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wificonfig [-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]
wificonfig 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"authorizations 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" authorizations 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 create 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 subcommands.
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 interfaces does not change.
A Configuration Profile can be created for a WLAN by using the createprofile 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 automatically configure the interface. (See the autoconf subcommand for the heuristics). A few subcommands (listprefer, setprefer, removeprefer) are defined to manipulate the Preference List.
The following options are supported: -i interface
Specifies a wireless network interface to do the configuration.
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 Profiles and WEP keys.
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.
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 essid[wait={n|forever}]
Connects to a wireless network according to a pre-configured "profile". If the specified Configuration Profile exists in /etc/inet/wifi, the connect subcommand uses that Configuration Profile to configure the interface. That profile subsequently becomes the current active profile of the interface after the connect subcommand succeeds. If no existing Configuration Profile matches the specified name, the behavior of the connect subcommand is equivalent to the restoredef subcommand, except that the "essid" parameter 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, wificonfig 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.
Disconnects the interface from the currently associated wireless network. The interface associates with none of the wireless networks. The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for this subcommand.
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 created. 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 values. The setparam wepkey1|wepkey2|wepkey3|wepkey4 subcommand requires the "solaris.network.wifi.wep" authorization. For all other parameters, the setparam subcommand requires the "solaris.network.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.
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.
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 infrastructure 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'".
Specifies whether to create an ad-hoc network (also called an IBSS if the connect does not result in finding the desired network. 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.
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 indicates the operating channel of the IBSS. The default value is the channel number on the card.
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 parameter, each value must be separated by a comma (,). See the EXAMPLES section for details. The default values are the data rates supported by the chip.
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".
Specifies the authorization type. The valid values are "opensystem" for an open system, where anyone can be authenticated and "shared_key" for a Shared Key authentication mode. The default value is "opensystem".
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".
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 scriptable. 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.
Specifies the encryption keys. The valid values are 1 to use wepkey1, 2 to use wepkey2, 3 to use wepkey3, and 4 to use wepkey4. The default value is 1. This subcommand is only valid when WEP is on.
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.
Specifies whether the radio is turned on or off. The valid values are "on" to turn on the radio and "off" to turn off the radio. The default value is "on".
Forces the NIC to restore the network interface to use the default values for all the parameters. See the getparam and setparam subcommands for the default values of the parameters. The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for this subcommand.
Scans and lists the currently available WLANs.
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.
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 standards. 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 representation of the key. If the user enters 10 or 26 characters, it is considered 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 parameters 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 specified 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.
Deletes one or more Configuration Profiles according to the specified 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.
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.
Sets one of the 4 WEP encryption keys in the specified Configuration Profile "profile". Like the other profile subcommands, setprofilewepkey does not affect the configuration of a network interface, even if a WiFi interface is currently running with the specified 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.
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 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. A getprofileparam without any parameters will display all the parameters and their values. "Solaris.network.wifi.wep" authorization is required when the setparam 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> \e [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.
Lists the WLANs in the History List. wificonfig automatically records the WLANs that appear in every scanning attempt. The History List contains a maximum of 10 records of the most recent WLANs, sorted by time. These records can be listed by using this subcommand.
Lists the content of the Preference List.
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.
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 subcommand. If the autoconf subcommand is used at a later time, wificonfig tries to join the WLANs according to the Preference List. The "solaris.network.wifi.config" authorization is required for this subcommand.
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 contents of that profile, and connects to the network with the Configuration Profile:
% wificonfig createprofile myXXX essid=rover encryption=WEP \e 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 configuration, 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
Successful operation
Fatal Error; the operation failed. For example, a connect failed to associate with an Access Point.
Improper Use; help information will be printed
Minor error
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
| Interface Stability Unstable |
ps(1), ifconfig(1M), attributes(5), ath(7D)