Issues logging in to University Wifi

wasomijelili · 2025-09-22 17:15:35

I'm aware that this is an issue that has showed up both here and on Reddit a few times, but I've been unable to resolve my problem with the solutions in those threads, so I figured a new post was in order.

I've been trying to connect to my university's wifi network for the past few hours, and there are indications of problems but I'm not sure how to resolve them. I am running NetworkManager with iwd as the backend, as shown in

❯ systemctl --type=service --state=running
  UNIT                      LOAD   ACTIVE SUB     DESCRIPTION
  accounts-daemon.service   loaded active running Accounts Service
  asusd.service             loaded active running ASUS Notebook Control
  avahi-daemon.service      loaded active running Avahi mDNS/DNS-SD Stack
  bluetooth.service         loaded active running Bluetooth service
  bolt.service              loaded active running Thunderbolt system service
  containerd.service        loaded active running containerd container runtime
  dbus-broker.service       loaded active running D-Bus System Message Bus
  docker.service            loaded active running Docker Application Container Engine
  iwd.service               loaded active running Wireless service
  NetworkManager.service    loaded active running Network Manager
  nvidia-powerd.service     loaded active running nvidia-powerd service
  polkit.service            loaded active running Authorization Manager
  rtkit-daemon.service      loaded active running RealtimeKit Scheduling Policy Service
  sddm.service              loaded active running Simple Desktop Display Manager
  supergfxd.service         loaded active running SUPERGFX
  systemd-journald.service  loaded active running Journal Service
  systemd-logind.service    loaded active running User Login Management
  systemd-resolved.service  loaded active running Network Name Resolution
  systemd-timesyncd.service loaded active running Network Time Synchronization
  systemd-udevd.service     loaded active running Rule-based Manager for Device Events and Files
  systemd-userdbd.service   loaded active running User Database Manager
  tuned-ppd.service         loaded active running PPD-to-TuneD API Translation Daemon
  tuned.service             loaded active running Dynamic System Tuning Daemon
  upower.service            loaded active running Daemon for power management
  user@1000.service         loaded active running User Manager for UID 1000
  vpnagentd.service         loaded active running Cisco Secure Client - AnyConnect VPN Agent

The SSID of the network is "MWireless".

❯ nmcli device wifi connect MWireless
Error: Connection activation failed: 802.1X supplicant failed.

I've confirmed that I have both an .nmconnection and a .8021x file:

❯ sudo cat /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/MWireless\ \[d33d2e54].nmconnection
[connection]
id=MWireless [d33d2e54]
uuid=d33d2e54-b341-4524-9f76-051be6c12781
type=wifi
autoconnect-priority=20

[wifi]
mode=infrastructure
ssid=MWireless

[wifi-security]
auth-alg=open
group=ccmp;
key-mgmt=wpa-eap
pairwise=ccmp;
pmf=2

[802-1x]
ca-cert=/home/robineli/.joinnow/usertrustrsaca [jdk].pem
domain-suffix-match=radius.umnet.umich.edu
eap=peap;
identity=<university email>
password=<password>
phase2-auth=mschapv2

[ipv4]
method=auto

[ipv6]
addr-gen-mode=default
method=auto

[proxy]

❯ sudo cat /var/lib/iwd/MWireless.8021x
# Auto-generated from NetworkManager connection "MWireless [d33d2e54]"
# Changes to that connection overwrite this file when enabled by NM's [main].iwd-config-path value
[IPv6]
Enabled=true

[Security]
EAP-Method=PEAP
EAP-Identity=<university email>
EAP-PEAP-CACert=/home/robineli/.joinnow/usertrustrsaca [jdk].pem
EAP-PEAP-ServerDomainMask=*.radius.umnet.umich.edu
EAP-PEAP-Phase2-Method=MSCHAPV2
EAP-PEAP-Phase2-Identity=<university email>
EAP-PEAP-Phase2-Password=<password>

I see a few consistent error messages in journalctl:

Sep 22 12:46:47 archlinux iwd[741]: invalid HE capabilities for 02:1f:b3:19:9f:eb
Sep 22 12:46:47 archlinux iwd[741]: invalid HE capabilities for cc:88:c7:41:da:a2
Sep 22 12:46:47 archlinux iwd[741]: invalid HE capabilities for cc:88:c7:41:da:a3
Sep 22 12:46:47 archlinux iwd[741]: invalid HE capabilities for cc:88:c7:41:da:a1
Sep 22 12:59:56 archlinux iwd[741]: event: state, old: connected, new: disconnecting
Sep 22 12:59:56 archlinux iwd[741]: event: state, old: disconnecting, new: disconnected
Sep 22 12:59:56 archlinux iwd[741]: Failed to load /home/robineli/.joinnow/usertrustrsaca [jdk].pem
Sep 22 13:00:52 archlinux iwd[741]: event: connect-info, ssid: hottestspot, bss: 02:1f:b3:19:9f:eb, signal: -15, load: 0/255
Sep 22 13:00:52 archlinux iwd[741]: event: state, old: disconnected, new: connecting
Sep 22 13:00:52 archlinux iwd[741]: event: state, old: connecting, new: connected
Sep 22 13:07:54 archlinux iwd[741]: event: state, old: connected, new: disconnecting
Sep 22 13:07:54 archlinux iwd[741]: event: state, old: disconnecting, new: disconnected
Sep 22 13:07:54 archlinux iwd[741]: Failed to load /home/robineli/.joinnow/usertrustrsaca [jdk].pem

In the above journal log, there are a few times I connected and disconnected, that was while writing this post and trying to get the error logs and then reconnecting to my phone's hotspot, I do not believe that is connected to this issue.

The main issue appears to be from being unable to load an RSA certificate file. However, I have confirmed that the RSA file exists:

❯ ls ~/.joinnow
'usertrustrsaca [jdk].pem'

This is as far as I've gotten, if you need any more info please let me know! I've spent a few months with Arch Linux, but I haven't encountered an issue like this before, so I'm not particularly knowledgeable about where else to look. Thanks in advance!

seth · 2025-09-22 21:50:57

Failed to load /home/robineli/.joinnow/usertrustrsaca [jdk].pem

stat '/home/robineli/.joinnow/usertrustrsaca [jdk].pem'

and I'd rename that to something less problematic (ie. get rid of the blank and brackets): "usertrustrsaca_jdk.pem"

Edit:

The main issue appears to be from being unable to load an RSA certificate file.

"Indeed" (I basically stopped reading your post when I saw that and only noticed that line on the reload after the post)

Last edited by seth (2025-09-22 21:52:20)

wasomijelili · 2025-09-23 16:10:10

Even after changing the filename and .nmconnection file, the issue remains.

❯ ls .joinnow
usertrustrsaca_jdk.pem

❯ journalctl -u iwd -f
Sep 23 12:09:13 archlinux iwd[737]: Failed to load /home/robineli/.joinnow/usertrustrsaca_jdk.pem

❯ sudo cat /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/MWireless\ \[d3e5fead].nmconnection
[connection]
id=MWireless [d3e5fead]
uuid=d3e5fead-8e31-4039-96b8-9769094546f0
type=wifi
autoconnect-priority=20

[wifi]
mode=infrastructure
ssid=MWireless

[wifi-security]
auth-alg=open
group=ccmp;
key-mgmt=wpa-eap
pairwise=ccmp;
pmf=2

[802-1x]
ca-cert=/home/robineli/.joinnow/usertrustrsaca_jdk.pem
domain-suffix-match=radius.umnet.umich.edu
eap=peap;
identity=<username>
password=<password>
phase2-auth=mschapv2

[ipv4]
method=auto

[ipv6]
addr-gen-mode=default
method=auto

[proxy]

Last edited by wasomijelili (2025-09-23 16:11:07)

seth · 2025-09-23 19:36:01

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Iwd#Ve … _debugging
Also try to move the pem into a more public path, eg. /etc or /usr/share - might just be access rights.

wasomijelili · 2025-09-24 14:55:11

I can move the pem just fine, but upon attempting to connect to the network,

ca-cert=/usr/share/usertrustrsaca_jdk.pem

is automatically overwritten with

ca-cert=/home/robineli/.joinnow/usertrustrsaca_jdk.pem

I also tried pasting the certificate in /var/lib/iwd/MWireless.8021x, but that file is automatically generated by the .nmconnection file, so it's always overwritten when attempting to connect.

I went through the iwd troubleshooting section you linked, but no extra debug information appeared after I added verbose TLS debugging, and the rest of the frequent issues don't seem to apply to my situation.

It doesn't appear to be a permission issue either:

❯ ls -l .joinnow/
total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 robineli users 2094 Sep 22 12:45 usertrustrsaca_jdk.pem

seth · 2025-09-24 19:08:04

is automatically overwritten with

Stop NM, edit the config, restart NM.
The previous renaming has obviously worked w/o anything getting magically reset.

Also maybe post your complete system journal for the boot after a failed connection

sudo journalctl -b | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st

You might be running into https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Networ … k%22_error but I believe we've so far seen only prefiltered system messages.

Arch Linux

#1 2025-09-22 17:15:35

Issues logging in to University Wifi

#2 2025-09-22 21:50:57

Re: Issues logging in to University Wifi

#3 2025-09-23 16:10:10

Re: Issues logging in to University Wifi

#4 2025-09-23 19:36:01

Re: Issues logging in to University Wifi

#5 2025-09-24 14:55:11

Re: Issues logging in to University Wifi

#6 2025-09-24 19:08:04

Re: Issues logging in to University Wifi

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