Can I use a serial port as TCP/IP interface on Red Hat Linux?

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answers:

Can I use a serial port as TCP/IP interface on Red Hat Linux?

Background

We want to run an FTP server on a Red Hat Enterprise OS. The problem is, the machine we have does not have an Ethernet port/interface (please don't ask why; it's just a project requirement).

We only have a serial port.

Question

Is there COTS / open source software that I can use to make serial port "look" like a an Ethernet port? My project is commercial. We run Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3.

Note: Pardon me if my post title is unclear. If you can think of a better title, please suggest or simply change the title.

+2 A:

I found a couple of things, but I'm not sure if it's the answer to my question. Please comment as you see fit:

I also found another question asked on SO, but I'm not sure if it's related to what I'm trying to do:

ShaChris23 2010-04-14 18:54:56

Got a response from ser2net project admin, and it *cannot* be used for my scenario.

ShaChris23 2010-04-14 20:24:44

Got a response from Eltima, and that software would not solve the problem either.

ShaChris23 2010-04-16 16:28:30

+6 A:

You should also be able to use PPP (point-to-point protocol) to another endpoint over a serial connection.

Joe 2010-04-14 18:57:07

For an ftp server utilizing an ethernet connection? Not sure how this applies.

Robert Harvey 2010-04-14 19:23:32

There is no real ethernet connection per the OP's post. PPP will provide a pseudo-network interface that the server can use as an endpoint, presumably with a connection made from a machine at the other end of the serial link.

Joe 2010-04-14 19:37:02

@Joe, thanks for the answer. Do you happen to have a tutorial link that explains how to configure PPP for serial?

ShaChris23 2010-04-14 20:24:11

I haven't had a need to use it in years. There's an OLD HOWTO that still has relevant info here: http://tldp.org/HOWTO/PPP-HOWTO/direct.html

Joe 2010-04-15 00:31:44

+1 PPP is the right answer.

Warren Young 2010-04-15 23:23:55

With PPP, your serial port "looks like ethernet" only in the sense that it offers a network port. There's no hardware ethernet connectivity. You need to connect PPP to another PPP host; if that host has network connectivity it can route the packets for you. This is how dial-up ISPs work.

mpez0 2010-04-16 16:43:14

EDIT

The exact answer to my question is contained in this link:

http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/Serial-Laplink-HOWTO.html

To sum up, you use PPP.

ShaChris23 2010-04-14 20:27:33

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Can I use a serial port as TCP/IP interface on Red Hat Linux?

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