How To: Manual Network Configuration without the need for Network Manager

[gleble]

I am using Intrepid running on an Acer 5735. My router is an Orange Livebox

I followed the WEP instructions and sudo dhclient wlan0 gave this

neil@neil-laptop:~$ sudo dhclient wlan0
There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.pid with pid 17562
killed old client process, removed PID file
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.1.1
Copyright 2004-2008 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
Listening on LPF/wlan0/00:21:5d:74:69:f4
Sending on   LPF/wlan0/00:21:5d:74:69:f4
Sending on   Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 14
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 19
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 12
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.

What are the last two lines about
If I ifconfig eth0 down I get

There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.pid with pid 20547
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.1.1
Copyright 2004-2008 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
can't create /var/lib/dhcp3/dhclient.leases: Permission denied
SIOCSIFADDR: Permission denied
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Permission denied
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Permission denied
wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
Open a socket for LPF: Operation not permitted

[gleble]

Solved, pressed button 2 on the Livebox and everything works so I must have got it configured right anyway.

[tonytraductor]

This was helpful.
I removed gnome-network-manager, and lost my connection, and couldn't bring it back up until I saw this.
Now, the question I have is, what to do if I don't know the essid?
I want the laptop to auto connect to wifi when I go to coffee shops, and stuff.
I suppose now that I have the connection up again, I could re apt-get gnome-network-manager, but I don't use gnome (prefer openbox).
I want to be able to connect from openbox, without gnome tools, and when I am roaming (unknown essid).
How do I do that?

[stansford]

kevdog,

I have an RT2500 pci wireless card that connects fine with the latest network manager applet in Jaunty using WPA....however any idea how to connect with WPA via a CLI only system?

You mention using iwconfig and iwpriv in your guide, but the in-built RT2x00 drivers in Jaunty don't allow you to inject a key via iwpriv any more, returning "no private ioctls" when tried.

Also I assume the serialmonkey route is now closed as they've dropped legacy support and it is their drivers that are built into the kernel.

So how do you connect a RT2500 wifi card via the CLI with WPA now? Thanks.

[kevdog]

TonyTraductor

To see the networks around you:

sudo iwlist scan

This will show you the essids of the networks around you, and then you can connect.

Its also possible to install and run wicd within openbox (Ive done this within e17). If you need a system tray app (trayer or docker), a wicd icon can be placed within the tray to give you feedback.

stansford:

Have you just tried the same old method as everyone else with the use of wpa supplicant?

[stansford]

TonyTraductor

stansford:

Have you just tried the same old method as everyone else with the use of wpa supplicant?

- Yes I'm trying that method but have a problem (or two!).
Don't know if you can help:

1. From the articles I've read etc there seems to be confusion about what config info to place where. Eg Do you need to put info into /etc/network/interfaces or is it sufficient to specify ssid, WPA key etc in wpa_supplicant.conf alone?

I'm not really clear about why you'd need both as it seems the information is duplicated if you put it in both files.

Anyway, here's my wpa_supplicant.conf file:

#--------
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1
network={
ssid="my-ssid"
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
group=TKIP
psk=hex-key
priority=5
}

Here's my /etc/network/interfaces file:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-driver wext
wpa-ssid my_essid
wpa-ap-scan 1
wpa-proto WPA
wpa-pairwise TKIP
wpa-group TKIP
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
wpa-psk hex_key

I did a network restart:

#sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

then bring up wlan0:

#iwconfig wlan0 essid my-ssid
-returns with no ouput

then the command:
#wpa_supplicant –iwlan0 –c~/wpa.conf -ddd
- this is where the problem starts.
- I don't seem to be able to associate with my router....I don't know why. I can see the message "no keys have been configured - skip keyring clearing" - then it times out and starts trying again.
Eventually I control-C to quit

I can attach the wpa_supplicant output if you want, but there is a lot of debugging stuff in there that I don't understand. However I see that wpa_supplicant does find my router and there's talk about WPA and wlan0 being up etc so it kinda feels like I'm not a million miles away and yet.....

I appreciate this may not be your thing, but any help, answers/suggestion gratefully received. Thanks

[kevdog]

Ok

Lets clear up a few misconceptions that run across these forums.

The /etc/network/interfaces file:

This file is read when the command "ifup" is executed. You can think of it as the configuration file when ifup is executed. Processess such as Network Manager that run ifup, read this file. Note that the ifup (interfaces up) command is a much higher level command than the more basic command "ifconfig <interface name -- ie wlan0> up". ifup not only calls the ifconfig command given the paramaters in the /etc/network/interfaces file, but it also tries to set the route statement. I know the differences between the ifup and ifconfig <interface name> up command seems confusing, however the man pages -- man ip and man ifconfig may help to clear up the confusion. Bottom line however ifconfig <interface> up is a more lower level command than ifup and using the ifconfig command means the /etc/network/interfaces file is never read. So hence you don't need this command at all -- and hence you never need to do a sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart command.

You wpa_supplicant.conf file is where you set your parameters that are read when you run the wpa_supplicant command. Ive noticed your wpa_supplicant.conf file is quite wordy. Meaning it seems to contain parameters that are excessive. I usually find a smaller wpa_supplicant.conf file to be more helpful than a larger one. I provided some examples in the instructions, and I would stick right now to using the format of the examples until things work. Adding a bunch of extra parameters -- although the man pages state you can do this -- in my experience usually messes up things.

I also don't understand this statment:

then bring up wlan0:

#iwconfig wlan0 essid my-ssid
-returns with no ouput


What exactly is your interface name? Is it wlan0 or eth1 or something else? Usually typing ifconfig at the command line will help you with this, or typing lshw -C network, and then examining the ouput will help

Bringing the interface up manually is usually like this:
sudo ifconfig <interface -- wlan0 for example> up

This activates the network card.

To scan for networks
sudo iwlist scan

You don't need specify a interface specifically with this command although you could -- sudo iwlist <interface> scan. Without the interface parameter, the command will be run on all interfaces and not just on the one designated interface.

[stansford]

Ok

Lets clear up a few misconceptions that run across these forums.

The /etc/network/interfaces file:

This file is read when the command "ifup" is executed. You can think of it as the configuration file when ifup is executed. Processess such as Network Manager that run ifup, read this file. Note that the ifup (interfaces up) command is a much higher level command than the more basic command "ifconfig <interface name -- ie wlan0> up". ifup not only calls the ifconfig command given the paramaters in the /etc/network/interfaces file, but it also tries to set the route statement. I know the differences between the ifup and ifconfig <interface name> up command seems confusing, however the man pages -- man ip and man ifconfig may help to clear up the confusion. Bottom line however ifconfig <interface> up is a more lower level command than ifup and using the ifconfig command means the /etc/network/interfaces file is never read. So hence you don't need this command at all -- and hence you never need to do a sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart command.

You wpa_supplicant.conf file is where you set your parameters that are read when you run the wpa_supplicant command. Ive noticed your wpa_supplicant.conf file is quite wordy. Meaning it seems to contain parameters that are excessive. I usually find a smaller wpa_supplicant.conf file to be more helpful than a larger one. I provided some examples in the instructions, and I would stick right now to using the format of the examples until things work. Adding a bunch of extra parameters -- although the man pages state you can do this -- in my experience usually messes up things.

I also don't understand this statment:

then bring up wlan0:

#iwconfig wlan0 essid my-ssid
-returns with no ouput


What exactly is your interface name? Is it wlan0 or eth1 or something else? Usually typing ifconfig at the command line will help you with this, or typing lshw -C network, and then examining the ouput will help

Bringing the interface up manually is usually like this:
sudo ifconfig <interface -- wlan0 for example> up

This activates the network card.

To scan for networks
sudo iwlist scan

You don't need specify a interface specifically with this command although you could -- sudo iwlist <interface> scan. Without the interface parameter, the command will be run on all interfaces and not just on the one designated interface.

Thanks for the reply.

my interface name is wlan0.
Yes sorry for the confusion over the command "iwconfig wlan0 essid my-ssid". It doesn't bring up the network, it just sets the essid parameter for wlan0 to "my-ssid"!

OK I will slim down the wpa.conf file as per your instructions.
Should I have anything in the /etc/network/interfaces file at this point?....the reason I ask is that Wieman's fantastic post
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=202834
seems to say: get your wifi up by having no wpa.conf file and instead putting all the config info into the /etc/network/ interfaces file....but then your thread says set up the wpa.conf file....

I'm confused! It maybe my lack of knowledge, but are these two approaches the same thing or are they mutually exclusive and you just try one then the other?

Many thanks for helping

[kevdog]

Wieman's post is great -- I talk to him frequently so don't get the idea that me and him are at war or something. His tutorial helped me out when I was a neophyte.

My post is just another way of making a network connection at the command line. Its much more lower level than his. You used to have to put a wpa_supplicant call within the /etc/network/interfaces file, but that was a long time ago. The method still works however its not necessary.

I find that manually specifying the commands for me at least to be more reliable than use of the interfaces file. I'm not a big fan of the ifup command.

sudo ifconfig wlan0 up (brings the network card up)
sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid "essid" (assigns the card to the specified essid)
...
...
...
sudo dhclient wlan0 (forces the wlan0 interface to ask for a dynamic ip address).

[stansford]

Wieman's post is great -- I talk to him frequently so don't get the idea that me and him are at war or something. His tutorial helped me out when I was a neophyte.

My post is just another way of making a network connection at the command line. Its much more lower level than his. You used to have to put a wpa_supplicant call within the /etc/network/interfaces file, but that was a long time ago. The method still works however its not necessary.

I find that manually specifying the commands for me at least to be more reliable than use of the interfaces file. I'm not a big fan of the ifup command.

sudo ifconfig wlan0 up (brings the network card up)
sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid "essid" (assigns the card to the specified essid)
...
...
...
sudo dhclient wlan0 (forces the wlan0 interface to ask for a dynamic ip address).

OK thanks for that. I will persevere with your way. I am still struggling to get an association. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't and sometimes it comes and goes. I am using the RALINK RT2500 PCI wifi card and I wonder if this is still a source of trouble. I notice that you can't use the SerialMonkey drivers any more as they no longer compile though I admit I don't know why. I did see a post that said use the included drivers (rt2500pci) included in the kernel, but then you can't use the iwpriv method you mention in your how to.

Thanks for your help