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Connect Wi-Fi from Linux Terminal using nmcli Command
If you are a Linux user and wish to connect to a Wi-Fi network from a terminal. Although it may seem scary, it is actually a simple process using the Nmcli command. In this article, I will introduce you to the steps of connecting Wi-Fi from a Linux terminal using Nmcli commands in a simple and easy-to-understand way. So let's get started!
First, if we want to check the name of our network device we can simply do that by running the following command ?
$ iw dev
You'll get the output kind of this by running the command ?
phy#0
Interface wlan0
ifindex 3
wdev 0x1
addr 12:34:56:78:9a:bc
ssid MyWiFiNetwork
type managed
channel 6 (2437 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2437 MHz
txpower 20.00 dBm
In this case, the name is wlan0. Please consider what you're getting.
And next, we'll check our network device's status whether it's connected to the WI-Fi or not. For that run the below command ?
iw wlan0 link
You'll get the status of your device look like this ?
Not connected.
Before we look more into this, it's important to note that not all Linux distributions come with the Nmcli command pre-installed in the system. If you don't have it installed on your system, you can install it by using your package manager. For example, on Ubuntu or Debian-based systems, you can install Nmcli by running the following command in the terminal ?
sudo apt-get install network-manager
When you run the above command for installation of nmcli you'll get terminal output that looks similar to this ?
Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following additional packages will be installed: libnma0 libteamdctl0 network-manager-config-connectivity-ubuntu network-manager-gnome Suggested packages: policykit-1-gnome The following NEW packages will be installed: libnma0 libteamdctl0 network-manager network-manager-config-connectivity-ubuntu network-manager-gnome 0 upgraded, 5 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 2,793 kB of archives. After this operation, 11.1 MB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
Once you have Nmcli installed, you can use it to connect to Wi-Fi networks. Follow these instructions carefully!!
Step 1: Scanning for Wi-Fi Networks
Before you connect to a Wi-Fi network, you need to know its name (SSID). You can use the Nmcli command to scan for available Wi-Fi networks by running the following command in the terminal ?
nmcli device wifi list
By running this command you'll get output that looks like this ?
IN-USE SSID MODE CHAN RATE SIGNAL BARS SECURITY
MyWiFiNetwork Infra 6 54 Mbit/s 80 ???_ WPA2
OtherWiFiNetwork Infra 11 54 Mbit/s 70 ??__ WPA1 WPA2
PublicWiFi Infra 1 54 Mbit/s 50 ??__ --
This output lists all of the Wi-Fi networks that your computer can detect, along with their SSID (network name), mode (Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc), channel, rate, signal strength, number of bars, and security type. In this example, your computer is currently connected to a network called "MyWiFiNetwork" with WPA2 security, while there are also two other networks detected, "OtherWiFiNetwork" with WPA1/WPA2 security and "PublicWiFi" with no security.
OR
In an alternate way if you don't want to use nmcli command to scan the WI-FI network you can do the same thing with the help of sudo also. For that, the command will be this ?
sudo iw wlan0 scan
By running this command you'll get this output ?
BSS 00:11:22:33:44:55 (on wlan0) freq: 2462 beacon interval: 100 TUs capability: ESS Privacy ShortPreamble ShortSlotTime (0x0431) signal: -56.00 dBm last seen: 204 ms ago SSID: example_network DS Parameter set: channel 11 RSN: * Version: 1 * Group cipher: CCMP * Pairwise ciphers: CCMP * Authentication suites: PSK * Capabilities: 16-PTKSA-RC 1-GTKSA-RC (0x000c) HT capabilities: Capabilities: 0x11ac HT20/HT40 SM Power Save disabled RX Greenfield RX HT20 SGI RX HT40 SGI TX STBC RX STBC 1-stream Max AMSDU length: 3839 bytes No DSSS/CCK HT40 HT operation: Primary channel: 11 Secondary channel offset: no secondary HT40: disabled SSID Length: 14 SSID: example_network BSS 66:77:88:99:aa:bb (on wlan0) freq: 2412 beacon interval: 100 TUs capability: ESS Privacy ShortPreamble ShortSlotTime (0x0431) signal: -72.00 dBm last seen: 456 ms ago SSID: another_network DS Parameter set: channel 1 HT capabilities: Capabilities: 0x11ac HT20/HT40 SM Power Save disabled RX Greenfield RX HT20 SGI RX HT40 SGI TX STBC RX STBC 1-stream Max AMSDU length: 3839 bytes No DSSS/CCK HT40 HT operation: Primary channel: 1 Secondary channel offset: no secondary HT40: disabled SSID Length: 15 SSID: another_network
It's important to note that the output shown here is just an example, and the output you see on your own system may differ depending on your specific Wi-Fi hardware and system configuration.
Step 2: Connecting to the Wi-Fi Network
Once you have the SSID of the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to, you can use the Nmcli command to connect to it. Run the following command in the terminal ?
nmcli device wifi connect <SSID>
you'll get the following output by running this command
$ nmcli device wifi connect MyWiFiNetwork Device 'wlan0' successfully activated with 'd0:53:49:67:8a:16'.
In this instance, we're establishing a connection to a Wi-Fi network identified by the SSID "MyWiFiNetwork." To do so, the nmcli command is utilizing the wlan0 device to connect to the network. After successfully connecting to the network, the command provides feedback confirming that the device has been activated, along with its unique MAC address, which in this case is d0:53:49:67:8a:16. Keep in mind that the exact output you see may differ based on your specific system and network setup.
Step 3: Managing Wi-Fi Connections
Once you've connected to a Wi-Fi network using Nmcli, you can manage your connections using the following commands ?
To disconnect from the current Wi-Fi network, run the following command ?
nmcli device disconnect
Here is the output ?
If you were previously connected to a network, the output will be similar to the following ?
Device 'wlan0' successfully disconnected.
If you were not previously connected to a network, the output will be similar to the following ?
Error: No active connection or device found.
This output indicates that there was no active network connection to disconnect from, or that
To view a list of all the Wi-Fi networks you've connected to, run the following command ?
nmcli connection show
Here is the output ?
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE Wired connection 1 12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0 ethernet enp0s25 Wi-Fi network 1 12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef1 wifi wlp3s0 Wi-Fi network 2 12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef2 wifi wlp3s0
This command lists all the saved network connections on your system, along with their name, UUID, type, and device. In this example, there are two Wi-Fi network connections and one wired connection.
To delete a saved Wi-Fi connection, run the following command ?
nmcli connection delete <connection-name>
here's an example of the terminal output for this command ?
$ nmcli connection delete MyWifiConnection Connection 'MyWifiConnection' (94e863e8-41dc-4e63-bb02-27cf8c1fcbe0) successfully deleted.
In this example, we are deleting a Wi-Fi connection named MyWifiConnection and the terminal output confirms that the connection has been successfully deleted. The output also includes a connection ID (94e863e8-41dc-4e63-bb02-27cf8c1fcbe0) for the connection that was deleted.
Replace <connection-name> with the name of the Wi-Fi connection you want to delete.
Conclusion
To wrap up, utilizing the Nmcli command to connect to Wi-Fi networks from the Linux terminal is an effective and expedient way to go online. By adhering to the instructions outlined in this article, you can effortlessly scan for accessible Wi-Fi networks, select the network you want, and competently manage your Wi-Fi connections.
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