Has anyone used vpnstarter and ppp under ssh to implement a vpn?

(Ok, now that only a few are listening ;-)

Here's the deal - I've got everything set up, as far as I can tell,
and ppp starts up, negotiates everything, calls ip-up, and
then exits!

Here's /var/log/messages entries for the vpn starter side:

May 11 18:55:06 ccase pppd[15234]: pppd 2.3.11 started by root, uid 0
May 11 18:55:06 ccase pppd[15234]: Using interface ppp0
May 11 18:55:06 ccase pppd[15234]: Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/ttyp0
May 11 18:55:12 ccase pppd[15234]: Remote message: Welcome to sai-jpl.
May 11 18:55:12 ccase pppd[15234]: Deflate (15) compression enabled
May 11 18:55:19 ccase pppd[15234]: local  IP address 10.90.1.1
May 11 18:55:19 ccase pppd[15234]: remote IP address 10.40.4.1
May 11 18:55:20 ccase pppd[15234]: Modem hangup
May 11 18:55:20 ccase pppd[15234]: Connection terminated.
May 11 18:55:20 ccase pppd[15234]: Connect time 0.3 minutes.
May 11 18:55:20 ccase pppd[15234]: Sent 463 bytes, received 764 bytes.
May 11 18:55:20 ccase pppd[15234]: Exit.
May 11 18:55:24 ccase pppd[15284]: pppd 2.3.11 started by root, uid 0
May 11 18:55:24 ccase pppd[15284]: Using interface ppp0                                                              
\

and here's same thing for target side (the side I ssh TO, and run
ppp ON)

May 11 15:42:03 sai-jpl sshd2[17206]: User vpn, coming from sshgw.specastro.com, authenticated
.
May 11 15:42:03 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: pppd 2.3.11 started by vpn, uid 3419
May 11 15:42:03 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Using interface ppp0
May 11 15:42:03 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/pts/3
May 11 15:42:09 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: CHAP peer authentication succeeded for ccase
May 11 15:42:09 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Deflate (15) compression enabled
May 11 15:42:10 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: local  IP address 10.40.4.1
May 11 15:42:10 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: remote IP address 4.22.36.181
May 11 15:42:16 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: local  IP address 10.40.4.1
May 11 15:42:16 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: remote IP address 4.22.36.181
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl sshd2[17206]: Local disconnected: Connection closed.
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl sshd2[17206]: connection lost: 'Connection closed.'
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Hangup (SIGHUP)
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Modem hangup
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Connection terminated.
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Connect time 0.3 minutes.
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Sent 1066 bytes, received 658 bytes.
May 11 15:42:18 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Exit.
May 11 15:42:20 sai-jpl sshd2[17279]: Starting daemon in inetd mode.
May 11 15:42:20 sai-jpl sshd2[17279]: connection from "4.22.36.181"
May 11 15:42:20 sai-jpl sshd2[17280]: Daemon is running.
May 11 15:42:20 sai-jpl sshd2[17279]: Daemon is running.
May 11 15:42:21 sai-jpl sshd2[17280]: User vpn, coming from sshgw.specastro.com, authenticated
.
May 11 15:42:21 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: pppd 2.3.11 started by vpn, uid 3419
May 11 15:42:21 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Using interface ppp0
May 11 15:42:21 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/pts/3
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl sshd2[17280]: Local disconnected: Connection closed.
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl sshd2[17280]: connection lost: 'Connection closed.'
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Hangup (SIGHUP)
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Modem hangup
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Connection terminated.
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Exit.
(END) - Next: /var/log/daemon.log                             


and here is daemon log from same machine:

May 11 15:42:03 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: pppd 2.3.11 started by vpn, uid 3419
May 11 15:42:03 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Using interface ppp0
May 11 15:42:03 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/pts/3
May 11 15:42:09 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: CHAP peer authentication succeeded for ccase
May 11 15:42:09 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Deflate (15) compression enabled
May 11 15:42:10 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: local  IP address 10.40.4.1
May 11 15:42:10 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: remote IP address 4.22.36.181
May 11 15:42:16 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: local  IP address 10.40.4.1
May 11 15:42:16 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: remote IP address 4.22.36.181
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Hangup (SIGHUP)
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Modem hangup
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Connection terminated.
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Connect time 0.3 minutes.
May 11 15:42:17 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Sent 1066 bytes, received 658 bytes.
May 11 15:42:18 sai-jpl pppd[17209]: Exit.
May 11 15:42:21 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: pppd 2.3.11 started by vpn, uid 3419
May 11 15:42:21 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Using interface ppp0
May 11 15:42:21 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Connect: ppp0 <--> /dev/pts/3
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Hangup (SIGHUP)
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Modem hangup
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Connection terminated.
May 11 15:42:22 sai-jpl pppd[17283]: Exit.                             


sorry for such a long post.  I do notice that some of the messages look
kinda strange.  

I'll try to make it to the meeting tonight for face-to-face encounter...

rusty