Wireless tools for Linux: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Deprecated WiFi utilities for Linux}}

{{Infobox Softwaresoftware

| name = Wireless Tools

| logo =

| screenshot =

| caption =

| collapsible =

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| status =

| genre = Network utilities

| license = [[GNU General Public License|GNU GPL]]

| website = http[https://wwwhewlettpackard.hplgithub.hp.comio/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linuxwireless-tools/Tools.html Wireless Tools for Linux]

}}

'''Wireless tools for Linux''' is a packagecollection of user-space utilities written for [[Linux kernel]]-based operating commandssystems to support and facilitate the manipulationconfiguration of thedevice drivers of [[Linuxwireless Wirelessnetwork Extensioninterface controller]].s It isand asome fundamentalrelated setaspects of simplenetworking text-basedusing utilities/toolsthe forLinux configuringWireless wireless devicesExtension. ItThe isWireless intendedtools tofor supportLinux theand fullLinux wirelessWireless extensionExtension are maintained by Jean Tourrilhes<ref>[http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Tools.html Wireless Tools for Linux]</ref>. It is maintained by [[Jean Tourrilhes]] and sponsored by [[Hewlett-Packard]].

== Adoption ==

It is included with most operating system distributions built on the [[Linux distributionkernel]]s.

In many GNU/Linux distributions, this package is included by default, or based on whether a wireless card is present. If it is not automatically installed by the distribution, it is usually easy to find in binary form.

== Frontends ==

Due to the relative complexity of requiring several separate commands for one task (e.g. iwlist and iwconfig to find and sync with a wireless access point), some<ref>[[Linux Journal]] Marcel Gagne's ''Cooking With Linux'' 2005-07-28 edition, http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/8355/print</ref> recommend using frontends provided by [[GNOME]] and [[KDE]], or an application called NetGo, to manipulate these settings.

== Alternatives ==

The Linux kernel authors consider wireless tools package deprecated;<ref>[[Arch Linux]] wiki, https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless_network_configuration#Manual_setup</ref> the alternative being the more recent <code>iw</code> utility.<ref>iw utility homepage, https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/documentation/iw</ref><ref>Replacing iwconfig with iw, https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/documentation/iw/replace-iwconfig</ref> Especially the <code>iw dev wlan0 scan</code> output provides many additional details over the <code>iwlist scan</code> output.<ref>Xmodulo tutorial, http://xmodulo.com/manage-wifi-connection-command-line.html</ref>

== Package tools ==

=== ifrename ===

ifrename allows to rename wireless network interfaces based on various static criteria to assign a consistent name to each interface.

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By default, interface names are dynamic, and each [[network card|network adapter]] is assigned the first available name (eth0, eth1...) while the order network interfaces are created may vary. Now ifrename allows the user to decide what name a network interface will have. It can use a variety of selectors to match interface names to the network interfaces on the system, the most common selector is the interface [[MAC address]].

ifrename must be run before interfaces are brought up, which is why it's mostly useful in various scripts ([[init]], [[hotplug]]) but is seldom used directly by the user. By default it renames all present system interfaces using mappings defined in <code>/etc/iftab</code>.

=== iwconfig ===

iwconfig is used to display and change the parameters of the network interface which are specific to the wireless operation (e.g. interface name, [[frequency]], [[Service set identifier|SSID]]). It may also be used to display the wireless statistics (extracted from <code>/proc/net/wireless</code>).

In the free [[Berkeley Software Distribution]] [[UNIX]] operating systems, the role of iwconfig is performed by an expanded [[ifconfig]] command.

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==== Sample <code>iwconfig</code> output ====

The following command displays information about the currently associated wireless network.

<codepre>

$ iwconfig eth1

eth1 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"OSU_PUB"

Mode:Managed Frequency:2.427 GHz Access Point: 00:0D:9D:C6:38:2D

Bit Rate=48 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm Sensitivity=8/0

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Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:860 Rx invalid frag:0

Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:39 Missed beacon:8

</codepre>

=== iwevent ===

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==== Sample <code>iwlist</code> output ====

The following screen dialog shows the result of scanning for nearby wireless access points.

<codepre>

$ iwlist eth1 scan

eth1 Scan completed :

Cell 01 - Address: 00:12:17:46:E6:AF

ESSID:"lookmanohandsprettyflyforawifi§"

[[Protocol (computing)|Protocol]]:IEEE 802.11bg

Mode:Master

Channel:1

Encryption key:off

[[bit rate|Bit Rate]]:1 Mb/s

Bit Rate:2 Mb/s

Bit Rate:5.5 Mb/s

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Quality=82/100 Signal level=-48 dBm

Extra: Last beacon: 36ms ago

</codepre>

This scan yields only one nearby wireless access point. Helpful information in this scan includes [[ESSID]], the type of network, and signal quality.

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The information gathered is the same as that available in <code>/proc/net/wireless</code>: quality of the link, signal strength and noise level. This information is updated each time a new packet is received, so each address of the list adds some overhead in the driver. Note that this functionality works only for nodes part of the current wireless cell, you can not monitor access points you are not associated with (you can use Scanning for that) and nodes in other cells. In Managed mode, in most case packets are relayed by the access point, in this case you will get the signal strength of the access point. For those reasons this functionality is mostly useful in [[Wireless ad hoc network|ad hoc]] and master mode.

=== wpa_supplicant/hostapd ===

<code>wpa_supplicant</code> and <code>hostapd</code> come as a pair of complementary client and host for wireless access points.

That is hostapd allows us to create access points from the command line, which allows one to share one's internet connection wirelessly, while wpa_supplicant allows us to scan and to connect to access points as a client in order to get onto the Internet.

== See also ==

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== External links ==

* [http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Tools.html Wireless Tools for Linux homepage] and [http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=wireless-tools RPM find for wireless-tools]

*[[Manpage]]s:

** {{man|8|ifrename|die.net}}

Manpages:

** {{man|8|ifrenameiwconfig|die.net}}

** {{man|8|iwconfigiwevent|die.net}}

** {{man|8|iweventiwgetid|die.net}}

** {{man|8|iwgetidiwlist|die.net}}

** {{man|8|iwlistiwpriv|die.net}}

** {{man|8|iwpriviwspy|die.net}}

** {{man|8|iwspyiw|die.net}}

== References ==

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{{Linux}}

{{Linux-stub}}

[[Category:Linux softwareconfiguration utilities]]

[[Category:NetworkLinux network-related software]]

[[Category:Internet Protocol based network software]]

[[Category:Routing]]

[[Category:Linux-only free software]]

[[pl:Wireless tools]]