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1 office 1 Distribution specific notes on Wireless Configuration
2 -----------------------------------------------------
3  
4 ***** HELP *****
5 If people send me information about the specifics of each
6 distribution, I'll try to collect that here. Don't forget to mention
7 to which distribution those instructions apply, the tool used (if any)
8 and the files modified.
9 Actually, the people packaging my tools for a specific
10 distribution have a moral obligation to send me the exact detailed
11 instructions of what they have done. I will list in the wireless.7
12 man page only distributions that give me an official answer.
13 ***** HELP *****
14  
15 -----
16  
17 INTRODUCTION
18 ------------
19 The tools enable users to change the card settings at run time
20 (when running iwconfig, for example). However, most users want the
21 card to be configured either at boot time or when the card is
22 activated in the system.
23 Each distribution has its own configuration scripts, and
24 therefore is slightly different. Some distributions even add some
25 graphical setup tool (nice). This file describe the procedure for a
26 few of them.
27 Note : if you install the Pcmcia package in source form from
28 the official Linux-Pcmcia web site (as opposed to precompiled by a
29 distribution, please use the PCMCIA method).
30  
31 Please remember : I don't use your distribution, and I have
32 absolutely no clue about how your distribution works. I'm just
33 collecting random information here without beeing able to verify it.
34  
35 -----
36  
37 WIRELESS DRIVERS
38 ----------------
39 Most Linux wireless drivers support Wireless Extensions, and
40 therefore may be configure via Wireless Tools and the methods
41 described in this file.
42  
43 However, a few drivers have no support or limited support for
44 Wireless Extensions (like read only). In those cases, these are your
45 options :
46 o read the driver documentation.
47 o use the driver specific interface or tools to
48 configure the card, and try to integrate that in your distribution.
49 o implement Wireless Extension support in the driver.
50 In some cases, there are easier workaround. Different version
51 of the driver may add Wireless Extension (often alongside the
52 proprietary method). In some other case, there may be another driver
53 supporting the same card and with support for Wireless Extensions.
54  
55 Some Linux wireless drivers don't export all wireless settings
56 via Wireless Extensions, not even through iwpriv. Those setting may be
57 available through the driver specific interface. Refer to previous
58 section for workarounds.
59  
60 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
61  
62 PCMCIA METHOD
63 -------------
64 (Contributed by Jean Tourrilhes <jt@hpl.hp.com>)
65 This method work for *all* distributions.
66 For Pcmcia cards, it is possible to overwrite the Pcmcia
67 configuration files of the distribution with the original Pcmcia
68 configuration files from the Pcmcia package (/etc/pcmcia/*). If you
69 install the Pcmcia package in source form from the official
70 Linux-Pcmcia web site, this will be done automatically.
71 Once this is done, you can no longer use the specific tools
72 and configuration files of the distribution, and are required to use
73 Pcmcia style of configuration (see Pcmcia Howto).
74 In such a case, Wireless configuration is done through
75 wireless.opts, and documented in the file PCMCIA.txt.
76  
77 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
78  
79 DEBIAN 2.2 (and earlier)
80 ----------
81 (Contributed by Jean Tourrilhes <jt@hpl.hp.com>)
82 Debian 2.2 (and earlier) doesn't support any Wireless
83 Configuration. You are required to use the Pcmcia method. Also, the
84 Wireless Tools package is not part of the standard packages.
85  
86 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
87  
88 DEBIAN 3.0 (and later)
89 ----------
90 (Contributed by Guus Sliepen <guus@sliepen.eu.org>)
91 Debian also has another way of configuring network devices,
92 controlled by /etc/network/interfaces. Users can add a wireless
93 interface to /etc/network/interfaces, using the standard options to
94 set the address and such, but the wireless-tools package adds new
95 option statements that can be used to configure keys, channel,
96 etcetera.
97 From the README.Debian script that comes with wireless-tools:
98  
99 /etc/network/interfaces
100 -----------------------
101  
102 You can now add extra statements to the iface sections of the files in
103 /etc/network/interfaces that are specific for wireless interfaces. They
104 are of the form:
105  
106 wireless-<function> <value>
107  
108 Before the interface is brought up, such a statement will result in the
109 execution of the following command:
110  
111 iwconfig <interface> <function> <value>
112  
113 Example:
114  
115 iface eth0 inet static
116 address 192.168.1.2
117 network 192.168.1.0
118 netmask 255.255.255.0
119 broadcast 192.168.1.255
120 wireless-essid Home
121 wireless-mode ad-hoc
122  
123 The current Debian script support all arguments present in
124 wireless.opts apart from Nickname. You can check this in the script
125 /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wireless-tool.
126 You will need of course to install the Wireless Tools package
127 if it's not already done, which is part of the standard package list
128 (use dselect, dpkg, apt or anything you like to get it).
129  
130 -----
131  
132 (Contributed by Joey Hess <joey@dragon.kitenet.net>)
133 /etc/network/interfaces is much more flexible than it appears. It can probably
134 do everything pcmcia schemes can do, and more. Here is part of mine:
135  
136 auto wlan0
137 mapping wlan0
138 script /usr/local/bin/ifscheme-mapping
139  
140 iface wlan0-home inet static
141 address 192.168.1.5
142 gateway 192.168.1.1
143 netmask 255.255.255.0
144 wireless-mode ad-hoc
145 wireless-essid wortroot
146 wireless-nick dragon
147 wireless-channel 1
148  
149 iface wlan0-away inet dhcp
150 wireless-mode managed
151  
152 Now I can type 'ifscheme -s away' when I leave home, rather like
153 cardctl scheme.
154  
155 The ifscheme script is at http://bugs.debian.org/154444. If the request in
156 bug #154442 is implemented, it will become very flexible indeed..
157  
158 Debian will hopefully be using this same file eventually for pcmcia network
159 devices too. It's already doable but takes a little work. This is all rather
160 rough and badly documented so far.
161  
162 You can also do mapping based on the MAC address, if you want specific
163 configuration on specific card. See
164 /usr/share/doc/ifupdown/examples/get-mac-address.sh and the stanza in
165 /usr/share/doc/ifupdown/examples/network-interfaces.gz that uses it.
166 This comes back to the problem I alluded to with mapping scripts not
167 being "nestable" yet, and bug #154442. You can do what you want today,
168 but you may need to write your own mapping script which uses a
169 combination of MAC address and scheme info to return a stanza name to
170 ifupdown.
171  
172 -----
173  
174 (Contributed by Jean Tourrilhes <jt@hpl.hp.com>)
175 The 'ifscheme' scripts mentionned above are now available in
176 Debian Sarge, in the 'ifscheme' package.
177 The MAC address based mapping mentioned above is deprecated,
178 you should use 'ifrename' to assign a consistent interface name to
179 each of your network interface. This is documented in
180 HOTPLUG.txt. This enable the combination of MAC address identification
181 of interfaces with scheme multi-configuration.
182  
183 -----
184  
185 If you need automatic wireless configuration, you can look at
186 the following packages :
187 o ifupdown-roaming :
188 http://panopticon.csustan.edu/thood/ifupdown-roaming.html
189 o waproamd
190 http://0pointer.de/lennart/projects/waproamd/
191  
192 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
193  
194 SuSE 8.0 and later
195 --------
196 (Contributed by Christian Zoz <zoz@suse.de>)
197 All network configuration is done in the directory
198 /etc/sysconfig/network. It does not matter if it's a build in NIC or
199 PCMCIA, USB, etc. The files network.opts and wireless.opts in
200 /etc/pcmcia are not used any longer. There is /sbin/ifup to set up all
201 kind of network interface.
202 There is a file /etc/sysconfig/network/wireless where you may
203 set most of the options of iwconfig in seperate variables (they are
204 named like the options). Additionally you may use
205 WIRELESS_IWCONFIG_OPTIONS e.g. for setting key 2, 3 or 4 or
206 unsupported iwconfig commands. This file is documented and its
207 settings are used for any wlan NIC.
208 Configuration of wireless variable looks like :
209 WIRELESS_ESSID="<essid>"
210 Every variable from file wireless may be used in the interface
211 configuration files /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-* as well. As
212 expectable this overwrites the global setting in wireless. For
213 sophisticated use of the ifcfg-* files read 'man ifup'.
214  
215 Hint for PCMCIA and USB users:
216 You need not to use the iterface name for the configuration as
217 this may vary from one plugin to another. You may use a description of
218 your hardware instead (ifcfg-<MACADDRESS> or ifcfg-pcmcia-1 for card
219 in Slot 1)
220  
221 Some of the variables can be set with YaST2 as well.
222  
223 If you miss the 'schemes' functionality from the pcmcia-cs
224 packages use the tool SCPM (System Configuration Profile Management)
225 instead. This extends the pcmcia schemes to the whole system
226 configuration. Read 'info scpm'. Since SuSE 8.1 there also is a YaST2
227 modul for SCPM.
228  
229 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
230  
231 RED-HAT 7.2
232 -----------
233 (Grabbed from various source - Google is your friend)
234 Configuration is done in the file :
235 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethN
236 Where 'ethN' is the name of the wireless interface (such as
237 eth0, eth1, ...).
238 The following lines may be added in this file :
239 MODE=<mode>
240 ESSID="<essid>"
241 RATE=<rate>
242 TXPOWER=<txpower>
243 KEY="<key>"
244 The full list of configuration can be found in the file :
245 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup-wireless
246  
247 Note that Brad Allison has other tips for 7.2 :
248 http://jackal.dnsalias.com:8080/public/misc/wireless/wireless.html
249  
250 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
251  
252 RED-HAT 7.3 and later
253 -----------
254 (Cut'n'pasted from Brad Allison web page)
255 http://jackal.dnsalias.com:8080/public/misc/wireless/wireless.html
256  
257 If you are running RedHat 7.3, I would tell you to simply run
258 /usr/bin/redhat-config-network and click "Devices", Click "Add", then
259 select "Wireless Connection". You can find the full instructions in
260 RedHat's Customization Guide for RH7.3 in Chapter 6, Network
261 Configuration: Wireless Connection.
262 http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/
263 http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.3-Manual/custom-guide/s1-network-config-wireless.html
264  
265 However, according to the Errata: The version of the Red Hat
266 Network Administration Tool that shipped with Red Hat Linux 7.3 did
267 not include wireless connection in the configuration wizard. An
268 enhancement errata will be released soon with this feature. You can
269 download the newest version of redhat-config-network from rpmfind.net.
270 http://www.redhat.com/docs/errata/RHL-7.3-Manual/
271 http://www.rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=redhat-config-network&submit=Search+...
272  
273 -----
274  
275 (Grabbed from various source - Google is your friend)
276 The current graphical user interface support :
277 ESSID, Mode, Freq, Channel, Rate, Key
278  
279 Compared to Red-Hat 7.2, the Wireless Setting in the
280 configuration file have change to include the WIRELESS_ prefix :
281 WIRELESS_MODE=<mode>
282 WIRELESS_ESSID='<essid>'
283 WIRELESS_ENC_KEY='<key>'
284 The underlying configuration files and configurations options
285 seems to be indentical to what is done in Mandrake 8.2 (or vice
286 versa), so please check the section below. This allow configuration of
287 additional wireless settings not available in the GUI.
288  
289 -----
290  
291 (Extrapolated from web page of Martin Pot <m.t.pot@ieee.org>)
292 http://ii.net/~mpot/wireless/router.cgi
293 Red-Hat 7.3 also seem to support configuration in
294 wireless.opts to some extent. But for compatibility with the network
295 admin tools, I would still recommend to use the above method.
296 Red-Hat 7.3 seems to load wvlan_cs for Orinoco cards and
297 friends. The above web page explain how to switch it to orinoco_cs.
298  
299 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
300  
301 RED-HAT 9.0 and later
302 -----------
303 (Cut'n'pasted from Dax Kelson web page)
304 http://www.gurulabs.com/RedHatLinux9-review.html
305  
306 A little known fact is that newer versions of RHL support
307 multiple network profiles. This is useful for machines that commonly
308 plug into different networks (think laptops). The easy way to create
309 network profiles is to use the redhat-config-network command. The
310 question then becomes, what happens when you type "ifup eth0"? The
311 behavior wasn't defined in previous versions, however, now in RHL 9
312 the following behavior is defined;
313  
314 search path for:
315 # ifup $DEV
316 is:
317 /etc/sysconfig/networking/profiles/$CURRENT_PROFILE/ifcfg-$DEV
318 /etc/sysconfig/networking/profiles/default/ifcfg-$DEV
319 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-$DEV
320  
321 A cool trick is to boot your RHL box directly into a profile
322 from the GRUB boot screen. To do this, create a separate
323 /etc/boot/grub.conf entry for each network profile, and in each entry
324 add the kernel argument netprofile=profilename.
325  
326 -----
327  
328 I'm pretty certain the profile scheme above also apply to
329 wireless settings, which is good news...
330  
331 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
332  
333 MANDRAKE 8.2 and later
334 ------------
335 (Grabbed from various source - Google is your friend)
336 Configuration is done in the file :
337 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethN
338 Where 'ethN' is the name of the wireless interface (such as
339 eth0, eth1, ...).
340 The following lines may be added in this file :
341 WIRELESS_MODE=<mode>
342 WIRELESS_ESSID=<essid>
343 WIRELESS_NWID=<nwid>
344 WIRELESS_FREQ=<freq/channel>
345 WIRELESS_SENS=<sensitivity>
346 WIRELESS_RATE=<rate>
347 WIRELESS_ENC_KEY=<keys>
348 WIRELESS_RTS=<rts>
349 WIRELESS_FRAG=<frag>
350 WIRELESS_IWCONFIG=<iwconfig command>
351 WIRELESS_IWSPY=<iwspy command>
352 WIRELESS_IWPRIV=<iwpriv command>
353 Most likely, you only need to add a few of those lines and not
354 all of them. The script doing the configuration and where you can
355 check the details is :
356 /etc/network/network-scripts/ifup-wireless
357 You will of course need the Wireless Tools package :
358 rpm -Uvh wireless-tools-XX-Xmdk.XXX.rpm
359  
360 Mandrake can also have wireless setting added to its
361 Auto-Install procedure :
362 http://members.shaw.ca/mandrake/drakx/8.2/HTML/section4-13.html
363  
364 -----
365  
366 (in e-mail from Thierry Vignaud <tvignaud@mandrakesoft.com>)
367 You may use the following tool :
368 o drakconnect
369 You may read the following documentation :
370 o ifcfg
371  
372 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
373  
374  
375 Have fun...
376  
377 Jean