Page 1 of 16 12311 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 155

Thread: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Beans
    514

    HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    Here was my first HowTo about this topic. It made a success, but now it's a bit out-to-date, as it was written for Hoary.
    This stuff has started getting easier to configure since Breezy and now it's really very easy to have it work.
    This HowTo will help you get WPA to work, no matter what wireless card you have. (This HowTo has been tested with an ipw2200).
    So, let's start:

    1) Open a terminal window and type:
    Code:
    wpa_passphrase your_ssid your_psk
    Note: your_ssid is the name of your wireless network (a.k.a. SSID) and your_psk is the password you want to use to protect your network. (Look below for an example).

    2) Now copy the psk string you got as output.

    3) Type:
    Code:
    sudo gedit /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
    Then paste this as follow:
    Code:
    ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
    #ap_scan=2
    
    network={
           ssid="your_ssid"
           scan_ssid=1
           proto=WPA RSN
           key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
           pairwise=CCMP TKIP
           group=CCMP TKIP
           psk=your_psk
    }
    Note: your_psk is the psk string you got from step 1.

    Here is an example:
    Code:
    luca@laptop1:~$ wpa_passphrase mywlan thisisthepassword
    network={
            ssid="mywlan"
            #psk="thisisthepassword"
            psk=b22ec921c254c73f99b31b76ff876692ecde36839a1f2d92150829e6afcb5515
    }
    The red string is what you have to paste into /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf as your_psk (without quotes obviously). So you'll have something like this:
    Code:
    ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
    #ap_scan=2
    
    network={
           ssid="mywlan"
           scan_ssid=1
           proto=WPA RSN
           key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
           pairwise=CCMP TKIP
           group=CCMP TKIP
           psk=b22ec921c254c73f99b31b76ff876692ecde36839a1f2d92150829e6afcb5515
    4) Save the file and close Gedit.

    5) Now we have to make wpa_supplicant load when system boots, so go back to the terminal window and type:
    Code:
    sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces
    6) Add the following lines in the part regarding your wireless card, as in the example below:
    Code:
    pre-up wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -ieth0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
    post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant
    Note: "eth0" is your wireless device and "wext" is the driver; this is a kind of generic driver, so it should work with most wireless cards. If it doesn't, please try another driver, such as hostap, ndiswrapper, etc.
    Here is an example:
    Code:
    iface eth0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.15
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    wireless-essid my_essid
    gateway 192.168.1.1
    pre-up wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -ieth0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
    post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant
    7) Now run wpa_supplicant:
    Code:
    sudo wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -i eth0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
    You should be online!



    Troubleshooting:

    You can run wpa_supplicant with -dd flag for a detailed debug output.

    1) If you don't manage to connect to the AccessPoint, try to uncomment line 2 in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf.
    2) If that doesn't help, try change its value to 0 or 1.
    3) If you get troubles while authenticating, try removing "RSN" and/or "CCMP" strings from /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf.
    Last edited by luca_linux; September 30th, 2006 at 11:25 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Beans
    762

    Re: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    Only like to say that if you put the string in "/etc/network/interfaces" you will get an error if you try to reload the DHCP "sudo ifup -a --force"

    I would go for a boot script in the /etc/init.d/your_own_script
    And add it using
    Code:
    update-rc.d -f your_own_script start 40 S .

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Beans
    514

    Re: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    If you use DHCP, your /etc/network/interfaces should look like the following:
    Code:
    auto eth0
    iface eth0 inet dhcp
    pre-up wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -ieth0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
    post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant
    Does this cause that error?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Beans
    762

    Re: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    I know you should not enter the IP etc if using DHCP.
    I did get an error
    Code:
    /etc/network/interfaces:12: misplaced option
    ifup: couldn't read interfaces file "/etc/network/interfaces"
    But what was because of this:
    Code:
    iface eth0 inet dhcp
    auto eth0
    Instead of:
    Code:
    auto eth0
    iface eth0 inet dhcp
    Strange this only happen if I enter the pre-up/down to the interface file

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Beans
    762

    Re: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    Another thing is that if you use the interface file and you dis/enable you network interfaces, it over writes the interface file.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Maryland, USA
    Beans
    260
    Distro
    Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

    Re: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    I am so close - I can almost taste it, but still not having luck. Can someone direct me?

    I am running a LAMP server with a Linksys card running the Broadcom chipset. It can see the access point, but it won't hook up correctly. Here's the output of iwlist

    Code:
    eth0      Scan completed :
              Cell 01 - Address: 00:0C:41:D0:46:A0
                        ESSID:"matthewboh"
                        Protocol:IEEE 802.11g
                        Mode:Master
                        Channel:6
                        Encryption key:on
                        Bit Rates:54 Mb/s
                        Extra: Rates (Mb/s): 1 2 5.5 6 9 11 12 18 24 36 48 54 
                        Quality=100/100  Signal level=-145 dBm  
                        IE: WPA Version 1
                            Group Cipher : TKIP 
                            Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP 
                            Authentication Suites (1) : PSK  
                        Extra: Last beacon: 270ms ago
    and here's what the iwconfig brings back

    Code:
    eth0      IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"matthewboh"  Nickname:"Broadcom 4318"
              Mode:Managed  Frequency=2.484 GHz  Access Point: Invalid   
              Bit Rate=11 Mb/s   Tx-Power=19 dBm   
              RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
              Encryption key:off
              Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
              Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
              Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
    The contents of the wpa_supplicant.conf

    Code:
    # Minimal /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf to associate with open
    #  access points. Please see 
    #  /usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf.gz for more complete
    #  configuration parameters.
    
    ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
    ctrl_interface_group=0
    
    eapol_version=1
    ap_scan=1
    fast_reauth=1
    
    ### Associate with any open access point
    ###  Scans/ESSID changes can be done with wpa_cli
    # network={
    #         ssid=""
    #         key_mgmt=NONE
    # }
    
    
    # reading passphrase from stdin
    network={
    	ssid="matthewboh"
    	proto=WPA RSN
    	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
    	pairwise=CCMP TKPI
    	group=CCMP TKPI
    	psk=c43ae013621f4aa1db2d1127664349f425a2852c352c2c1d6913bfb056736b8d
    }
    Last edited by matthewboh; September 25th, 2006 at 06:17 PM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Beans
    514

    Re: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    @ mattewboh: Are you trying without any protection/encryption? Otherwise, could you post the output of
    Code:
    sudo wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -i eth0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -dd
    ?
    Last edited by luca_linux; September 25th, 2006 at 06:04 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Beans
    514

    Re: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    Quote Originally Posted by yopnono View Post
    I know you should not enter the IP etc if using DHCP.
    I did get an error
    Code:
    /etc/network/interfaces:12: misplaced option
    ifup: couldn't read interfaces file "/etc/network/interfaces"
    But what was because of this:
    Code:
    iface eth0 inet dhcp
    auto eth0
    Instead of:
    Code:
    auto eth0
    iface eth0 inet dhcp
    Strange this only happen if I enter the pre-up/down to the interface file
    Yeah, that's a bit strange.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Maryland, USA
    Beans
    260
    Distro
    Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

    Re: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    It just comes back with

    Daemonize...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Beans
    514

    Re: HowTo: WPA with wpa_supplicant

    Quote Originally Posted by matthewboh View Post
    It just comes back with

    Daemonize...
    Oh sorry, my mistake, I meant:
    Code:
    sudo wpa_supplicant -w -Dwext -i eth0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -dd

Page 1 of 16 12311 ... LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •