Distribution specific notes on Wireless Configuration ----------------------------------------------------- ***** HELP ***** If people send me information about the specifics of each distribution, I'll try to collect that here. Don't forget to mention to which distribution those instructions apply, the tool used (if any) and the files used. Actually, the people packaging my tools for a specific distribution have a moral obligation to send me the exact detailed instructions of what they have done. I will list in the wireless.7 man page only distributions that give me an official answer. ***** HELP ***** INTRODUCTION ------------ The tools enable users to change the card settings at run time (when running iwconfig, for example). However, most users want the card to be configured either at boot time or when the card is activated in the system. Each distribution has its own configuration scripts, and therefore is slightly different. Some distributions even add some graphical setup tool (nice). This file describe the procedure for a few of them. Note : if you install the Pcmcia package in source form from the official Linux-Pcmcia web site (as opposed to precompiled by a distribution, please use the PCMCIA method). PCMCIA METHOD ------------- (Contributed by Jean Tourrilhes ) This method work for *all* distributions. For Pcmcia cards, it is possible to overwrite the Pcmcia configuration files of the distribution with the original Pcmcia configuration files from the Pcmcia package (/etc/pcmcia/*). If you install the Pcmcia package in source form from the official Linux-Pcmcia web site, this will be done automatically. Once this is done, you can no longer use the specific tools and configuration files of the distribution, and are required to use Pcmcia style of configuration (see Pcmcia Howto). In such a case, Wireless configuration is done through wireless.opts, and documented in the file PCMCIA.txt. ----- DEBIAN 2.2 (and earlier) ---------- (Contributed by Jean Tourrilhes ) Debian 2.2 (and earlier) doesn't support any Wireless Configuration. You are required to use the Pcmcia method. Also, the Wireless Tools package is not part of the standard packages. ----- DEBIAN 2.3 (and later) ---------- (Contributed by Guus Sliepen ) Debian also has another way of configuring network devices, controlled by /etc/network/interfaces. Users can add a wireless interface to /etc/network/interfaces, using the standard options to set the address and such, but the wireless-tools package adds new option statements that can be used to configure keys, channel, etcetera. From the README.Debian script that comes with wireless-tools: /etc/network/interfaces ----------------------- You can now add extra statements to the iface sections of the files in /etc/network/interfaces that are specific for wireless interfaces. They are of the form: wireless_ Before the interface is brought up, such a statement will result in the execution of the following command: iwconfig Example: iface eth0 inet static address 192.168.1.2 network 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255 wireless_essid Home wireless_mode ad_hoc The current Debian script support all arguments present in wireless.opts apart from Nickname. You can check this in the script /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tool. You will need of course to install the Wireless Tools package if it's not already done, which is part of the standard package list (use dselect, dpkg, apt or anything you like to get it). ----- RED-HAT 7.2 ----------- (Grabbed from various source - Google is your friend) Configuration is done in the file : /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethN Where 'ethN' is the name of the wireless interface (such as eth0, eth1, ...). The following lines may be added in this file : MODE= ESSID="" RATE= TXPOWER= KEY="" The full list of configuration can be found in the file : /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup-wireless Note that Brad Allison has other tips for 7.2 : http://jackal.dnsalias.com:8080/public/misc/wireless/wireless.html ----- RED-HAT 7.3 and later ----------- (Cut'n'pasted from Brad Allison web page) http://jackal.dnsalias.com:8080/public/misc/wireless/wireless.html If you are running RedHat 7.3, I would tell you to simply run /usr/bin/redhat-config-network and click "Devices", Click "Add", then select "Wireless Connection". You can find the full instructions in RedHat's Customization Guide for RH7.3 in Chapter 6, Network Configuration: Wireless Connection. http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.3-Manual/custom-guide/s1-network-config-wireless.html However, according to the Errata: The version of the Red Hat Network Administration Tool that shipped with Red Hat Linux 7.3 did not include wireless connection in the configuration wizard. An enhancement errata will be released soon with this feature. You can download the newest version of redhat-config-network from rpmfind.net. http://www.redhat.com/docs/errata/RHL-7.3-Manual/ http://www.rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=redhat-config-network&submit=Search+... (Grabbed from various source - Google is your friend) The current graphical user interface support : ESSID, Mode, Freq, Channel, Rate, Key Compared to Red-Hat 7.2, the Wireless Setting in the configuration file have change to include the WIRELESS_ prefix : WIRELESS_MODE= WIRELESS_ESSID='' WIRELESS_ENC_KEY='' The underlying configuration files and configurations options seems to be indentical to what is done in Mandrake 8.2 (or vice versa), so please check the section below. This allow configuration of additional wireless settings not available in the GUI. (Extrapolated from web page of Martin Pot ) http://ii.net/~mpot/wireless/router.cgi Red-Hat 7.3 also seem to support configuration in wireless.opts to some extent. But for compatibility with the network admin tools, I would still recommend to use the above method. Red-Hat 7.3 seems to load wvlan_cs for Orinoco cards and friends. The above web page explain how to switch it to orinoco_cs. ----- MANDRAKE 8.2 and later ------------ (Grabbed from various source - Google is your friend) Configuration is done in the file : /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethN Where 'ethN' is the name of the wireless interface (such as eth0, eth1, ...). The following lines may be added in this file : WIRELESS_MODE= WIRELESS_ESSID= WIRELESS_NWID= WIRELESS_FREQ= WIRELESS_SENS= WIRELESS_RATE= WIRELESS_ENC_KEY= WIRELESS_RTS= WIRELESS_FRAG= WIRELESS_IWCONFIG= WIRELESS_IWSPY= WIRELESS_IWPRIV= Most likely, you only need to add a few of those lines and not all of them. The script doing the configuration and where you can check the details is : /etc/network/network-scripts/ifup-wireless You will of course need the Wireless Extension package : rpm -Uvh wireless-tools-XX-Xmdk.XXX.rpm Mandrake can also have wireless setting added to its Auto-Install procedure : http://members.shaw.ca/mandrake/drakx/8.2/HTML/section4-13.html ----- SuSE 8.0 and later -------- (Cut'n'pasted from Unofficial SuSE FAQ, by Keith Winston) http://www.smaug42.com/susefaq/ethernetproblems.html#AEN768 The old PCMCIA network scripts used to read /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts to get the wireless options like mode, ESSID, encryption key, etc. Well, the wireless.opts file is still there but it is NOT used. It would have been nice if there was some documentation about it. Instead, the new scripts read this info from another brand new file called /etc/sysconfig/network/wireless. You can edit this file to store your wireless options. If you don't use key 1, you may have to put the other key in the WIRELESS_IWCONFIG_OPTIONS variable. Configuration of wireless settings looks like : WIRELESS_ESSID="" It also seem that the same directives can be added to the file : /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-ethX Note that there seems to be other problems with SuSE, such as the Pcmcia scripts binding the linux-wlan-ng driver to Orinoco cards (which of course won't work - see link in FAQ above). ----- Have fun... Jean