Package: ppp
Version: 2.4.9-1+1
Severity: wishlist

Hi Chris,

is there a reason that ppp does not come with a systemd unit? I guess
the most common way to integrate ppp is via ifupdown type ppp, but
things are moving into other tools such as systemd-networkd and
netplan.io. It seems like systemd doesn't particularly like ppp https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/481, so it is unlikely to gain
native support. Effectively, what ifupdown does is run pppd with the
right arguments. This can be easily implemented as a .service unit.

An easy way is copying the Arch file: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/packaging/packages/ppp/-/blob/main/ppp.systemd

I note that pppd already supports integration into systemd and thus
becomes a Type=notify service when also passing up_sdnotify. nolog is
redundant as it is implied by up_sdnotify. The file should be installed
as /usr/lib/systemd/system/ppp@.service and not enabled:

dh_installsystemd --no-enable --no-start --no-restart-on-upgrade

People have also been looking into hardening and a lot can be turned on,
but since pppd may invoke external scripts I'm not sure this is
generally appropriate: https://gist.github.com/rany2/330c8fe202b318cacdcb54830c20f98c

People using this unit probably want to add customization for dependent interfaces if using PPPoE:

# /etc/systemd/system/ppp@$PROVIDER.service.d/ifacedep.conf
[Unit]
BindsTo=sys-subsystem-net-devices-$IFACE.device After=sys-subsystem-net-devices-$IFACE.device

Still having the template unit in the ppp package would be useful, do
you agree?

Helmut

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