IFCFG(5)

NAME
ifcfg-wireless - wireless LAN network interface configuration

SYNOPSIS
/etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-wlan-*
/etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-type-wlan
/etc/sysconfig/network/wireless

VARIABLES
The following is a list of wireless specific variables that can be put in the configuration file.

WIRELESS {yes|no}
    Defines whether this interface is wireless or not. This variable is usually not set, WLAN capabilities get auto-detected in this case.

WIRELESS_MODE {managed|ad-hoc|master}
    Set the operating mode of the device, which depends on the network topology. Set to ad-hoc for network composed of only one cell and without Access Point, managed for network composed of many cells, with roaming or with an Access Point, master if you want your system act as an Access Point or synchronisation master. If unset, managed will be used.

WIRELESS_ESSID {essid|any}
    Set the SSID/ESSID (or Network Name - in some products it may also called Domain ID). The ESSID is used to identify cells which are part of the same virtual network. If emtpy or set to any the node will connect to the Access Point with the best signal strength around (in managed operating mode). For WLANs that make use of WPA-PSK (see WIRELESS_AUTH_MODE below) you need to set your ESSID.

WIRELESS_AUTH_MODE {open|sharedkey|psk}
    Sets authentication mode. The mode depends on the protection technology beeing used, WEP or WPA. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is a system to encrypt wireless network traffic, with an optional authentication on the basis of the used encryption key. In most cases where WEP is used, open mode (no authentication at all) is fine. This does not mean that you can not use WEP encryption. Some networks may require sharedkey authentication. NOTE: Shared key authentication makes it easier for a potential attacker to break into your network. Unless you have specific needs for shared key authentication, use the open mode. As WEP has been proved insecure, WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) was defined to close its security wholes, but not every hardware supports WPA. In case you want to use WPA-PSK (WPA preshared key authentication), set this to psk. This is only possible when WIRELESS_MODE is set to managed. There are other authentication modes used with WPA, but they are currently not supported by SuSE Linux.

WIRELESS_KEY_[suffix] [h:|s:]key
    You can define up to 4 WEP encryption keys. You can use WEP with open and sharedkey authentication. The key can be entered in different formats: Either directly in hex digits, with or without dashes, or in the key's ASCII representation (prefix s: ), or as a passphrase which will be hashed (prefix h: ). The amount of hex digits resp. length of the ASCII key depends on the key size being used: 10 hex digits or 5 ASCII characters for 64 bit keys, 26 hex digits or 6 to 13 ASCII characters for 128 bit keys (see WIRELESS_KEY_LENGTH below). Examples: WIRELESS_KEY_0="0123-4567-89" WIRELESS_KEY_0-"s:hello" WIRELESS_KEY_0="h:mysecretphrase" You can also use 1, 2, or 3 as suffix for multiple key settings. This is usually not necessary. Leave empty if you do not want WEP.

WIRELESS_DEFAULT_KEY {0|1|2|3}
    Sets the default WEP key. The default key is used to encrypt outgoing packets, incoming ones are decrypted with the key number specified in the packet. This defaults to 0.

WIRELESS_KEY_LENGTH {40|64|104|128}
    Defines the length in bits for all keys used. There are currently 40 and 104 bit keys supported. Sometimes they are also called 64 resp. 128 bits (depends on whether you count the 24 bit initialization vector or not).

WIRELESS_WPA_PSK [h:]psk
    When using WPA-PSK authentication, you need to specify you preshared key here. The key is used for authentication and encryption purposes. You can enter it in hex digits (need to be exactly 64 digits long) or as passphrase getting hashed (with prefix h: , 8 to 63 ASCII characters long).

WIRELESS_CHANNEL {1-12}
    With this variable you can define the channel being used. This is only applicable to ad-hoc and master operating modes.

WIRELESS_BITRATE {1|2|5.5|6|9|11|12|18|24|36|48|54}
    Usually the highest bitrate available gets used. If you have specific needs to set a bitrate, you can do it here (rates are in Mbit/s). Bitrates above 11 are only available for cards compliant to 802.11a or 802.11g standards.

WIRELESS_AP {ap}
    In environments with multiple Access points you may want to define the one to connect to by entering its MAC address. Format is 6x2 hex digits, seperated by colons, eg 01:02:03:04:05:06.

WIRELESS_POWER {"yes"|"no"}
    If set to yes, ifup tries to enable power saving for this device. This is not supported by all cards resp. drivers.

WIRELESS_WPA_CONF {wpa_supplicant.conf}
    If have configured psk in WIRELESS_AUTH_MODE you can use this variable to supply a custom wpa_supplicant.conf that will be used instead of the one ifup would generate. The file has to be specified with full path. Of course you can setup any WPA configuration with this, not only WPA-PSK.

GENERAL VARIABLES
There are some general settings in the file /etc/sysconfig/network/wireless. In this file you can set your own defaults applying to all WLAN interface configuration which do not override these settings. Usually this is not needed.

BUGS
Please report bugs at <http://www.suse.de/feedback>

AUTHOR
Christian Zoz <zoz@suse.de> -- ifup script
Michal Svec <msvec@suse.cz> -- ifup script
Bjoern Jacke -- ifup script
Mads Martin Joergensen <mmj@suse.de> -- ifup manpage
Michal Ludvig <mludvig@suse.cz> -- tunnel support
Joachim Gleissner <jg@suse.de> -- wireless support

SEE ALSO
ifup(8).