wificonfig(1M) System Administration Commands wificonfig(1M)NAMEwificonfig - WLAN configuration
SYNOPSISwificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] autoconf
[wait={n|forever}]
wificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] connect profile
[wait={n|forever}]
wificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] connect essid
[wait={n|forever}]
wificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] disconnect
wificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] getparam
[parameter []...]
wificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] setparam
[parameter=value []...]
wificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] restoredef
wificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] scan
wificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] showstatus
wificonfig [-R root_path] [-i interface] setwepkey 1|2|3|4
wificonfig [-R root_path] createprofile profile
[parameter=value []...]
wificonfig [-R root_path] deleteprofile profile1
[profile2 []...]
wificonfig [-R root_path] showprofile [profile]
wificonfig [-R root_path] setprofilewepkey profile 1|2|3|4
wificonfig [-R root_path] getprofileparam profile
[parameter []...]
wificonfig [-R root_path] setprofileparam
[parameter=value []...]
wificonfig [-R root_path] history
wificonfig [-R root_path] listprefer
wificonfig [-R root_path] removeprefer profile
wificonfig [-R root_path] setprefer profile [n]
DESCRIPTIONwificonfig defines a set of subcommands and parameters to configure
WiFi interfaces in the system. A driver may support all parameters or a
subset of these parameters.
wificonfig uses rbac(5) to control user access to the interface. Only
users with the "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization can manage a
WiFi interface, while only users with "solaris.network.wifi.wep"autho‐
rizations can configure the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key. Other
users can only read parameters from the interface. By default, the
"solaris.network.wifi.config" and "solaris.network.wifi.wep" authoriza‐
tions are not granted to any user apart from root.
Wificonfig comes in two classes of forms. The first class, shown as the
first set of synopsis combined with the optional interface name, is the
subcommands used to a manipulate a particular WiFi network interface.
The second class, shown as the second set of synopsis, is used to cre‐
ate and operate on WiFi Configuration Profiles. A Configuration Profile
allows the user to pre-specify a set of parameters which can later be
applied to a WiFi network interface using the connect or autoconf sub‐
commands.
In the interface subcommands, if the interface is not specified (that
is, the -i option is missing), wificonfig selects a random interface
from the known WiFi interfaces on the system. If there are multiple
WiFi network interfaces on the system, then the selection will be the
same over time as long as the number of and names of the WiFi inter‐
faces does not change.
A Configuration Profile can be created for a WLAN by using the cre‐
ateprofile subcommand (see the SUBCOMMANDS section). The actual WLAN
may be present or not.
wificonfig also maintains a list of Configuration Profiles called the
Preference List. This list makes automatic configuration possible. When
the autoconf subcommand is used, wificonfig tries to connect to each
pre-configured WLAN according to the order of the Preference List. If
the Preference List is empty or none of the WLANs in the Preference
List can be found, wificonfig uses its built-in heuristics to automati‐
cally configure the interface. (See the autoconf subcommand for the
heuristics). A few subcommands (listprefer, setprefer, removeprefer)
are defined to manipulate the Preference List.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-i interface Specifies a wireless network interface to do the con‐
figuration.
-R root_path Defines the full path name of a directory to use as the
root_path. This affects the location of the private
files where wificonfig stores the Configuration Pro‐
files and WEP keys.
OPERANDS
The following operand is supported:
profile The name of a WiFi profile. It can be a string between 1 and
32 characters. However, "all", "{preference}", "{history}",
"{active_profile}", and any strings contained in brackets,
such as "[foo]", are not allowed as a profile name.
SUBCOMMANDS
The following subcommands are supported:
autoconf [wait={n|forever}]
Configures the interface automatically. The interface is configured
according to the previously saved Preference List found in
/etc/inet/wifi. wificonfig first gets a list of available WLANs by
scanning the radio. It then compares the list of available WLANs
with the Preference List. If the Preference List is empty, or if
none of the WLANs in the Preference List can be found, wificonfig
chooses a WLAN to connect to using the following priorities: 1) the
WLANs without encryption, 2) the WLANs with stronger signal
strength, and 3) the WLANs with higher transmit rates.
If the WLANs in the Preference list are available, the user can
specify the number of seconds to wait before autoconf returns using
the wait option. By default (without the wait option), autoconf
returns within 10 seconds. If "forever" or -1 follows the wait
option, wificonfig waits until the NIC is successfully connected to
the WLAN specified by the profile in the Preference list.
The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for
this subcommand.
The WiFi device driver can not guarantee to retain the state for
the connection when it is not held open. For this reason, it is
strongly recommended that the plumb subcommand for ifconfig(1M) is
done before the wificonfig autoconf subcommand is given.
connect profile[wait={n|forever}]
connect essid[wait={n|forever}]
Connects to a wireless network according to a pre-configured "pro‐
file". If the specified Configuration Profile exists in
/etc/inet/wifi, the connect subcommand uses that Configuration Pro‐
file to configure the interface. That profile subsequently becomes
the current active profile of the interface after the connect sub‐
command succeeds. If no existing Configuration Profile matches the
specified name, the behavior of the connect subcommand is equiva‐
lent to the restoredef subcommand, except that the "essid" parame‐
ter is set as "profile".
If the WLANs in the Preference list are available, the user can
specify the number of seconds to wait before connect returns using
the wait option. By default (without the wait option), connect trys
for 10 seconds. If "forever" or -1 follows the wait option, wifi‐
config tries until the NIC is successfully connected to the profile
or essid that was specified.
The connect subcommand prints one of the following lines depending
on whether or not a Configuration Profile was found for the
specified name:
Connecting to profile <name>
Connecting to essid <name>
The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for
this subcommand.
The WiFi device driver can not guarantee to retain the state for
the connection when it is not held open. For this reason, it is
strongly recommended that the plumb subcommand for ifconfig(1M) is
done before the wificonfig autoconf subcommand is given.
disconnect
Disconnects the interface from the currently associated wireless
network. The interface associates with none of the wireless net‐
works.
The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for
this subcommand.
getparam [parameter [...]]
setparam [parameter=value [...]]
Gets or sets parameters in the network interface. This does not
affect any profile. The setprofileparam subcommand can be used to
set and change parameters in a profile that has already been cre‐
ated.
The setparam subcommand without any parameters displays the set of
parameters supported by the network interface, including
whether they are read/write or read only. The getparam subcommand
without any parameters displays all the parameters and their val‐
ues.
The setparam wepkey1|wepkey2|wepkey3|wepkey4 subcommand requires
the "solaris.network.wifi.wep" authorization. For all other parame‐
ters, the setparam subcommand requires the "solaris.net‐
work.wifi.config"authorization.
For example,
$ wificonfig setparam <parameter1=value1> [parameter2=value2 [...]]
$ wificonfig getparam <parameter1> [parameter2 [...]]
wificonfig currently supports the following parameters (the values
are case insensitive).
bssid
MAC address of the associated Access Point. The valid value is
a hex value of 6 bytes. The bssid can also be the IBSSID in an
ad-hoc configuration. If the network interface is not connected
to any WLAN, then the string "none" is shown instead of a 6
byte MAC address. Otherwise, the network interface is connected
to a WLAN. The default value is "none". This parameter is read-
only.
essid
Network name. The valid value is a string of up to 32 chars. If
essid is an empty string, the driver automatically scans and
joins the WLAN using the built-in heuristics. The default value
is an empty string.
bsstype
Specifies whether the Infrastructure Mode or Ad-Hoc Mode is
used. The valid values are "ap", "bss", or "infrastructure" to
join a WLAN through an Access Point, that is, to use infra‐
structure mode. The valid values are "ibss" or "ad-hoc" to join
a peer-to-peer WLAN (also named "ad-hoc"). The valid value of
"auto" automatically switches between the two types. The
default value is "infrastructure'".
createibss
Specifies whether to create an ad-hoc network (also called an
IBSS if the connect does not result in finding the desired net‐
work. This enables the user to start an ad-hoc network so that
other hosts can join. The valid values are YES to start a new
ad-hoc WLAN (instead of joining one) and NO to not start an ad-
hoc WLAN. The default value is NO. The NIC always tries to join
a WLAN first. If this is successful, the setting of createibss
is ignored.
channel
An integer indicating the operating frequency. This channel
number varies by regulatory domain. When the channel number is
obtained by the getparam subcommand, the value indicates the
actual channel the card uses to connect to the network. The
channel number is set by the setparam subcommand, and the value
is only applicable when the card is in ad-hoc mode. It indi‐
cates the operating channel of the IBSS. The default value is
the channel number on the card.
rates
Specifies the transmission rates. The valid values (in Mbit/s)
are 1, 2, 5.5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 18, 22, 24, 33, 36, 48, and 54. A
NIC may support multiple transmission rates depending on its
capability. This is the only parameter that accepts multiple
values. When multiple values are supplied to set this parame‐
ter, each value must be separated by a comma (,). See the EXAM‐
PLES section for details. The default values are the data rates
supported by the chip.
powermode
Specifies the power management mode. The valid values are "off"
to disable power management, "mps" for maximum power saving,
and "fast" for the best combination of speed and power saving.
The default value is "off".
authmode
Specifies the authorization type. The valid values are "open‐
system" for an open system, where anyone can be authenticated
and "shared_key" for a Shared Key authentication mode. The
default value is "opensystem".
encryption
Specifies the encryption algorithm to be used. The valid values
are "none" for no encryption algorithm and "wep" to turn on WEP
encryption. The default value is "none".
wepkey1|wepkey2|wepkey3|wepkey4
A maximum of 4 WEP keys (indexed 1 through 4) can be set in an
NIC. They are write-only parameters which can be set by the
setparam subcommand, but cannot be read back by the getparam
subcommand. WEP keys can either be set by the setwepkey or the
setparam subcommand. setparam uses plain text but it's script‐
able. See the setwepkey subcommand for more information about
how a WEP key is encoded. Setting WEP keys requires
"solaris.network.wifi.wep"authorization.
When these subcommands are used to set a WEP key, any user on
the system can read the key from the ps(1) output. Thus, the
setwepkey subcommand is recommended for setting the WEP keys
since it does not allow ps(1) to read the keys.
wepkeyindex
Specifies the encryption keys. The valid values are 1 to use
wepkey1, 2 to use wepkey2, 3 to use wepkey3, and 4 to use wep‐
key4. The default value is 1. This subcommand is only valid
when WEP is on.
signal
Specifies the strength of the received radio signal. The valid
values are 0 - 15 , where 0 is the weakest signal and 15 is the
strongest signal. This parameter is read-only and indicates the
radio signal strength received by the NIC.
radio
Specifies whether the radio is turned on or off. The valid val‐
ues are "on" to turn on the radio and "off" to turn off the
radio. The default value is "on".
restoredef
Forces the NIC to restore the network interface to use the default
values for all the parameters. See the getparam and setparam sub‐
commands for the default values of the parameters.
The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for
this subcommand.
scan
Scans and lists the currently available WLANs.
showstatus
Display the basic status of a WLAN interface. If the WLAN interface
is connected, the basic status includes: the name of the current
active profile, the name of the network, the bssid, whether the
network is encrypted or not, and the signal strength.
setwepkey 1|2|3|4
Sets one of the 4 WEP encryption keys. WEP keys are used to
encrypt the content of the network packets which are transmitted on
air. There are 4 WEP keys in the NIC according to the 802.11 stan‐
dards. The setwepkey subcommand is used to update one of the 4 keys
by prompting the user for the key. The user must enter the key
twice. The input is not echoed. For example, to update setwepkey2:
example% wificonfig-i ath0 setwepkey 2
input wepkey2: < user input here>
confirm wepkey2: < user input here>
A WEP key can be 5 bytes or 13 bytes long. There are two ways to
enter a WEP key, by ASCII values or by hex values. If the user
enters 5 or 13 characters, it is considered the ASCII representa‐
tion of the key. If the user enters 10 or 26 characters, it is con‐
sidered the hex representation of the key. For example "1234" is
equivalent to "6162636465". If the user enters other number of
characters, the subcommand fails. WEP keys are write-only; they
cannot be read back via wificonfig.
The WEP keys can also be set in plain text form by the setparam
subcommand. This makes setting WEP keys scriptable (see the parame‐
ters of setparam for the details).
The "solaris.network.wifi.wep" authorization is required for this
subcommand.
The following profile subcommands are supported:
createprofile profile [parameter=value] [...]
Creates a Configuration Profile named profile off-line. The speci‐
fied parameters are saved as items of this Configuration Profile.
The user can specify a group of parameters. At a minimum, the essid
must be specified.
The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for
this subcommand.
deleteprofile profile1 [profile2 [...]]
Deletes one or more Configuration Profiles according to the speci‐
fied names. If the specified Configuration Profile does not exist,
this subcommand fails. The wild-card "all" can be used to delete
all profiles.
The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for
this subcommand.
showprofile [profile]
Displays the parameters in the Configuration Profile according to
the specified profile. WEP (wired equivalent privacy) keys are not
printed because they are write-only parameters. If no profile is
specified, all the profiles are shown.
setprofilewepkey 1|2|3|4
Sets one of the 4 WEP encryption keys in the specified Configura‐
tion Profile "profile". Like the other profile subcommands, setpro‐
filewepkey does not affect the configuration of a network inter‐
face, even if a WiFi interface is currently running with the speci‐
fied profile. In order for the modified profile to be applied to
the network interface, the connect or autoconf subcommands have
to be used after the profile has been updated.
Other than that difference, the usage of setprofilewepkey is the
same as the setwepkey subcommand. For example, to update wepkey 2
in profile "home":
example% wificonfig setprofilewepkey home 2
input wepkey2: < user input here>
confirm wepkey2: < user input here>
The "solaris.network.wifi.wep" authorization is required for this
subcommand.
getprofileparam profile [parameter] [...]]
setprofileparam profile [parameter=value] [...]]
Gets or sets parameters in the specified Configuration Profile
"profile". Like the other profile subcommands, these subcommands
do not affect the configuration of a network interface, even if a
WiFi interface is currently running with the specified pro‐
file. In order for the modified profile to be applied to the
network interface, the connect or autoconf subcommands have to be
used after the profile has been updated.
A getprofileparam without any parameters will display all the
parameters and their values.
"Solaris.network.wifi.wep" authorization is required when the set‐
param subcommand is used with the wepkey1|wepkey2|wepkey3|wepkey4
parameter. For all other parameters, the setparam subcommand
requires "solaris.network.wifi.config"authorization.
For example, to change the settings for the "home" Configuration
Profile, use:
$ wificonfig setprofileparam home <parameter1=value1> \
[parameter2=value2 [...]]
$ wificonfig getprofileparam home <parameter1> [parameter2 [...]]
The set of parameters and their allowed values are the same as
those specified for the setparam subcommand.
history
Lists the WLANs in the History List. wificonfig automatically
records the WLANs that appear in every scanning attempt. The His‐
tory List contains a maximum of 10 records of the most recent
WLANs, sorted by time. These records can be listed by using this
subcommand.
listprefer
Lists the content of the Preference List.
removeprefer profile
Removes one or more profiles from the Preference List. The wild-
card "all" can be used to delete all profiles.
The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for
this subcommand.
setprefer profile [n]
Sets the position of a profile in the Preference List. This may add
or change the position of a profile in the Preference List. The
valid values of "n" range from 1 to 10. If "n" is missing, the
default value of 1 is assumed. If the specified position is already
occupied, the occupying profile is moved lower on the list. If "n"
is off the end of the list, profile is added to the end of the
list. The Preference List can also be created by using this subcom‐
mand. If the autoconf subcommand is used at a later time, wificon‐
fig tries to join the WLANs according to the Preference List.
The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for
this subcommand.
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Listing the Parameters Supported by a Driver
To display what parameters the ath driver supports and the read/write
modes of the parameters:
% wificonfig-i ath0 setparam
parameter property
bssid read only
essid read/write
bsstype read/write
rates read/write
authmode read/write
encryption read/write
wepkeyindex read/write
signal read only
Example 2 Getting and Setting Parameters on the WiFi interface
To get the current rates and signal strength from the driver:
% wificonfig-i ath0 getparam rates signal
ath0:
rates = 1,2,5.5,11
signal = 10
Example 3 Managing Configuration Profiles
A Configuration Profile can be created offline and then connected to
the network with the created Configuration Profile. The following
series of commands creates the Configuration Profile, displays the con‐
tents of that profile, and connects to the network with the Configura‐
tion Profile:
% wificonfig createprofile myXXX essid=rover encryption=WEP \
wepkey1=12345
% wificonfig showprofile myXXX
[myXXX]
essid=rover
encryption=WEP
wepkey1=[secret]
% ifconfig ath0 plumb
% wificonfig-i ath0 connect myXXX
Example 4 Managing the Preference List
A profile can be added to the Preference List and then used by the
autoconf subcommand. The following series of commands adds a profile
named myXXX to the top of the Preference List, automatically connects
ath0 to the first available WLAN in the Preference List, and removes
my_neighbor from the Preference List
% wificonfig setprefer myXXX 1
% ifconfig ath0 plumb
% wificonfig-i ath0 autoconf
% wificonfig removeprefer my_neighbor
Example 5 Viewing the History List
To display the history of the WLANs:
% wificonfig history
WLAN history:
essid bssid encryption last seen
myXXX 00:0f:24:11:12:14 WEP Fri Sep 13 09:15:24 2004
my_office_ssid 00:0f:24:11:12:15 WEP Fri Sep 13 13:20:04 2004
my_neighbor1 00:0f:24:11:12:16 NONE Fri Sep 14 08:01:26 2004
my_neighbor2 00:0f:24:11:12:17 WEP Fri Sep 18 21:33:12 2004
Example 6 Automatic Configuration
To configure the interface according to the previously saved Preference
List:
% ifconfig ath0 plumb
% wificonfig-i ath0 autoconf
If the Preference List is empty, or none of the WLANs listed by the
Proference List can be found, wificonfig uses the default configura‐
tion, directs the interface to scan and join the WLAN using the built-
in heuristics specified above.
Example 7 Connecting To a WLAN
To search for a Configuration Profile with the name myXXX and configure
the interface accordingly:
% ifconfig ath0 plumb
% wificonfig-i ath0 connect myXXX
If the specified Configuration Profile does not exist, wificonfig
interprets it as an essid and sets ath0 to use essid myXXX, and no
other parameters are set.
Example 8 Displaying the Content of a Configuration Profile
To print the parameters of the previously Configured Profile named
my_home_ssid:
% wificonfig showprofile my_home_ssid
Example 9 Monitoring the link status
To monitor the link status:
% wificonfig-i ath0 showstatus
ath0:
linkstatus: not connected,
or
ath0:
linkstatus: connected
active profile: [home]
essid: myhome
bssid: 00:0b:0e:12:e2:02
encryption: WEP
signal: medium(10)
Example 10 Scanning for available networks
To scan for available networks:
% wificonfig-i ath0 scan
essid bssid type encryption signal
level
ietf64-secure 00:0b:0e:12:e2:02 access point WEP 9
roomlinx 00:40:96:a1:13:70 access point none 6
ietf64 00:0b:0e:13:32:00 access point none 3
ietf64-secure 00:0b:0e:13:32:02 access point WEP 3
ietf64 00:0b:0e:12:e2:00 access point none 9
ietf64-secure 00:0b:0e:12:e4:c2 access point WEP 8
ietf64 00:0b:0e:12:e4:c0 access point none 8
roomlinx 00:40:96:a0:aa:aa access point none 1
roomlinx 00:40:96:a0:ab:39 access point none 8
EXIT STATUS
0 Successful operation
1 Fatal Error; the operation failed. For example, a connect failed
to associate with an Access Point.
2 Improper Use; help information will be printed
3 Minor error
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │system/network/wificonfig, SUNWwlanu │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │Uncommitted │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOps(1), ifconfig(1M), attributes(5), ath(7D)SunOS 5.11 31 Oct 2007 wificonfig(1M)
