Wi-Fi: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:06, 10 January 2025

Alpine Linux supports both wireless daemons i.e wpa_supplicant and iwd. This page describes how to set up a wireless network connection with WPA encryption using wpa_supplicant and provides the troubleshooting steps to configure wireless interface/drivers.

Note: Using both wireless daemons i.e wpa_supplicant and iwd simultaneously lead to conflicts.

Prerequisites

Working wireless drivers. In most cases installing linux-firmware should get you the required drivers. Installation of this package can produce errors on diskless or data disk modes. If such errors occur, switch to system disk mode.

To list your available network interfaces:

ip link

or

ip a

Refer to Troubleshooting section to see if you don't see any wireless interfaces (e.g. wlan0). You probably need to load and/or install drivers/firmware. If you are using a Broadcom chipset, see the Broadcom Wi-Fi section.

Bring up the desired interface:

# ip link set wlan0 up

wpa_supplicant

Networking setup-scripts can configure your wifi quickly using wpa_supplicant which can be used with NetworkManager, the standard Linux network configuration tool suite. If the above does not meet your requirement, please follow the steps outlined on this page for manual configuration.

To get started install wpa_supplicant package:

# apk add wpa_supplicant

Use this command to add your Wi-Fi network to wpa_supplicant:

# wpa_passphrase 'ExampleWifiSSID' 'ExampleWifiPassword' > /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

(Access point not broadcasting its SSID requires additional line scan_ssid=1 in the file /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf)

Note: the Wi-Fi SSID and password are case sensitive and the single quote before and after the SSID and password need to be there

Start wpa_supplicant in the foreground to check if wireless connection succeeds.

# wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Optional security precaution:

By default wpa_supplicant will store your Wi-Fi password in plain text:

Contents of /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

network={
    ssid="<YourSSIDShouldBeHere>"
        #psk="<YourPasswordShouldBeHereInPlainText>"
    psk=<RandomLettersAndNumbersShouldBeHere>
}

If you dont want your stored password in plain text just delete the line with #psk="<YourPasswordShouldBeHereInPlainText>" on it.

If all is well, run it as a daemon in the background by setting the -B option.

# wpa_supplicant -B -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Configure the interface with an IP address.

# udhcpc -i wlan0

Sanity check: the interface should have a inet address.

$ ip addr show wlan0

Add a entry for the desired interface (e.g. wlan0) in the file as follows:

Contents of /etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp

Warning: Don't remove or comment out the auto lo entry

Sanity check: Make sure /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf is the correct configuration for the wireless access point you want to connect to.

Bring the interface down.

# ip link set wlan0 down

Manually restart (or start) networking.

# rc-service networking --quiet restart &

Perform sanity checks. For issues related to name resolution, refer Networking section.

Service configuration

Proceed to configure wpa_supplicant service to start automatically on boot, if networking works properly:

# rc-update add wpa_supplicant boot

Also ensure that networking is set to automatically start on boot:

# rc-update add networking boot

Manage wpa_supplicant service using the standard start, stop and restart options. For eg: to start wpa_supplicant service:

# rc-service wpa_supplicant start

Launching udhcpc through wpa_cli actions

With the above configuration, udhcpc will only run once at boot. If the Wifi isn't available then, or the network changes after booting, udhcpc needs to be notified. You can automatically notify udhcpc of network changes by using a wpa_cli action file, such as the one installed by default at /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_cli.sh.

To manually start a wpa_cli daemon with an action file, use the `-a` option:

# wpa_cli -a /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_cli.sh

To do this automatically, use the `wpa_cli` service included in wpa_supplicant-openrc:

Contents of /etc/conf.d/wpa_cli

WPACLI_OPTS="-a /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_cli.sh"

Add the service to start at boot:

# rc-update add wpa_cli boot

Troubleshooting

Check dmesg

Run dmesg and check for errors related to the wireless interface. Usually, dmesg gives maximum information related to network and all other hardware.

# dmesg

checking network cards

$ cat /proc/net/dev

lists the network interfaces that are detected. If the expected interfaces are not available, Check what network hardware chip you have using lspci or lsusb:

$ lspci -nn

$ lsusb

Refer hardware management, if the default outputs shown above lacks sufficient information.

Check what driver the card uses and modprobe it. Check that the card is in master mode. Check what driver you need on the b43 compatibility page

Broadcom Wi-Fi Chipset Users

The Broadcom chipset is quite popular among older computers. The b43 driver is included in the linux-lts or linux-edge kernel packages. However, you might need to compile the firmware manually for this chipset as it is not included in linux-firmware for some cards.

To check what broadcom chip you have using lspci:

$ lspci -nn -d 14e4:

B43

Download firmware cutter.

$ apk add b43-fwcutter

Now we have everything to download the proprietary driver and extract the firmware from it:

# export FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR="/lib/firmware" $ wget http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2 $ tar xjf broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2 $ b43-fwcutter -w "$FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR" broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_apsta.o

More information can be found here.

Now you need to use modprobe so the device will show up:

# modprobe b43

Now continue with the normal instructions.

wl

First install the software we need to build a driver^:

apk add git alpine-sdk linux-headers

Then install the driver build repo (this is archived, however it's legacy so that doesn't matter):

git clone https://github.com/antoineco/broadcom-wl cd broadcom-wl

Then follow the build instructions listed in the git repo:

make doas make install doas depmod -A doas modprobe wl

Reboot and you have a working wl driver. Now continue with the normal instructions.

Rfkill

An error message ioctl 0x8914 failed: No error information, is the busybox ip's way of saying your wireless radio is rfkilled, which means the wireless card is blocked by kernel. This can be changed using rfkill. To show the current status of your Wi-Fi:

~$ rfkill list 0: phy0: wlan Soft blocked: no Hard blocked: no

If the card is hard-blocked, use the hardware button or switch to unblock it. If the card is not hard-blocked but soft-blocked, use the following command:

# rfkill unblock wifi

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-This document describes how to set up a wireless network connection with WPA encryption.
+Alpine Linux supports both wireless daemons i.e [[#wpa_supplicant|wpa_supplicant]] and [[iwd]]. This page describes how to set up a wireless network connection with WPA encryption using [[#wpa_supplicant|wpa_supplicant]] and provides the troubleshooting steps to configure wireless interface/drivers.
+{{Note|Using both wireless daemons i.e [[#wpa_supplicant|wpa_supplicant]] and [[iwd]] simultaneously lead to conflicts.}}
-== Install necessary drivers and software  ==
+== Prerequisites ==
-First make sure your wireless drivers are loaded properly. (if you are using a '''Broadcom chipset''', see the [[#Broadcom_Wi-Fi_Chipset_Users|section at the bottom of this post]].)
+Working wireless drivers. In most cases installing {{Pkg|linux-firmware}} should get you the required drivers. Installation of this package can produce errors on diskless or data disk modes. If such errors occur, switch to system disk mode.
+To list your available network interfaces: {{Cmd|ip link}}
+or {{Cmd|ip a}}
-Install {{Pkg|wireless-tools}} and {{Pkg|wpa_supplicant}}.
+Refer to [[#Troubleshooting|Troubleshooting]] section to see if you don't see any wireless interfaces (e.g. {{Path|wlan0}}). You probably need to load and/or install drivers/firmware. If you are using a '''Broadcom chipset''', see the [[#Broadcom_Wi-Fi_Chipset_Users|Broadcom Wi-Fi section]].
-{{Cmd|apk add wireless-tools wpa_supplicant}}
-== Manual Configuration  ==
+Bring up the desired interface: {{Cmd|# ip link set wlan0 up}}
-Bring the link up so we can look for wireless networks. (An error here means you probably need extra drivers/firmware.)
+== wpa_supplicant  ==
-{{Cmd|ip link set wlan0 up}}
+{{Seealso|iwd}}
-Find a network to connect to. Look for the ESSID. In this example we will use the ESSID "MyNet".
+Networking [[Configure_Networking#Network_setup-scripts|setup-scripts]] can configure your wifi quickly using <code>wpa_supplicant</code> which can be used with [[NetworkManager]], the standard Linux network configuration tool suite.  If the above does not meet your requirement, please follow the steps outlined on this page for manual configuration.
-{{Cmd|iwlist wlan0 scanning}}
-Configure the wlan0 interface to associate with the MyNet ESSID:
+To get started install {{Pkg|wpa_supplicant}} package: {{Cmd|# apk add wpa_supplicant}}
-{{Cmd|iwconfig wlan0 essid MyNet}}
-Print its configuration, to check:
+Use this command to add your Wi-Fi network to wpa_supplicant: {{Cmd|# wpa_passphrase 'ExampleWifiSSID' 'ExampleWifiPassword' > /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf}}
-{{Cmd|iwconfig wlan0}}
+''(Access point not broadcasting its SSID requires additional line <code>scan_ssid=1</code> in the file {{Path|/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf}})''
-Create a wpa_supplicant configuration stanza for wpa_supplicant by executing the following:
+{{Note|the Wi-Fi SSID and password are case sensitive and the single quote before and after the SSID and password need to be there}}
-{{Cmd|wpa_passphrase MyNet > wpa.conf}}
-wpa_passphrase expects the password to be passed via stdin.
+Start wpa_supplicant in the foreground to check if wireless connection succeeds.{{Cmd|# wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf}}
-So, type the password and press ENTER.
+'''Optional security precaution:'''
-The above commands creates the file {{Path|wpa.conf}} which includes the pre-shared key.
-From one terminal/console, start wpa_supplicant with the generated config:
+By default {{Pkg|wpa_supplicant}} will store your Wi-Fi password in plain text:{{Cat|/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf|<nowiki>network={
-{{Cmd|wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan0 -c ./wpa.conf}}
+    ssid="<YourSSIDShouldBeHere>"
+        #psk="<YourPasswordShouldBeHereInPlainText>"
+    psk=<RandomLettersAndNumbersShouldBeHere>
+}</nowiki>}}
+If you dont want your stored password in plain text just delete the line with <code>#psk="<YourPasswordShouldBeHereInPlainText>"</code> on it.
-From another terminal/console, start dhcpcd:
+If all is well, run it as a daemon in the background by setting the {{Path|-B}} option. {{Cmd|# wpa_supplicant -B -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf}}
-{{Cmd|udhcpc -i wlan0}}
-The wlan0 interface should be configured with an IP address at this point:
+Configure the interface with an IP address.{{Cmd|# udhcpc -i wlan0}}
-{{Cmd|ifconfig wlan0}}
-== Automatic Configuration on System Boot  ==
+Sanity check: the interface should have a {{Path|inet}} address. {{Cmd|$ ip addr show wlan0}}
-Add an interface stanza for wlan0 to the file {{Path|/etc/network/interfaces}}
+Add a entry for the desired interface (e.g. <code>wlan0</code>) in the file as follows:{{Cat|/etc/network/interfaces|auto lo
-<pre>
 auto wlan0
-iface wlan0 inet dhcp
+iface wlan0 inet dhcp}}
-</pre>
-Create {{Path|/etc/wpa_supplicant}} if it doesn't already exist, set sane permissions and append the configuration {{Path|wpa.conf}} to {{Path|wpa_supplicant.conf}}.
+{{Warning|Don't remove or comment out the '''auto lo''' entry}}
-<pre>
+Sanity check: Make sure {{Path|/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf}} is the correct configuration for the wireless access point you want to connect to.
-mkdir -p /etc/wpa_supplicant
-chmod 750 /etc/wpa_supplicant
-cat wpa.conf >> /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
-</pre>
-Test the automatic interface configuration:
+Bring the interface down. {{Cmd|# ip link set wlan0 down}}
-Bring the interface down:
+Manually restart (or '''start''') '''networking'''.{{Cmd|# rc-service networking --quiet restart &}}
-{{Cmd|ifconfig wlan0 down}}
+Perform [[Configure_Networking#Connectivity_testing|sanity checks]]. For issues related to name resolution, refer [[Configure_Networking#Configuring_DNS|Networking]] section.
-Manually start wpa_supplicant
+=== Service configuration ===
-{{Cmd|/etc/init.d/wpa_supplicant start}}
+Proceed to configure wpa_supplicant service to start automatically on boot, if networking works properly: {{Cmd|# rc-update add wpa_supplicant boot}}
+Also ensure that '''networking''' is set to automatically start on boot: {{Cmd|# rc-update add networking boot}}
-The wlan0 interface should be associated with the MyNet SSID:
+Manage wpa_supplicant service using the standard '''start''', '''stop''' and '''restart''' options. For eg: to start wpa_supplicant service: {{Cmd|# rc-service wpa_supplicant start}}
-{{Cmd|iwconfig wlan0}}
+=== Launching udhcpc through wpa_cli actions ===
-The wlan0 interface should have been assigned an IP address via DHCP:
+With the above configuration, udhcpc will only run once at boot. If the Wifi isn't available then, or the network changes after booting, udhcpc needs to be notified. You can automatically notify udhcpc of network changes by using a wpa_cli action file, such as the one installed by default at {{Path|/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_cli.sh}}.
-{{Cmd|ifconfig wlan0}}
+To manually start a wpa_cli daemon with an action file, use the `-a` option: {{Cmd|# wpa_cli -a /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_cli.sh}}
-Configure wpa_supplicant to start automatically on boot:
+To do this automatically, use the `wpa_cli` service included in {{Pkg|wpa_supplicant-openrc}}: {{Cat|/etc/conf.d/wpa_cli|<nowiki>WPACLI_OPTS="-a /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_cli.sh"</nowiki>}}
+Add the service to start at boot: {{Cmd|# rc-update add wpa_cli boot}}
-{{Cmd|rc-update add wpa_supplicant boot}}
+== Troubleshooting ==
-Reboot:
+=== Check dmesg ===
-{{Cmd|reboot}}
+Run dmesg and check for errors related to the wireless interface. Usually, dmesg gives maximum information related to network and all other hardware.
+{{Cmd|# dmesg}}
-Log in and check that the interface is associated with the access point:
+=== checking network cards ===
-{{Cmd|iwconfig wlan0}}
+{{Cmd|$ cat /proc/net/dev }} lists the network interfaces that are detected. If the expected interfaces are not available, Check what network hardware chip you have using lspci or lsusb:
-Check that the interface was assigned an IP address via DHCP:
+{{Cmd|$ lspci -nn }}
+{{Cmd|$ lsusb }}
-{{Cmd|ifconfig wlan0 {{!}} grep addr}}
+Refer [[How to get regular stuff working#Hardware_Management|hardware management]], if the default outputs shown above lacks sufficient information.
-=== Launching udhcpc through wpa_cli actions ===
+Check what driver the card uses and modprobe it. Check that the card is in master mode.
+Check what driver you need on the [https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#list_of_hardware b43 compatibility page]
-With the above configuration, udhcpc will only run once at boot.
+=== Broadcom Wi-Fi Chipset Users  ===
-If the Wifi isn't available then, or the network changes in between, it needs to be notified.
-This is done through the wpa_cli action script in /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_cli.sh
-{{Cmd|rc-update add wpa_cli boot}}
+The Broadcom chipset is quite popular among older computers. The b43 driver is included in the linux-lts or linux-edge kernel packages. However, you might need to compile the firmware manually for this chipset as it is not included in linux-firmware for some cards.
-== Broadcom Wi-Fi Chipset Users  ==
+To check what broadcom chip you have using lspci:
-The Broadcom chipset is quite popular among older computers. You will need to compile the firmware manually for this chipset as it is not included.
+{{Cmd|$ lspci -nn -d 14e4:}}
-You can check if you have a Broadcom chipset by using dmesg:
+====B43====
-{{Cmd|dmesg {{!}} grep Broadcom}}
+Download firmware cutter. {{Cmd|$ apk add b43-fwcutter}}
-First install the SDK an Git:
+Now we have everything to download the proprietary driver and extract the firmware from it: {{Cmd|<nowiki># export FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR="/lib/firmware"
-{{Cmd|apk add alpine-sdk git}}
+$ wget http://www.lwfinger.com/b43-firmware/broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2
+$ tar xjf broadcom-wl-5.100.138.tar.bz2
+$ b43-fwcutter -w "$FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR" broadcom-wl-5.100.138/linux/wl_apsta.o</nowiki>}}
-Then git clone aports from git.alpinelinux.org.
+More information can be found [http://linuxwireless.sipsolutions.net/en/users/Drivers/b43/#Other_distributions_not_mentioned_above here].
+Now you need to use modprobe so the device will show up: {{Cmd|# modprobe b43}}
-{{Cmd|git clone git://git.alpinelinux.org/aports}}
+Now continue with the normal instructions.
-Change your directory to '''aports/non-free/b43-firmware''', then build it.
+====wl====
-{{Tip|You can't be root and must be a user of the group abuild (use groupadd f.e. '''groupadd $(whoami) abuild''')}}
+First install the software we need to build a driver[https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/606073/how-to-build-kernel-modules-in-alpine-3-12 ^]: {{Cmd|apk add git alpine-sdk linux-headers}}
-{{Tip|If this is your first time building a package you will need to generate a key for use in signing packages (use '''abuild-keygen -a -i''')}}
-{{Cmd|abuild -r}}
+Then install the driver build repo (this is archived, however it's legacy so that doesn't matter): {{Cmd|git clone https://github.com/antoineco/broadcom-wl
+cd broadcom-wl
+}}
-Install the generated packge file (it will be in ~/packages/) - make sure to pass '''--allow-untrusted'''
+Then follow the build instructions listed in the git repo: {{Cmd|make
+doas make install
+doas depmod -A
+doas modprobe wl
+}}
-{{Cmd|apk add --allow-untrusted ~/packages/...pkg}}
+Reboot and you have a working wl driver. Now continue with the normal instructions.
-Now we need fwcutter, which is executed from the firmware package:
+=== Rfkill ===
-{{Cmd|apk add b43-fwcutter b43-firmware}}
+An error message <code>ioctl 0x8914 failed: No error information</code>, is the <code>busybox ip</code>'s way of saying your wireless radio is rfkilled, which means the wireless card is blocked by kernel. This can be changed using rfkill. To show the current status of your Wi-Fi:
+<p style="background-color:#f9f9f9; border:1px dashed #2f6fab; line-height:1.1em; padding:1em; font-family:monospace; font-size:10pt; white-space:pre; overflow:auto;"><span style="color:green;">~</span>'''$''' rfkill list
+: phy0: wlan
+    Soft blocked: no
+    Hard blocked: no
+</p>
-Now you need to use modprobe so the device will show up:
+If the card is hard-blocked, use the hardware button or switch to unblock it. If the card is not hard-blocked but soft-blocked, use the following command: {{Cmd|# rfkill unblock wifi}}
-{{Cmd|modprobe b43}}
+== See Also ==
-To automate this on startup add it to /etc/modules:
+* [[Configure_Networking| Networking in Alpine Linux]]
+* [[Iwd|iwd]] - An alternate to wpa_supplicant
-{{Cmd|echo b43 >> /etc/modules}}
+* [[NetworkManager]] - Front-end to Networking
+* [https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/WiFi PostmarketOS Wiki]
-Now continue with the normal instructions.
+* [https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Network_configuration/Wireless Archwiki]
+* [https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Wi-Fi Gentoo Wiki]
 [[Category:Networking]]