eduroam and networkmanager

R00KIE · 2013-07-18 16:15:35

Recently I've changed from wicd to networkmanager, at home things went smoothly and I've been quite happy after the change (1).

There is one thing that isn't working though, I can't get networkmanager to connect at school. I can connect manually with:

network={
	ssid="eduroam"
	proto=RSN
	key_mgmt=WPA-EAP
	pairwise=CCMP
	eap=PEAP
	identity="myusername@ipt.pt"
	password="myplaintextpassword"
	phase2="auth=MSCHAPV2"
}

When I try to use similar settings with network manager it keeps asking for the password and never connects. This is what I get from journalctl

NetworkManager[367]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) complete.
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) starting...
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none') [40 50 0]
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Activation (wlan0/wireless): connection 'eduroam' has security, and secrets
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'ssid' value 'eduroam'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'WPA-EAP'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'password' value '<omitted>'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'eap' value 'PEAP'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'fragment_size' value '1300'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'phase2' value 'auth=MSCHAPV2'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'ca_path' value '/etc/ssl/certs'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'ca_path2' value '/etc/ssl/certs'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'identity' value 'myusername@ipt.pt'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'bgscan' value 'simple:30:-45:300'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: added 'proactive_key_caching' value '1'
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) complete.
NetworkManager[367]: <info> Config: set interface ap_scan to 1
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: inactive -> scanning
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> authenticating
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> associating
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associating -> associated
NetworkManager[367]: <warn> Connection disconnected (reason -3)
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associated -> disconnected
NetworkManager[367]: <warn> Connection disconnected (reason -3)
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> authenticating
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> associating
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associating -> associated
NetworkManager[367]: <warn> Connection disconnected (reason -3)
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associated -> disconnected
NetworkManager[367]: <warn> Connection disconnected (reason -3)
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
NetworkManager[367]: <info> (wlan0): disconnecting for new activation request.

Anyone has any clues as to why this might not be working with networkmanager?

(1) networkmanager is faster than wicd and wireless never stopped working after suspending and requiring a reboot to get to work again.

HalosGhost · 2013-07-18 17:23:51

[Edit]: netctl is awful; please don't use it.

All the best,

-HG

[Mod-Edit] For shame HG. Original contents of post read: I don't mean to be that user, but netctl is a really great network manager and apparently works fine with Eduroam using WPA Config-Section.

Last edited by HalosGhost (2016-11-08 01:37:07)

cookies · 2013-07-18 20:20:41

Take a look at https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 7#p1273617 it works for me.

R00KIE · 2013-07-18 23:24:22

@HalosGhost
Well, I could use that but I don't feel like I want to at this point, if I'm going to some place new I'd like not spend a lot more time than I need configuring a wireless connection, not to mention that most of the times clear technical details about the connection setup might not be provided. From what I've seen the configuration parameters for eduroam are not universal, each school's wireless seems to require slightly different connection parameters (not that I move around that much and "simple" wpa2 connections work just fine).

@cookies
That would be what I would use (and close to what I have tried to use), there is just one catch, the certificate that is provided has expired so I can't use it. Besides that, at least windows xp doesn't need any certificates. I have also proved that it isn't absolutely needed since I can connect manually without using one.

It's not that I absolutely need this working now, but it would be good to either have it working or know that it is broken, which I'm inclined to think it is [1][2]. One never knows when something might be suddenly needed.

[1] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=859664
[2] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=965791

R00KIE · 2013-09-27 11:56:51

It seems it is an upstream bug [1-2], which upstream doesn't seem to care much about. In [3] some users have found the problem and suggest a workaround, if you don't have a certificate or if the connection doesn't require a certificate you have to edit the connection configuration file. The file is located in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ and should be named the same as the network's ssid.

I have confirmed that one of the workarounds works. I have edited the connection through the gui interface and entered all the required information, including password and saved the connection.
Then I have edited the configuration file and removed the line 'system-ca-certs=true'. Some people also report having success by changing it to 'system-ca-certs=false'.
Afterwards I have saved the file and made it immutable with 'chattr +i eduroam', otherwise everytime the profile is edited the line 'system-ca-certs=true' is added, I suppose it might also stop working if the connection is bad and the password prompt is shown while trying to connect.

[1] https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=707921
[2] https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=702608
[3] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour … ug/1104476

comeandtakeit · 2013-10-30 03:44:04

Looks like https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=702608 is finally getting some traction. Looks like a patch was posted today.

replax · 2013-10-31 10:56:26

for me, eduroam works perfectly with only network manager. i use the applet to connect and to edit my connections, though.
my config (may be dependant on access point): http://oi39.tinypic.com/w7lr8g.jpg

Last edited by replax (2013-10-31 14:42:51)

R00KIE · 2013-10-31 13:33:10

@replax
You are using a certificate and I am not using a certificate, so it's not the same thing.

On another note, try not to post images that are too big, thumbnail+link is the prefered method.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … s_and_Code

netfox · 2013-11-01 10:52:56

Hi @R00KIE,

I'm having a similar problem with NetworkManager, if I erase 'system-ca-certs=true' line I can connect to eduroam but the connection is unstable, it means that every 5 minutes (sometimes 10 minutes, other times 3 minutes), the connection falls. Is this some kind of verification from the router, because its a bit cyclic!!! I don't have any certificates, I have tried some certificates but still without success!!!
I don't know if with that patch its going to resolve my problem, because I have edited the edurom file from NetworkManager many times and then restart the service!!
Its a bit disappointing, because for me to use Internet (stable connection) at Varsity I need to switch to Wicd (because with Wicd it works like a charm).

Regards

R00KIE · 2013-11-01 13:01:25

@netfox
I'd say that has nothing to do with this problem, this workaround is only for the authentication without a certificate.

Try connecting manually and see what happens. If you have a strong signal my best guess is you are having trouble renewing the dhcp lease, I've noticed that where I use the eduroam network the lease is renewed every couple of minutes.

netfox · 2013-11-01 15:19:21

Hi @R00KIE,

Thank you for your quick reply!! So Wicd has a different engine for renewing the dhcp lease than NetworkManager??
When you say to my to try connect manually should I use netctl or another just pure wpa_supplicant???
Thank you once again!!

Regards

ewaller · 2013-11-01 15:43:36

netfox wrote:

...So Wicd has a different engine for renewing the dhcp lease than NetworkManager?? ...

They both can be configured to use either dhcpcd or dhclient.

R00KIE · 2013-11-01 16:10:28

You should use wpa_supplicant + dhcpcd/dhclient. See which one works better for you, if both work fine and the connection doesn't drop or if the connection drops with both then the problem is somewhere else.

netfox · 2013-11-02 13:53:28

Hi,

Thank you for the info! On Monday I'm going to do some more tests.

Regards

Luddi · 2013-11-03 14:54:18

Hi,

I had the same problems as you described in the first post. In my case I had to edit the connection to use TTLS and MSCHAPV2 instead of PEAP to make it work correctly.
You could just quickly try this on monday.

Luddi

Arch Linux

#1 2013-07-18 16:15:35

eduroam and networkmanager

#2 2013-07-18 17:23:51

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#3 2013-07-18 20:20:41

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#4 2013-07-18 23:24:22

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#5 2013-09-27 11:56:51

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#6 2013-10-30 03:44:04

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#7 2013-10-31 10:56:26

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#8 2013-10-31 13:33:10

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#9 2013-11-01 10:52:56

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#10 2013-11-01 13:01:25

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#11 2013-11-01 15:19:21

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#12 2013-11-01 15:43:36

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#13 2013-11-01 16:10:28

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#14 2013-11-02 13:53:28

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

#15 2013-11-03 14:54:18

Re: eduroam and networkmanager

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