{"id":7423,"date":"2002-09-17T18:10:00","date_gmt":"2002-09-17T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/?p=7423"},"modified":"2022-11-17T18:11:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T18:11:55","slug":"distribution-txt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/distribution-txt\/","title":{"rendered":"Distribution.txt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Distribution specific notes on Wireless Configuration\n\t-----------------------------------------------------\n\n***** HELP *****\n\tIf people send me information about the specifics of each\ndistribution, I'll try to collect that here. Don't forget to mention\nto which distribution those instructions apply, the tool used (if any)\nand the files modified.\n\tActually, the people packaging my tools for a specific\ndistribution have a moral obligation to send me the exact detailed\ninstructions of what they have done. I will list in the wireless.7\nman page only distributions that give me an official answer.\n***** HELP *****\n\n\t\t\t\t-----\n\nINTRODUCTION\n------------\n\tThe tools enable users to change the card settings at run time\n(when running iwconfig, for example). However, most users want the\ncard to be configured either at boot time or when the card is\nactivated in the system.\n\tEach distribution has its own configuration scripts, and\ntherefore is slightly different. Some distributions even add some\ngraphical setup tool (nice). This file describe the procedure for a\nfew of them.\n\tNote : if you install the Pcmcia package in source form from\nthe official Linux-Pcmcia web site (as opposed to precompiled by a\ndistribution, please use the PCMCIA method).\n\n\tPlease remember : I don't use your distribution, and I have\nabsolutely no clue about how your distribution works. I'm just\ncollecting random information here without beeing able to verify it.\n\n\t\t\t\t-----\n\nWIRELESS DRIVERS\n----------------\n\tMost Linux wireless drivers support Wireless Extensions, and\ntherefore may be configure via Wireless Tools and the methods\ndescribed in this file.\n\n\tHowever, a few drivers have no support or limited support for\nWireless Extensions (like read only). In those cases, these are your\noptions :\n\t\to read the driver documentation.\n\t\to use the driver specific interface or tools to\nconfigure the card, and try to integrate that in your distribution.\n\t\to implement Wireless Extension support in the driver.\n\tIn some cases, there are easier workaround. Different version\nof the driver may add Wireless Extension (often alongside the\nproprietary method). In some other case, there may be another driver\nsupporting the same card and with support for Wireless Extensions.\n\n\tSome Linux wireless drivers don't export all wireless settings\nvia Wireless Extensions, not even through iwpriv. Those setting may be\navailable through the driver specific interface. Refer to previous\nsection for workarounds.\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nPCMCIA METHOD\n-------------\n\t\t(Contributed by Jean Tourrilhes <jt@hpl.hp.com>)\n\tThis method work for *all* distributions.\n\tFor Pcmcia cards, it is possible to overwrite the Pcmcia\nconfiguration files of the distribution with the original Pcmcia\nconfiguration files from the Pcmcia package (\/etc\/pcmcia\/*). If you\ninstall the Pcmcia package in source form from the official\nLinux-Pcmcia web site, this will be done automatically.\n\tOnce this is done, you can no longer use the specific tools\nand configuration files of the distribution, and are required to use\nPcmcia style of configuration (see Pcmcia Howto).\n\tIn such a case, Wireless configuration is done through\nwireless.opts, and documented in the file PCMCIA.txt.\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nDEBIAN 2.2 (and earlier)\n----------\n\t\t(Contributed by Jean Tourrilhes <jt@hpl.hp.com>)\n\tDebian 2.2 (and earlier) doesn't support any Wireless\nConfiguration. You are required to use the Pcmcia method. Also, the\nWireless Tools package is not part of the standard packages.\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nDEBIAN 3.0 (and later)\n----------\n\t\t(Contributed by Guus Sliepen <guus@sliepen.eu.org>)\n\tDebian also has another way of configuring network devices,\ncontrolled by \/etc\/network\/interfaces. Users can add a wireless\ninterface to \/etc\/network\/interfaces, using the standard options to\nset the address and such, but the wireless-tools package adds new\noption statements that can be used to configure keys, channel,\netcetera.\n\tFrom the README.Debian script that comes with wireless-tools:\n\n\t\/etc\/network\/interfaces\n\t-----------------------\n\nYou can now add extra statements to the iface sections of the files in\n\/etc\/network\/interfaces that are specific for wireless interfaces. They\nare of the form:\n\n    wireless-<function> <value>\n\nBefore the interface is brought up, such a statement will result in the\nexecution of the following command:\n\n    iwconfig <interface> <function> <value>\n\nExample:\n\niface eth0 inet static\n    address 192.168.1.2\n    network 192.168.1.0\n    netmask 255.255.255.0\n    broadcast 192.168.1.255\n    wireless-essid Home\n    wireless-mode ad-hoc\n\n\tThe current Debian script support all arguments present in\nwireless.opts apart from Nickname. You can check this in the script\n\/etc\/network\/if-pre-up.d\/wireless-tool.\n\tYou will need of course to install the Wireless Tools package\nif it's not already done, which is part of the standard package list\n(use dselect, dpkg, apt or anything you like to get it).\n\n\t\t\t\t-----\n\n\t\t(Contributed by Joey Hess <joey@dragon.kitenet.net>)\n\/etc\/network\/interfaces is much more flexible than it appears. It can probably\ndo everything pcmcia schemes can do, and more. Here is part of mine:\n\nauto wlan0\nmapping wlan0\n        script \/usr\/local\/bin\/ifscheme-mapping\n\niface wlan0-home inet static\n        address 192.168.1.5\n        gateway 192.168.1.1\n        netmask 255.255.255.0\n        wireless-mode ad-hoc\n        wireless-essid wortroot\n        wireless-nick dragon\n        wireless-channel 1\n\niface wlan0-away inet dhcp\n        wireless-mode managed\n\nNow I can type 'ifscheme -s away' when I leave home, rather like\ncardctl scheme.\n\nThe ifscheme script is at http:\/\/bugs.debian.org\/154444. If the request in\nbug #154442 is implemented, it will become very flexible indeed..\n\nDebian will hopefully be using this same file eventually for pcmcia network\ndevices too. It's already doable but takes a little work. This is all rather\nrough and badly documented so far.\n\nYou can also do mapping based on the MAC address, if you want specific\nconfiguration on specific card.  See\n\/usr\/share\/doc\/ifupdown\/examples\/get-mac-address.sh and the stanza in\n\/usr\/share\/doc\/ifupdown\/examples\/network-interfaces.gz that uses it.\nThis comes back to the problem I alluded to with mapping scripts not\nbeing \"nestable\" yet, and bug #154442. You can do what you want today,\nbut you may need to write your own mapping script which uses a\ncombination of MAC address and scheme info to return a stanza name to\nifupdown.\n\n\t\t\t\t-----\n\n\t\t(Contributed by Jean Tourrilhes <jt@hpl.hp.com>)\n\tThe 'ifscheme' scripts mentionned above are now available in\nDebian Sarge, in the 'ifscheme' package.\n\tThe MAC address based mapping mentioned above is deprecated,\nyou should use 'ifrename' to assign a consistent interface name to\neach of your network interface. This is documented in\nHOTPLUG.txt. This enable the combination of MAC address identification\nof interfaces with scheme multi-configuration.\n\n\t\t\t\t-----\n\n\tIf you need automatic wireless configuration, you can look at\nthe following packages :\n\to ifupdown-roaming :\n\t\thttp:\/\/panopticon.csustan.edu\/thood\/ifupdown-roaming.html\n\to waproamd\n\t\thttp:\/\/0pointer.de\/lennart\/projects\/waproamd\/\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nSuSE 8.0 and later\n--------\n\t\t(Contributed by Christian Zoz <zoz@suse.de>)\n\tAll network configuration is done in the directory\n\/etc\/sysconfig\/network. It does not matter if it's a build in NIC or\nPCMCIA, USB, etc. The files network.opts and wireless.opts in\n\/etc\/pcmcia are not used any longer. There is \/sbin\/ifup to set up all\nkind of network interface.\n\tThere is a file \/etc\/sysconfig\/network\/wireless where you may\nset most of the options of iwconfig in seperate variables (they are\nnamed like the options). Additionally you may use\nWIRELESS_IWCONFIG_OPTIONS e.g. for setting key 2, 3 or 4 or\nunsupported iwconfig commands. This file is documented and its\nsettings are used for any wlan NIC.\n\tConfiguration of wireless variable looks like :\n\t\tWIRELESS_ESSID=\"<essid>\"\n\tEvery variable from file wireless may be used in the interface\nconfiguration files \/etc\/sysconfig\/network\/ifcfg-* as well. As\nexpectable this overwrites the global setting in wireless. For\nsophisticated use of the ifcfg-* files read 'man ifup'.\n\n\tHint for PCMCIA and USB users:\n\tYou need not to use the iterface name for the configuration as\nthis may vary from one plugin to another. You may use a description of\nyour hardware instead (ifcfg-<MACADDRESS> or ifcfg-pcmcia-1 for card\nin Slot 1)\n\n\tSome of the variables can be set with YaST2 as well.\n\n\tIf you miss the 'schemes' functionality from the pcmcia-cs\npackages use the tool SCPM (System Configuration Profile Management)\ninstead. This extends the pcmcia schemes to the whole system\nconfiguration. Read 'info scpm'. Since SuSE 8.1 there also is a YaST2\nmodul for SCPM.\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nRED-HAT 7.2\n-----------\n\t\t(Grabbed from various source - Google is your friend)\n\tConfiguration is done in the file :\n\t\t\/etc\/sysconfig\/network-scripts\/ifcfg-ethN\n\tWhere 'ethN' is the name of the wireless interface (such as\neth0, eth1, ...).\n\tThe following lines may be added in this file :\n\t\tMODE=<mode>\n\t\tESSID=\"<essid>\"\n\t\tRATE=<rate>\n\t\tTXPOWER=<txpower>\n\t\tKEY=\"<key>\"\n\tThe full list of configuration can be found in the file :\n\t\t\/etc\/sysconfig\/network-scripts\/ifup-wireless\n\n\tNote that Brad Allison has other tips for 7.2 :\n\thttp:\/\/jackal.dnsalias.com:8080\/public\/misc\/wireless\/wireless.html\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nRED-HAT 7.3 and later\n-----------\n\t\t(Cut'n'pasted from Brad Allison web page)\n\thttp:\/\/jackal.dnsalias.com:8080\/public\/misc\/wireless\/wireless.html\n\n\tIf you are running RedHat 7.3, I would tell you to simply run\n\/usr\/bin\/redhat-config-network and click \"Devices\", Click \"Add\", then\nselect \"Wireless Connection\". You can find the full instructions in\nRedHat's Customization Guide for RH7.3 in Chapter 6, Network\nConfiguration: Wireless Connection.\n\t\thttp:\/\/www.redhat.com\/docs\/manuals\/linux\/\n\t\thttp:\/\/www.redhat.com\/docs\/manuals\/linux\/RHL-7.3-Manual\/custom-guide\/s1-network-config-wireless.html\n\n\tHowever, according to the Errata: The version of the Red Hat\nNetwork Administration Tool that shipped with Red Hat Linux 7.3 did\nnot include wireless connection in the configuration wizard. An\nenhancement errata will be released soon with this feature. You can\ndownload the newest version of redhat-config-network from rpmfind.net.\n\t\thttp:\/\/www.redhat.com\/docs\/errata\/RHL-7.3-Manual\/\n\t\thttp:\/\/www.rpmfind.net\/linux\/rpm2html\/search.php?query=redhat-config-network&submit=Search+...\n\n\t\t\t\t-----\n\n\t\t(Grabbed from various source - Google is your friend)\n\tThe current graphical user interface support :\n\t\tESSID, Mode, Freq, Channel, Rate, Key\n\n\tCompared to Red-Hat 7.2, the Wireless Setting in the\nconfiguration file have change to include the WIRELESS_ prefix :\n\t\tWIRELESS_MODE=<mode>\n\t\tWIRELESS_ESSID='<essid>'\n\t\tWIRELESS_ENC_KEY='<key>'\n\tThe underlying configuration files and configurations options\nseems to be indentical to what is done in Mandrake 8.2 (or vice\nversa), so please check the section below. This allow configuration of\nadditional wireless settings not available in the GUI.\n\n\t\t\t\t-----\n\n\t\t(Extrapolated from web page of Martin Pot <m.t.pot@ieee.org>)\n\t\thttp:\/\/ii.net\/~mpot\/wireless\/router.cgi\n\tRed-Hat 7.3 also seem to support configuration in\nwireless.opts to some extent. But for compatibility with the network\nadmin tools, I would still recommend to use the above method.\n\tRed-Hat 7.3 seems to load wvlan_cs for Orinoco cards and\nfriends. The above web page explain how to switch it to orinoco_cs.\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nRED-HAT 9.0 and later\n-----------\n\t\t(Cut'n'pasted from Dax Kelson web page)\n\thttp:\/\/www.gurulabs.com\/RedHatLinux9-review.html\n\n\tA little known fact is that newer versions of RHL support\nmultiple network profiles. This is useful for machines that commonly\nplug into different networks (think laptops). The easy way to create\nnetwork profiles is to use the redhat-config-network command. The\nquestion then becomes, what happens when you type \"ifup eth0\"? The\nbehavior wasn't defined in previous versions, however, now in RHL 9\nthe following behavior is defined;\n\n\tsearch path for:\n# ifup $DEV\n\tis:\n\/etc\/sysconfig\/networking\/profiles\/$CURRENT_PROFILE\/ifcfg-$DEV\n\/etc\/sysconfig\/networking\/profiles\/default\/ifcfg-$DEV\n\/etc\/sysconfig\/network-scripts\/ifcfg-$DEV\n\n\tA cool trick is to boot your RHL box directly into a profile\nfrom the GRUB boot screen. To do this, create a separate\n\/etc\/boot\/grub.conf entry for each network profile, and in each entry\nadd the kernel argument netprofile=profilename.\n\n\t\t\t\t-----\n\n\tI'm pretty certain the profile scheme above also apply to\nwireless settings, which is good news...\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nMANDRAKE 8.2 and later\n------------\n\t\t(Grabbed from various source - Google is your friend)\n\tConfiguration is done in the file :\n\t\t\/etc\/sysconfig\/network-scripts\/ifcfg-ethN\n\tWhere 'ethN' is the name of the wireless interface (such as\neth0, eth1, ...).\n\tThe following lines may be added in this file :\n\t\tWIRELESS_MODE=<mode>\n\t\tWIRELESS_ESSID=<essid>\n\t\tWIRELESS_NWID=<nwid>\n\t\tWIRELESS_FREQ=<freq\/channel>\n\t\tWIRELESS_SENS=<sensitivity>\n\t\tWIRELESS_RATE=<rate>\n\t\tWIRELESS_ENC_KEY=<keys>\n\t\tWIRELESS_RTS=<rts>\n\t\tWIRELESS_FRAG=<frag>\n\t\tWIRELESS_IWCONFIG=<iwconfig command>\n\t\tWIRELESS_IWSPY=<iwspy command>\n\t\tWIRELESS_IWPRIV=<iwpriv command>\n\tMost likely, you only need to add a few of those lines and not\nall of them. The script doing the configuration and where you can\ncheck the details is :\n\t\t\/etc\/network\/network-scripts\/ifup-wireless\n\tYou will of course need the Wireless Tools package :\n\t\trpm -Uvh wireless-tools-XX-Xmdk.XXX.rpm\n\n\tMandrake can also have wireless setting added to its\nAuto-Install procedure :\n\thttp:\/\/members.shaw.ca\/mandrake\/drakx\/8.2\/HTML\/section4-13.html\n\n\t\t\t\t-----\n\n\t\t(in e-mail from Thierry Vignaud <tvignaud@mandrakesoft.com>)\n\tYou may use the following tool :\n\t\to drakconnect\n\tYou may read the following documentation :\n\t\to ifcfg\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\tHave fun...\n\n\tJean<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 modified. 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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7423"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7424,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7423\/revisions\/7424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.practicallynetworked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}