xref: /freebsd/usr.sbin/wpa/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.8 (revision bfe691b2f75de2224c7ceb304ebcdef2b42d4179)
1.\" Copyright (c) 2005 Sam Leffler <sam@errno.com>
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25.\" $FreeBSD$
26.\"
27.Dd June 16, 2005
28.Dt WPA_SUPPLICANT 8
29.Os
30.Sh NAME
31.Nm wpa_supplicant
32.Nd "WPA/802.11i Supplicant for wireless network devices"
33.Sh SYNOPSIS
34.Nm
35.Op Fl BdehLqvw
36.Fl i Ar ifname
37.Fl c Ar config-file
38.Op Fl N i Ar ifname Fl c Ar config-file ...
39.Sh DESCRIPTION
40The
41.Nm
42utility
43is an implementation of the WPA Supplicant component,
44i.e., the part that runs in the client stations.
45It implements WPA key negotiation with a WPA Authenticator
46and EAP authentication with an Authentication Server.
47In addition,
48.Nm
49controls the roaming and IEEE 802.11
50authentication/association support of the
51.Xr wlan 4
52module and can be used to configure static WEP keys
53based on identified networks.
54.Pp
55The
56.Nm
57utility
58is designed to be a
59.Dq daemon
60program that runs in the
61background and acts as the backend component controlling
62the wireless connection.
63It supports separate frontend programs such as the
64text-based
65.Xr wpa_cli 8
66program.
67.Pp
68The following arguments must be specified on the command line:
69.Bl -tag -width indent
70.It Fl i Ar ifname
71Use the specified wireless interface.
72.It Fl c Ar config-file
73Use the settings in the specified configuration file when managing
74the wireless interface.
75See
76.Xr wpa_supplicant.conf 5
77for a description of the configuration file syntax and contents.
78.Pp
79Changes to the configuration file can be reloaded by sending a
80.Dv SIGHUP
81to the
82.Nm
83process or with the
84.Xr wpa_cli 8
85utility, using
86.Dq Li "wpa_cli reconfigure" .
87.El
88.Sh OPTIONS
89The following options are available:
90.Bl -tag -width indent
91.It Fl d
92Enable debugging messages.
93If this option is supplied twice, more verbose messages are displayed.
94.It Fl e
95Use an external IEEE 802.1X Supplicant program and disable the
96internal Supplicant.
97This option is not normally used.
98.It Fl h
99Show help text.
100.It Fl q
101Decrease debugging verbosity (i.e., counteract the use of the
102.Fl d
103flag).
104.It Fl v
105Display version information on the terminal and exit.
106.It Fl w
107If the specified interface is not present, wait for it to be
108added; e.g.\& a cardbus device to be inserted.
109This option is not normally used; instead,
110.Xr devd 8
111should be configured to launch
112.Nm
113when a device is created.
114.It Fl B
115Detach from the controlling terminal and run as a daemon process
116in the background.
117.It Fl K
118Include key information in debugging output.
119.It Fl L
120Display the license for this program on the terminal and exit.
121.It Fl N i Ar ifname Fl c Ar config-file ...
122Specify an additional interface and configuration file.
123If multiple interfaces are specified then
124.Nm
125will manage them all with a single process.
126.El
127.Sh SEE ALSO
128.Xr ath 4 ,
129.Xr ipw 4 ,
130.Xr iwi 4 ,
131.Xr ral 4 ,
132.Xr ural 4 ,
133.Xr wi 4 ,
134.Xr wlan 4 ,
135.Xr wpa_supplicant.conf 5 ,
136.Xr devd 8 ,
137.Xr ifconfig 8 ,
138.Xr wpa_cli 8
139.Sh HISTORY
140The
141.Nm
142utility first appeared in
143.Fx 6.0 .
144.Sh AUTHORS
145The
146.Nm
147utility was written by
148.An Jouni Malinen Aq jkmaline@cc.hut.fi .
149This manual page is derived from the
150.Pa README
151file included in the
152.Nm
153distribution.
154