2.2. Installing mpd

If you use the FreeBSD package or port, mpd will be automatically installed into /usr/local/sbin/mpd4. with the default set of device types compiled into it. In order to run, mpd needs a few configuration files. The directory /usr/local/etc/mpd4 is created to hold them. In it you will find some sample configuration files.

Before you can run mpd, you must set up your site-specific configuration files. These files are:

mpd.conf

This file defines one or more configurations. When mpd is invoked, you specify the name of a configuration on the command line. This configuration (which merely consists of a series of mpd commands) is loaded. If no configuration is given, the first one listed in mpd.conf is loaded.

Each configuration defines one or more bundles. Each bundle is given a name, assigned a system interface and one or more links that make up the bundle. A bundle is defined with the new command. Subsequent commands in the configuration configure the various layers for that bundle.

Generally speaking, the commands in mpd.conf only configure the device independent information for a bundle.

mpd.links

This file contains definitions of the various links that are available on the system. Different links may be part of different bundles in different configurations. Therefore, the commands in this file configure information that is link specific and independent of any particular configuration. For example, a certain modem may require a special init string, no matter how or in what bundle the modem is to be used. The commands in this file are executed when the bundle is defined (i.e., as a result of a new command). So the information configured for a link by that link's mpd.links entry can be overriden by subsequent commands in mpd.conf.

mpd.secret

This file contains login, password pairs. This is where mpd looks to find all authentication information. This file should be readable only by root.

mpd.script

This file contains chat scripts for modem devices.