eduroam works on systemd_networkd but not NetworkManager

kim1 · 2024-06-18 14:21:43

Hello,

after two years and countless hours of trying to fix this issue, I was finally able to connect to eduroam (Enterprise WPA) from Arch. I was able to do this by ignoring NetworkManager entirely and using wpa_supplicant explicitly. Today I have learned of the existence of systemd-networkd and it allows me to connect to the internet.

As I use NetworkManager on other machines for home WiFi connections, VPNs, etc., I would like to also get eduroam working with my original NetworkManager setup.

Here is my current (working) setup:

> cat /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf`
network={
        ssid="eduroam"
        key_mgmt=WPA-EAP
        eap=PEAP
        identity="username@domain"
        password="********"
        phase2="auth=MSCHAPV2"
}

> systemctl stop NetworkManager.service 
> systemctl start wpa_supplicant@wlan0.service systemd-networkd.service systemd-resolved.service dhcpcd.service

I have the (to my eyes) equivalent NetworkManager config, which doesn't work:

> cat /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/eduroam.nmconnection
[connection]
id=eduroam
uuid=95580564-0352-438d-9804-364636618a28
type=wifi

[wifi]
mode=infrastructure
ssid=eduroam

[wifi-security]
key-mgmt=wpa-eap

[802-1x]
eap=peap;
identity=username@domain
password=********
phase2-auth=mschapv2

[ipv4]
method=auto

[ipv6]
method=auto

[proxy]

> nmcli con up eduroam
Error: Connection activation failed: The Wi-Fi network could not be found
Hint: use 'journalctl -xe NM_CONNECTION=95580564-0352-438d-9804-364636618a28 + NM_DEVICE=wlan0' to get more details.

> journalctl -xe NM_CONNECTION=95580564-0352-438d-9804-364636618a28 + NM_DEVICE=wlan0
Jun 18 16:15:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720103.7090] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jun 18 16:15:08 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720108.2210] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> disconnected
Jun 18 16:15:18 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720118.2758] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jun 18 16:15:22 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720122.7869] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> disconnected
Jun 18 16:15:25 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <warn>  [1718720125.1830] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) association took too long, failing activation
Jun 18 16:15:25 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720125.1831] device (wlan0): state change: config -> failed (reason 'ssid-not-found', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:15:25 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <warn>  [1718720125.1843] device (wlan0): Activation: failed for connection 'eduroam'
Jun 18 16:15:25 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720125.1845] device (wlan0): state change: failed -> disconnected (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:15:44 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720144.8036] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> inactive
Jun 18 16:17:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720223.7364] device (wlan0): Activation: starting connection 'eduroam' (95580564-0352-438d-9804-364636618a28)
Jun 18 16:17:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720223.7364] device (wlan0): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720223.7369] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720223.7372] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) access point 'eduroam' has security, but secrets are required.
Jun 18 16:17:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720223.7372] device (wlan0): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720223.7382] device (wlan0): state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720223.7385] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720223.7387] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) connection 'eduroam' has security, and secrets exist.  No new secrets needed.
Jun 18 16:17:03 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720223.7461] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: inactive -> disconnected
Jun 18 16:17:13 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720233.7945] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jun 18 16:17:18 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720238.3069] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> disconnected
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2291] device (wlan0): state change: config -> deactivating (reason 'new-activation', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2300] device (wlan0): disconnecting for new activation request.
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2312] device (wlan0): state change: deactivating -> disconnected (reason 'new-activation', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2323] device (wlan0): Activation: starting connection 'eduroam' (95580564-0352-438d-9804-364636618a28)
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2330] device (wlan0): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2335] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2338] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) access point 'eduroam' has security, but secrets are required.
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2338] device (wlan0): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2350] device (wlan0): state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2353] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Jun 18 16:17:23 kim-xps13-9343 NetworkManager[10930]: <info>  [1718720243.2355] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) connection 'eduroam' has security, and secrets exist.  No new secrets needed.

What could be happening here?

kim1 · 2024-06-18 14:37:15

Okay, I just saw that my assumption that systemd-networkd was replaced by NetworkManager, was incorrect. So I will just keep using the working setup and I'll just use OpenVPN directly for my VPN connections.

Lone_Wolf · 2024-06-19 11:06:33

NetworkManager focuses on managing connections and relies on external tools like dhcpcd / iwd / wpa_supplicant, systemd-networkd etc for many things.

If you want to use NM for VPN connections, check https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Networ … PN_support .

Arch Linux

#1 2024-06-18 14:21:43

eduroam works on systemd_networkd but not NetworkManager

#2 2024-06-18 14:37:15

Re: eduroam works on systemd_networkd but not NetworkManager

#3 2024-06-19 11:06:33

Re: eduroam works on systemd_networkd but not NetworkManager

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