Dialup Server in AIX

I can't tell you about AIX, but on suns, decs and hps - you just hook up your modem, and away you go. Make sure you have an autoanswer modem, the right cable, and force your modem to autoanswer.
On HP's you can use the system admin tool gui to set all this up, but if you want the file settings, just make sure you have the device files built for your (ttya and b) or (tty0 and 1) -
You can probably purchase a serial controller (like 8 port or so) to attach multiple modems to. I did that once on an hp, and used ddfa to configure it. once again though, I'm sure that AIX has a gui to do all that stuff.
If you have more than one modem, and have a PBX, you can set your PBX to hunt for the next available open port, thus enabling you to use 1 phone number to access multiple modems.
So your answer is - just do it! its easy

Ok, then I need to go somewhat further. The application for which I am setting this up will need to access an application that will reside on the AIX box. Will this dial up give me a standard shell, or will it give me a 'console'?

If it give me a shell then great, because I can create a script that will startup the application that the user needs to access..

Normally, the dial up response will be to dump you into a shell. Once the modem connects, you will be prompted for login. If you are using a terminal emulator on a PC like "Reflections, or Exceed, then you can script your login to take you to any shell or program. I think you may want to be more specific with your actual question, since at the point of connection, there are a lot of options.

The answer to this really depends on what you need to achieve once you connect to the AIX machine. Do you need shell access only or do you need to establish a network connection? If all you need is shell access then setting the modem to autoanswerand enabling login on the port in smit will give you dial in shell access. If you need a network connection, then you need to setup an incoming PPP connection on the modem port after setting the modem to autoanswer mode. This will allow you to useDialup Networking under your Windows (or whatever) client and establish a connection to the server that will act like you are on the local network. More information is needed about you objectives to give a more detailed answer, but either one is easy to setup and maintain under AIX.

Good Luck!
David

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