Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)

FreeBSD Manual Pages

  
 
  

home | help
WPA_CLI(8)		     System Manager's Manual		      WPA_CLI(8)

NAME
     wpa_cli -- console utility for WiFi authentication with wpa_supplicant

SYNOPSIS
     wpa_cli [-p path_to_ctrl_sockets] [-i ifname] [-hvB] [-a action_file]
	     [-P pid_file] [-g global_ctrl] [-G ping_interval] command ...

DESCRIPTION
     The  wpa_cli  utility is a text-based frontend program for interacting with
     wpa_supplicant(8).  It is used to query current status,  change  configura-
     tion, trigger events, and request interactive user input.

     The  wpa_cli  utility  can show the current authentication status, selected
     security mode, dot11 and dot1x MIBs, etc.	In addition, wpa_cli can config-
     ure EAPOL state machine parameters and trigger events such as reassociation
     and IEEE 802.1X logoff/logon.

     The wpa_cli utility provides an interface to supply authentication informa-
     tion such as username and password when it is not provided in the	wpa_sup-
     plicant.conf(5)  configuration file.  This can be used, for example, to im-
     plement one-time passwords or generic token card authentication  where  the
     authentication  is  based on a challenge-response that uses an external de-
     vice for generating the response.

     The wpa_cli utility supports two modes: interactive and command line.  Both
     modes share the same command set and the main difference is in  interactive
     mode  providing  access  to  unsolicited  messages  (event  messages, user-
     name/password requests).

     Interactive mode is started when wpa_cli is executed without any parameters
     on the command line.  Commands are then entered from the controlling termi-
     nal in response to the wpa_cli prompt.  In command line mode, the same com-
     mands are entered as command line arguments.

     The control interface of wpa_supplicant(8) can be configured to allow  non-
     root  user  access  by  using  the  ctrl_interface_group  parameter  in the
     wpa_supplicant.conf(5) configuration file.  This makes it possible  to  run
     wpa_cli with a normal user account.

AUTHENTICATION PARAMETERS
     When  wpa_supplicant(8)  needs  authentication parameters, such as username
     and password, that are not present in the configuration file,  it	sends  a
     request  message to all attached frontend programs, e.g., wpa_cli in inter-
     active  mode.   The  wpa_cli  utility   shows   these   requests	with   a
     "CTRL-REQ-<type>-<id>:<text>"  prefix,  where <type> is IDENTITY, PASSWORD,
     or OTP (One-Time Password), <id> is a unique  identifier  for  the  current
     network,  <text>  is  a  description of the request.  In the case of an OTP
     (One-Time Password) request, it includes the challenge from the authentica-
     tion server.

     A user must supply wpa_supplicant(8) the needed parameters in  response  to
     these requests.

     For example,

	   CTRL-REQ-PASSWORD-1:Password needed for SSID foobar
	   > password 1 mysecretpassword

	   Example request for generic token card challenge-response:

	   CTRL-REQ-OTP-2:Challenge 1235663 needed for SSID foobar
	   > otp 2 9876

OPTIONS
     These options are available:

     -p path
	     Control  sockets  path.   This  should  match the ctrl_interface in
	     wpa_supplicant.conf(5).	   The	     default	   path       is
	     /var/run/wpa_supplicant.

     -i ifname
	     Interface	to be configured.  By default, the first interface found
	     in the socket path is used.

     -h      Show help.

     -v      Show version information.

     -B      Run the daemon in the background.

     -a action_file
	     Run in daemon mode, executing the action file based on events  from
	     wpa_supplicant(8).

     -P pid_file
	     PID file location.

     -g global_ctrl
	     Use a global control interface to wpa_supplicant(8) rather than the
	     default Unix domain sockets.

     -G ping_interval
	     Wait  "ping_interval"  seconds before sending each ping to wpa_sup-
	     plicant(8).  See the ping command.

     command
	     See available commands in the next section.

COMMANDS
     These commands can be supplied on the command line or at a prompt when  op-
     erating interactively.

     status  Report the current WPA/EAPOL/EAP status for the current interface.

     ifname  Show  the	current  interface  name.   The default interface is the
	     first interface found in the socket path.

     ping    Ping the wpa_supplicant(8) utility.  This command can  be	used  to
	     test the status of the wpa_supplicant(8) daemon.

     mib     Report MIB variables (dot1x, dot11) for the current interface.

     help    Show usage help.

     interface [ifname]
	     Show  available  interfaces  and/or  set the current interface when
	     multiple interfaces are available.

     level debug_level
	     Change the debugging level in  wpa_supplicant(8).	 Larger  numbers
	     generate more messages.

     license
	     Display the full license for wpa_cli.

     logoff  Send the IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine into the "logoff" state.

     logon   Send the IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine into the "logon" state.

     set [settings]
	     Set variables.  When no arguments are supplied, the known variables
	     and their settings are displayed.

     pmksa   Show the contents of the PMKSA cache.

     reassociate
	     Force a reassociation to the current access point.

     reconfigure
	     Force wpa_supplicant(8) to re-read its configuration file.

     preauthenticate BSSID
	     Force preauthentication of the specified BSSID.

     identity network_id identity
	     Configure an identity for an SSID.

     password network_id password
	     Configure a password for an SSID.

     new_password network_id password
	     Change the password for an SSID.

     PIN network_id pin
	     Configure a PIN for an SSID.

     passphrase network_id passphrase
	     Configure a private key passphrase for an SSID.

     bssid network_id bssid
	     Set a preferred BSSID for an SSID

     blacklist [bssid | clear]
	     Add a BSSID to the blacklist.  When invoked without any extra argu-
	     ments,  display  the blacklist.  Specifying clear causes wpa_cli to
	     clear the blacklist.

     list_networks
	     List configured networks.

     select_network network_id
	     Select a network and disable others.

     enable_network network_id
	     Enable a network.

     disable_network network_id
	     Disable a network.

     add_network
	     Add a network.

     remove_network network_id
	     Remove a network.

     set_network [network_id variable value]
	     Set network variables.  Shows a list of variables when run  without
	     arguments.

     get_network network_id variable
	     Get network variables.

     disconnect
	     Disconnect  and  wait for reassociate/reconnect command before con-
	     necting.

     reconnect
	     Similar to reassociate, but only takes effect  if	already  discon-
	     nected.

     scan    Request new BSS scan.

     scan_results
	     Get the latest BSS scan results.  This command can be invoked after
	     running a BSS scan with scan.

     bss [idx | bssid]
	     Get  a  detailed  BSS  scan  result  for  the network identified by
	     "bssid" or "idx".

     otp network_id password
	     Configure a one-time password for an SSID.

     terminate
	     Force wpa_supplicant(8) to terminate.

     interface_add   ifname   [confname   driver   ctrl_interface   driver_param
	     bridge_name]
	     Add a new interface with the given parameters.

     interface_remove ifname
	     Remove the interface.

     interface_list
	     List available interfaces.

     quit    Exit wpa_cli.

SEE ALSO
     wpa_supplicant.conf(5), wpa_supplicant(8)

HISTORY
     The wpa_cli utility first appeared in FreeBSD 6.0.

AUTHORS
     The  wpa_cli  utility  was written by Jouni Malinen <j@w1.fi>.  This manual
     page is derived from  the	README	and  wpa_cli.c	files  included  in  the
     wpa_supplicant distribution.

FreeBSD ports 15.1		  June 21, 2024 		      WPA_CLI(8)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=wpa_cli&manpath=FreeBSD+15.1-RELEASE+and+Ports>

home | help