[solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

adamlogan · 2010-01-29 01:10:42

Hi, I am relatively new to linux and command line in general. I am very happy with my decision to try Archlinux, I am amazed at the speed and that there is no cruft or anything getting in the way of using CLI as there is using more popular distros like Ubuntu Fedora Debian etc. I was able to get netcfg and wpa_supplicant working for my network at home, it wasn't too hard to set that up. But I am uncomfortable with the fact that I don't know how to scan for wireless networks, and set up a new network profile within a minute or so. So I'd like to try using wpa_cli and see if that will suit me better for when I am on the go. Currently I am having difficulty connecting to the wireless network at my college which uses enterprise wpa2 with user name as well as password.

I'll have to post my rc.conf, wpa_supplicant.conf I suppose.

The strange thing is when I looked for the /var/run/wpa_supplicant.conf there was no such file... and this is explicitly linked to from the wpa_supplicant.conf in /etc/

Last edited by adamlogan (2010-10-28 02:47:40)

sexyb3rry · 2010-01-29 05:46:02

This has been the hardest thing for me too. I can not figure this out at all...
I second the help on this topic.

skanky · 2010-01-29 10:16:19

Yes, we may need to see your config files.

I've not used wpa_cli myself, so may not be able to help with the specifics of that, as I use netcfg. But, could your problem be to do with the fact that wpa_cli doesn't get the IP address, you have to do that manually. There is a wpa_auto script that does that.

If it's just roaming that moves you that way, check out wifi-select in AUR which does a good job of that - it will also show you for which networks you manually set-up profiles, so can make a good, general wireless interface.

adamlogan · 2010-02-07 07:27:25

Ok took me awhile, been busy with other things. Here are the config files. It is frustrating not knowing how to scan for wireless connections, and not to be able to connect to a wireless network because I have to wrestle with manually configuring a profile. I want to feel confident that I can show up at an airport and use a free connection if one is available. Anyways, are you able to "roam" using just the netcfg method?

//wpa supplicant

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel

network={
    ssid="blahblah"
    proto=RSN
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
    pairwise=CCMP TKIP
    group=CCMP TKIP
    psk=blahblah
}

network={
    ssid="blahblah"
    proto=RSN
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
    pairwise=CCMP TKIP
    psk=blahblah
}

//rc.conf

#
# /etc/rc.conf - Main Configuration for Arch Linux
#

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# LOCALIZATION
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# LOCALE: available languages can be listed with the 'locale -a' command
# HARDWARECLOCK: set to "UTC" or "localtime", any other value will result
#   in the hardware clock being left untouched (useful for virtualization)
# TIMEZONE: timezones are found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
# KEYMAP: keymaps are found in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
# CONSOLEFONT: found in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (only needed for non-US)
# CONSOLEMAP: found in /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans
# USECOLOR: use ANSI color sequences in startup messages
#
LOCALE="en_US.UTF-8"
HARDWARECLOCK="UTC"
TIMEZONE="America/New_York"
KEYMAP="us"
CONSOLEFONT=
CONSOLEMAP=
USECOLOR="yes"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# HARDWARE
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# MOD_AUTOLOAD: Allow autoloading of modules at boot and when needed
# MOD_BLACKLIST: Prevent udev from loading these modules
# MODULES: Modules to load at boot-up. Prefix with a ! to blacklist.
#
# NOTE: Use of 'MOD_BLACKLIST' is deprecated. Please use ! in the MODULES array.
#
MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"
#MOD_BLACKLIST=() #deprecated
MODULES=(fuse)

# Scan for LVM volume groups at startup, required if you use LVM
USELVM="no"
 
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# NETWORKING
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# HOSTNAME: Hostname of machine. Should also be put in /etc/hosts
#
 HOSTNAME="abl7635ibm"

# Use 'ifconfig -a' or 'ls /sys/class/net/' to see all available interfaces.
#
# Interfaces to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each interface then list in INTERFACES
# - prefix an entry in INTERFACES with a ! to disable it
# - no hyphens in your interface names - Bash doesn't like it
# 
# DHCP:     Set your interface to "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
# Wireless: See network profiles below
#

#Static IP example
#eth0="dhcp"
#wlan0="dhcp"
#INTERFACES=(eth0 wlan0)

# Routes to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each route then list in ROUTES
# - prefix an entry in ROUTES with a ! to disable it
#
gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(gateway)
 
# Enable these network profiles at boot-up.  These are only useful
# if you happen to need multiple network configurations (ie, laptop users)
# - set to 'menu' to present a menu during boot-up (dialog package required)
# - prefix an entry with a ! to disable it
#
# Network profiles are found in /etc/network.d
#
# This now requires the netcfg package
#
NETWORKS=(lan dkm8047extreme rit)

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# DAEMONS
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order)
#   - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it
#   - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background
#
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network netfs crond alsa hal @net-profiles)

Last edited by adamlogan (2010-02-07 07:29:39)

vikramr · 2010-02-07 17:36:29

Try this command to see a list of available networks

iwlist wlan0 scanning

m_ad · 2010-02-08 03:39:25

adamlogan, you're at RIT? Nice to meet another RIT student on the Arch Forums

I would recommend using wpa_supplicant with netcfg. Check this out in the wiki. It's pretty straight forward as it's only a few steps.

From there, add this to your wpa_supplicant.conf

network={
        ssid="ritwpa2"
        proto=RSN
        key_mgmt=WPA-EAP
        pairwise=CCMP
        eap=PEAP
        identity="username"
        password="password"
        phase2="auth=MSCHAPV2"
}

Let me know how that works...

And to scan for available networks, you can do what vikramr suggested

iwlist [yourdevice] scan

Last edited by m_ad (2010-02-08 03:49:22)

m_ad · 2010-02-11 01:33:46

Curious, did you get this to work? Or did you give up?

borrell · 2010-02-11 03:11:25

I would recommend using netcfg and wifi_select from the AUR They will make your life soooo much easier

adamlogan · 2010-02-11 05:45:26

Heh sweet, yeah I'm not that surprised to learn that another RIT student is using Arch Linux, but I didn't think I'd run into one . Thanks m_ad, revised my wpa_supplicant.conf. I left the hex passkey in there since I already put in the effort. I'll see if my ibm connects tomorrow when I go on campus. If not I'll just comment the psk and put in the passphrase. I was going to express concern about whether or not my passphrase would be sent cleartext in transmisison, but I looked up the WPA2/PEAP stuff and was relieved to see that it automatically establishes the SSL/TLS tunnel. Thanks ViKramer, I see that it is not so difficult to scan for wireless networks. Kinda suprised at how many I'm seeing here at park point, it's neat to see info about encryption types others are using and a little bit scary at the same time. I'm glad I got mac address filters set up on my connection in addition to wpa2.

Last edited by adamlogan (2010-02-11 06:25:01)

m_ad · 2010-02-11 13:23:29

Park Point, nice...

Thanks for sharing that nice little app borrell, I like it

davidgurvich · 2010-02-11 14:53:30

I tried netcfg and, when used from the command line instead of rc.conf, it worked. In fact, almost all configuration done manually worked while using automatic configuration from rc.conf failed.

I've disabled all the interfaces and am now using wicd. I strongly recommend rebooting after configuration of wicd. You can get wicd to work without a reboot but it's easy to miss something.

adamlogan · 2010-02-13 02:50:15

wicd was the first thing I tried, I'm not sure what went wrong. Probably did not reboot I guess. I was able to connect to the RIT network today. Like davidgurvich says, netcfg worked from command line but not from rc.conf. But looking at my rc.conf above I see that it is my fault. Gotta change "rit" to "ritwireless". I'll see if it connects on boot Sunday. Wouldn't mind checking out the alternatives but for right now I just need something that works, only 2 weeks left in the quarter including finals week.

adamlogan · 2010-02-15 01:23:06

Update, changed the name of the network profile to ritwlan and changed the name in rc.conf accordingly, everything is working great. Am automatically connected on boot via which is sweet. Am a happy camper, got plenty to learn tho. Permissions of files and directories is something I gotta wrap my mind around.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-01-29 01:10:42

[solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#2 2010-01-29 05:46:02

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#3 2010-01-29 10:16:19

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#4 2010-02-07 07:27:25

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#5 2010-02-07 17:36:29

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#6 2010-02-08 03:39:25

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#7 2010-02-11 01:33:46

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#8 2010-02-11 03:11:25

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#9 2010-02-11 05:45:26

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#10 2010-02-11 13:23:29

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#11 2010-02-11 14:53:30

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#12 2010-02-13 02:50:15

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

#13 2010-02-15 01:23:06

Re: [solved] wpa_cli not working, wpa_supplicant not connecting

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