iwd

iNet Wireless Daemon (iwd) project aims to provide a comprehensive Wi-Fi connectivity solution for Linux based devices. iwd provides a self-contained environment that only depends on the Linux Kernel and the runtime C library.

Note: Alpine Linux supports both wireless daemons i.e wpa_supplicant and iwd. Using both simultaneously leads to conflicts.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you have working wireless drivers.
iwd requires D-Bus service to be running.

Installation

Install iwd package and iwgtk package for the optional GUI utility iwgtk using the command:

# apk add iwd iwgtk

iwgtk

iwgtk is a wireless networking GUI utility for iwd with supported functionality similar to that of iwctl. Features include viewing and connecting to available networks, managing known networks, provisioning new networks via WPS or Wi-Fi Easy Connect, and an indicator (tray) icon displaying connection status and signal strength.

Network management mode

Next, choose one among the three modes listed below on how Network management will done with iwd before proceeding further.

Standalone mode

To have iwd do all network management on its own upon connecting to a wi-fi network, requires openresolv package, so install it first:

# apk add openresolv

Then edit the configuration file /etc/iwd/main.conf and set it as follows:

Contents of /etc/iwd/main.conf

[General]
EnableNetworkConfiguration=True

[Network]
NameResolvingService=resolvconf

To test openresolv package, issue the command:# resolvconf -u to update the nameserver information in /etc/resolv.conf file.

iwd as a networkmanager backend

NetworkManager can be used for network management, with iwd configured as a wireless backend.

iwd with ifupdown-ng

iwd can delegate the responsibility dealing with IP address assignment (either static or DHCP) to ifupdown-ng. To do this edit the /etc/network/interfaces file. For example, if you are using DHCP on the wlan0 interface:

Contents of /etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp

Configuration

Service configuration

iwd service can be managed using standard OpenRC commands. Once iwd service has been fully configured and tested, then add the iwd service and disable the networking boot service:

# rc-update add iwd boot # rc-update del networking boot

To proceed with the configuration of iwd, ensure that wpa_supplicant service is stopped before starting iwd service:

# rc-service wpa_supplicant stop # rc-service iwd start

Connection management

Tip: Basic connection management can be done in GUI using iwgtk utility.

iwctl tool can be run both in interactive and non-interactive mode. The non-interactive commands can be issued from the shell by suffixing iwctl like $ iwctl device list or $ iwctl known-networks list.

The example below shows the step-by-step procedure to configure iwd in an interactive mode. Begin by starting the iwctl as follows:

$ iwctl

The prompt should display:

[iwd]#

To list all available commands:

[iwd]# help

To connect to a network

To list all Wi-Fi devices:

[iwd]# device list

If your wireless adapter is not listed, refer to Wifi troubleshooting page.

If the device or its corresponding adapter is turned off, turn it on:

[iwd]# device device set-property Powered on

[iwd]# adapter adapter set-property Powered on

Then, to initiate a scan for networks (note that this command will not output anything):

[iwd]# station device scan

You can then list all available networks:

[iwd]# station device get-networks

Finally, to connect to a network:

[iwd]# station device connect SSID

If a passphrase is required, you will be prompted to enter it. Alternatively, you can supply it as a command line argument:

$ iwctl –passphrase passphrase station device connect SSID

Note:

iwd automatically stores network passphrases in the /var/lib/iwd directory and uses them to auto-connect in the future.
If you run diskless Alpine, be sure to commit:
# lbu add /var/lib/iwd && lbu commit -d
To connect to a network with spaces in the SSID, the network name should be double quoted when connecting.
iwd only supports PSK pass-phrases from 8 to 63 ASCII-encoded characters.

Disconnect from a network

To disconnect from a network:

[iwd]# station device disconnect

Show device and connection information

To display the details of a WiFi device, like MAC address:

[iwd]# device device show

To display the connection state, including the connected network of a Wi-Fi device:

[iwd]# station device show

Manage known networks

To list networks you have connected to previously:

[iwd]# known-networks list

To forget a known network:

[iwd]# known-networks SSID forget

Note: It is not possible to assign a priority to a network, instead iwd will prioritize networks based on:

signal strength level
security features
maximum rate
channel utilization
time since the last connect.

Troubleshooting

Resolve wireless driver issues first, if your wireless device is not detected, when the below command is issued:

$ iwctl device list Devices -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name Address Powered Adapter Mode -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- wlan0 50:91:e3:71:83:d2 on phy0 station

"The name net.connman.iwd was not provided by any .service files"

If iwctl commands fail with the message The name net.connman.iwd was not provided by any .service files Failed to retrieve IWD dbus objects, quitting....

The above error means that the iwd daemon is not started. Start the iwd daemon

"ip: ioctl 0x8913 failed: No such device"

The above error message may occur whenever the networking service gets loaded by openrc after iwd. Refer to Service configuration section.

Loss of connectivity due to changes in interface names

Whenever system wakes up from sleep/suspend, the wireless interface name may change from wlan0 to wlan1, wlan2 and so on resulting in loss of connectivity. If you expereince this issue, if eudev is used as device manager refer to predictable network interface names section.