WPA Howto

From GoboLinux Knowledge Base

Contents 1 Using WPA-PSK with GoboLinux 2 Prerequisites 3 Installation 4 Configuring WPA Supplicant 5 Link WPA Supplicant configuration File (Optional) 6 Start WPA Supplicant and make it start at boot 7 Drivers' Notes

[edit] Using WPA-PSK with GoboLinux

[edit] Prerequisites

First install the drivers for your card. Either they are supported by the kernel or you could install Ndiswrapper and use the windows driver.

[edit] Installation

There are two ways to install support for WPA. You could either get the Wireless Extensions kernel patch (beta) with WPA-support and install Wireless Tools 28-pre8 or you can install wpa_supplicant. This guide treat only the latter.

To install WPA Supplicant you only have to issue

    Compile wpa_supplicant

at the prompt.

[edit] Configuring WPA Supplicant

Edit the file /Programs/WPA_Supplicant/Settings/wpa_supplicant.conf and add one or more networks. My file looks something like this:

---

ctrl_interface=/System/Variable/run/wpa_supplicant
ap_scan=2

network={
ssid="MyNetwork"
#psk="somepresharedkey"
psk=9a3c6704a1d6ada5e14ada27170a9071c9a5393af1f18af2fa0798537f52bdb1
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
group=TKIP
proto=WPA
}

---

Where the hexadecimal preshared key has been generated with *wpa_passphrase*. As I have only used this mode yet you can read more about configuring WPA Supplicant at [it's homepage|http://hostap.epitest.fi/wpa_supplicant/].

[edit] Link WPA Supplicant configuration File (Optional)

If you want to stay consistent with the linking of configuration files into /System/Settings, create the following link

ln -s /Programs/WPA_Supplicant/Settings/wpa_supplicant.conf /System/Settings/

If you do so, then in the instructions below replace "/Programs/WPA_Supplicant/Settings/wpa_supplicant.conf" wherever mentioned with "/System/Settings/wpa_supplicant.conf"

[edit] Start WPA Supplicant and make it start at boot

Now, what is left is to start WPA Supplicant and confirm that it works. Starting WPA Supplicant is done with

    wpa_supplicant [-BddehLqqvw] -i<ifname> -c<config file> [-D<driver>] \
[-N -i<ifname> -c<conf> [-D<driver>] ...]

Where <ifname> is the interface name e.g. wlan0, the configfile is wpa_suppplicant.conf with path and <driver> is the driver you use for your wireless network card. So for example:

 wpa_supplicant -ddw -iwlan0 -c/Programs/WPA_Supplicant/Settings/wpa_supplicant.conf -Dndiswrapper

The -dd is for extra debbuging output to help finding any errors and the w is there so wpa_supplicant waits for the device if it's not initiated. After everything is working switch the -dd to -B to start WPA Supplicant in the background and lessen the debugging output.

If you want WPA Supplicant to start at boot add the start command to /System/Settings/BootScripts/BootUp. It should look something like this:

 Exec "Starting WPA service..." wpa_supplicant -Bw -iwlan0 -c/Programs/WPA_Supplicant/Settings/wpa_supplicant.conf -Dndiswrapper

If anyone had any other experiences and/or additional information feel free to add it or send it to me (jonka750 at student.liu.se) or talk to me (Mohjive) in #gobolinux@freenode.net.

[edit] Drivers' Notes

Note that some drivers may behave strange. This could be true for ipw2200 wireless interfaces. When wpa_supplicant -Dipw (ipw driver) will flood you with IOCTL Errors, stating some features are missing you have proof. In some cases this can be avoided by using the wext (Linux wireless extension (generic))driver.