Country (or region)
  • State
  
  • United States
  • Iowa
Connection method Through current iSeries server
Connection type Through an existing switched line connection profile for MyCompany's ISP.
What is your connection profile? DIALPROF
Interface description for other systems to use as a connecting point Any Interface
L2TP terminator profile names QL2TP00

If you prefer using CL Commands to create the configuration, use the Change Contact Information (CHGCNTINF) and the Create Service Configuration (CRTSRVCFG) commands.

Step 2: Start the iSeries Navigator and select the Universal Connection wizard.

To start the Universal Connection wizard and begin establishing your connection:

  1. Open iSeries Navigator software.
  2. Select the server under the My Connections folder that you want to configure for electronic customer support.
  3. Expand Network.
  4. Expand Remote Access Services.
  5. Right-click Originator Connection Profiles.
  6. Select Configure IBM Universal Connection to start the Universal Connection wizard. The Welcome dialog appears.
Note:
A progress bar indicates that iSeries Navigator is loading the Universal Connection wizard. If you encounter problems while running the wizard, see Troubleshoot the Universal Connection wizard for a solution. Run the wizard again after solving the problem.

Step 3: Enter the service, address, and county information on the Universal Connection wizard dialogs.

To enter information about your company and connections:

  1. On the Select Configuration dialog, select either Primary connection configuration or Backup connection configuration. The default is primary. Check the View and modify contact information box and click Next
  2. On the Service Information dialog, enter the following information about MyCompany and click Next:
    • Company – MyCompany
    • Contact name – Tom Smith
    • Telephone number – 515–870–9990
    • Help desk or pager number— 515–870–9999
    • Fax number — 515–870–5586
    • Alternate fax number — 515–870–9942

    If this information exists on your server, the company data already appears in the fields. For example, if MyCompany previously created a configuration, the wizard retrieves the data from the existing configuration.

  3. On the Company Address dialog, enter MyCompany's address and click Next.
    • Street address – 94 West Proctor St.
    • City or locality – Boone
    • State or province – Iowa
    • Country or region – United States
    • Postal code – 55902
    • National language version – English (2924)
    • Electronic mail address – myname@company.com
    • Alternate electronic mail address – myname@othercompany.com
    • Media for PTFs – Automatic selection
  4. On the Location dialog, select the country (or region) and the state or province where your iSeries server resides and Click Next.
    • Country (or region) – United States
    • State – Iowa

Step 4: Under Connect from current system or partition, select the ISP connection type.

Select A connection using an Internet service provider option as your connection type.

Step 5: Select a connection profile for your ISP from the Select Profile dialog.

Select the DIALPROF, a switched line connection type, as the connection profile.

Step 6: Specify that you want this iSeries server to function as a connecting point through which other servers or partitions connect to electronic customer support.

Step 7: Select an interface the other servers use when connecting to electronic customer support.

Select the interfaces that the other MyCompany servers will use when connecting to IBM. Select one of the following options:

Note:
In addition, the wizard configures the Service and Support HTTP Proxy to start with TCP and to listen for connection requests on the interfaces you select.

In this case, MyCompany selects the Any Interface option so that connections will be accepted from all active TCP/IP interfaces.

Step 8: Create or select an L2TP terminator profile.

  1. Select an L2TP terminator profile for each of your selected interfaces. Choose one of the following options:
    • Click Create a new profile named QL2TPnn where nn represents a number from 00 to 99. With this selection, the wizard creates, names, and consecutively numbers the new L2TP profile.
    • Click Select an existing profile to choose a specific L2TP profile for the associated interface.

    In this case, MyCompany lets the Universal Connection wizard create an L2TP profile.

  2. Ensure that the Start selected L2TP terminator profiles when TCP/IP is started check box is checked. MyCompany wishes to start this profile when starting TCP/IP.
    Note:
    By starting the selected L2TP terminator profile when the system starts TCP/IP, all other L2TP terminator profiles for this interface will be modified not to start with TCP/IP.

    If you specify that you do not want to start the selected L2TP terminator profiles when TCP/IP is started, you must manually start the L2TP terminator before using the connection to the systems.

Step 9: Configure a Service and Support proxy server.

To configure a service and support proxy server

  1. Fill in the Server port field.
  2. If desired, check the Require HTTP basic authentication box and fill in the User name and Password fields. Authentication is optional. If specified, all other partitions or systems using this proxy must provide these security credentials.
  3. Click Next and proceed to the next Step.

Step 10: Review the Summary window to ensure that the configuration meets your requirements, and click Finish to save your configuration.

To complete and save your server configuration:

  1. Review the configuration summary. Click Back if you need to change a value on any of the wizard dialogs.
  2. When the configuration is correct, click Finish to save the configuration. A progress bar indicates that the wizard is in the process of saving the configuration.

Step 11: Test the connection from your server to electronic customer support.

To test the configuration:

  1. Click Yes when the wizard prompts you to test the configuration. The Verify Universal Connection dialog appears.
  2. Make note of any problems as the wizard displays verification progress.
  3. Click OK when the wizard indicates that verification is complete.
  4. If the wizard finds errors, restart the Universal Connection wizard, make necessary corrections, save, and retest the corrected configuration.

Step 12: Configure a backup configuration.

If an additional connection method is available to you, it is suggested that you rerun the wizard to configure a backup. This backup will be used automatically in the event that the primary connection fails.