Arch Linux

Steffo

Member

Registered: 2012-10-27

Posts: 34

Question to NetworkManager

Hi,
I followed this tutorial until to the step where I have to test NetworkManager with the following command:

nm-applet --sm-disable &

Unfortunatelly bash tells me, that the command is unknown.
I have definitely NetworkManager installed:

[steffo@arch-steffo ~]$ sudo pacman -Qs networkmanager
local/networkmanager 0.9.6.0-2
    Network Management daemon
local/networkmanager-pptp 0.9.6.0-1
    NetworkManager VPN plugin for pptp

So, what's wrong?

Best regards
Steffo

Last edited by Steffo (2012-11-01 08:03:10)

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,107

Re: Question to NetworkManager

nm-applet isn't part of NetworkManager, it's part of the network-manager-applet package.

Steffo

Member

Registered: 2012-10-27

Posts: 34

Re: Question to NetworkManager

OK, thx. That explains everything. ;-)
Little question: I want to use NetworkManager only for the reason, because I need VPN, but NetworkManager seems to me oversized and big with much dependencies. How do you guys see this?

Regards
Steffo

teateawhy

Member

From: GER

Registered: 2012-03-05

Posts: 1,138

Website

Re: Question to NetworkManager

https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/vpnc/
https://www.archlinux.org/packages/core/x86_64/openvpn/
https://www.archlinux.org/packages/extr … enconnect/
https://www.archlinux.org/packages/comm … 6_64/tinc/

Last edited by teateawhy (2012-10-30 21:32:56)

Antoine

Member

From: Picton Ontario

Registered: 2012-10-11

Posts: 90

Re: Question to NetworkManager

Little question: I want to use NetworkManager only for the reason, because I need VPN, but NetworkManager seems to me oversized and big with much dependencies. How do you guys see this?

I use Network Manager with Awesome. Its dependencies are few compared to how useful it is:

Depends On     : dbus-glib  iproute2  libnl  nss  polkit  udev  wpa_supplicant  ppp  dhclient  libsoup  systemd

You probably already have most of them.

I got it to use the nm-applet to talk to my commercial VPN service; I know how to configure their services via openvpn, but Network Manager is easier, sits up on my "tray" waiting for a right- or left-click to do my bidding. I also use it occasionally to connect to my wireless  LAN, and to disconnect from my wired LAN and so on.You never know how your system might expand.

Steffo

Member

Registered: 2012-10-27

Posts: 34

Re: Question to NetworkManager

OK, thx. :-)

johni

Member

Registered: 2012-02-03

Posts: 102

Re: Question to NetworkManager

I was skeptical of NetworkManager at first, too, but I do like it for the same reasons Antoine mentioned.

What I really wish NetworkManager had is a good curses-based configuration tool like wicd has for managing connections from a console when needed.   I know I can make connections "system" connections, and use nm-cli, but I have to go read the man page everytime I go to use it, and it doesn't allow you to create new connections.

Also if you are a kde user, the kdeplasma-applets-networkmanagement is a great equivalent to the nm-applet.

Steffo

Member

Registered: 2012-10-27

Posts: 34

Re: Question to NetworkManager

I was skeptical of NetworkManager at first, too, but I do like it for the same reasons Antoine mentioned.

What I really wish NetworkManager had is a good curses-based configuration tool like wicd has for managing connections from a console when needed.   I know I can make connections "system" connections, and use nm-cli, but I have to go read the man page everytime I go to use it, and it doesn't allow you to create new connections.

Also if you are a kde user, the kdeplasma-applets-networkmanagement is a great equivalent to the nm-applet.

Well, when you start the nm-applet, it appears out of the box on the system tray on awesome, which is indeed awesome, because you can configure everything!
I configured my VPN connection. First it didn't work, but after a system restart everything worked. I think this is a little bug?

My question is now, what do I have to install, when I want to connect via samba and nautilus to a remote directory? I used to use nautilus and just typed "smb://my-vpn-address" and everything worked. I installed samba, but it doesn't work yet.

EDIT: I have the strange effect, that, if I'm pasting this in my awesome-config, the NetworkManager applet appears two time in my system tray:

awful.util.spawn_with_shell(" nm-applet --sm-disable &")

Best regards
Steffo

Last edited by Steffo (2012-11-01 08:22:41)

Antoine

Member

From: Picton Ontario

Registered: 2012-10-11

Posts: 90

Re: Question to NetworkManager

EDIT: I have the strange effect, that, if I'm pasting this in my awesome-config, the NetworkManager applet appears two time in my system tray:

awful.util.spawn_with_shell(" nm-applet --sm-disable &")

Do you also start it in your ~.xinitrc (or however you're launching X)? Also, take a look at:

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=148789

Steffo

Member

Registered: 2012-10-27

Posts: 34

Re: Question to NetworkManager

Nope, I think it's a bug in awesome, because if I comment the awful command out, the NetworkManager doesn't start at all.
To underline this might be a bug: If I start awesome n times, the NetworkManager applet appears n times in the system tray.

Antoine

Member

From: Picton Ontario

Registered: 2012-10-11

Posts: 90

Re: Question to NetworkManager

Nope, I think it's a bug in awesome, because if I comment the awful command out, the NetworkManager doesn't start at all.
To underline this might be a bug: If I start awesome n times, the NetworkManager applet appears n times in the system tray.

Well, no, it's not a bug; awesome is doing exactly what you're asking: starting a new nm-applet every time you "restart" awesome. You need a "run once" script from the awesome wiki: http://awesome.naquadah.org/wiki/Autostart#Simple_way. (Third code block down the page).

I start nm-applet in ~/.xinitrc, not in ~/.config/awesome/rc.lua, and it only appears once in my tray, forever, no matter how often I tell awesome to restart. Try commenting out your awful autostart (nm-applet will already be running -- it will start when X starts) and putting

/usr/bin/nm-applet --sm-disable &

in ~/.xinitrc (I like full paths to things). Using ~/.xinitrc to autostart stuff is covered in the same awesome wiki page.

Edit for spelling (mine).

Last edited by Antoine (2012-11-06 12:08:39)