WLAN configuration of NetworkManager from the console

It seems that configuring a WLAN connection in NetworkManager on Fedora (tested on F17 alpha on ARM) is pretty straight forward. Unfortunately I was not able to find documentation about the steps, so I just note them down here:

I must confess, that I cheated a little, as the configuration was initially created with nm-connection-editor by selecting the 'Available to all users' option. Copying the configuration files to the Fedora 17 rootfs image made my wireless work immediately.

The configuration consists out of two files:

  1. /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-MyWLAN where MyWLAN is just a name for your connection
    ESSID="MyESSID"
    MODE=Managed
    KEY_MGMT=WPA-PSK
    TYPE=Wireless
    BOOTPROTO=dhcp
    DEFROUTE=yes
    IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=yes
    IPV6INIT=no
    NAME=MyWLAN
    UUID=57fc7596-af3e-48af-8d90-1a06783083d7
    ONBOOT=yes
    PEERDNS=yes
    PEERROUTES=yes
    Of course it is needed to change at least the NAME and the ESSID. KEY_MGMT can probably have other values, but there is no need for me to research that atm.
  2. /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/keys-MyWLAN
    WPA_PSK="My Top Secret Password"
    This password will likely not work anywhere, just change it to whatever is needed.

After putting these two files in place (copied from an other device after booting) made NetworkManager connect to the WLAN immediately.

Some tools for checking the connection are:
  • nm-tool which displays the detected networks and some more details.
  • nmcli con up MyWLAN in case you want to force connecting to the WLAN configured under /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-MyWLAN.
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