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

FreeBSD Manual Pages

  
 
  

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

NAME
     hostapd -- authenticator for IEEE 802.11 networks

SYNOPSIS
     hostapd [-BdhKtv] [-P pidfile] config-file ...

DESCRIPTION
     The  hostapd utility is an authenticator for IEEE 802.11 networks.  It pro-
     vides full support for WPA/IEEE 802.11i and can also act as an IEEE  802.1X
     Authenticator  with  a  suitable  backend	Authentication Server (typically
     FreeRADIUS).  The hostapd utility implements the  authentication  protocols
     that  piggyback  on  top of the normal IEEE 802.11 protocol mechanisms.  To
     use hostapd as an authenticator, the underlying device  must  support  some
     basic  functionality such as the ability to set security information in the
     802.11 management frames.	Beware that not all devices have this support.

     The hostapd utility is designed to be a "daemon" program that runs  in  the
     background  and acts as the backend component controlling the wireless con-
     nection.  It supports separate frontend programs  such  as  the  text-based
     frontend, hostapd_cli(8).

     The following arguments must be specified on the command line:

     config-file
	     Use  the  settings in the specified configuration file; the name of
	     the specified wireless interface is contained in  this  file.   See
	     hostapd.conf(5) for a description of the configuration file syntax.

	     Changes  to  the  configuration  file  can be reloaded by sending a
	     SIGHUP to the hostapd processor or with the hostapd_cli(8) utility,
	     using "hostapd_cli reconfigure".

OPTIONS
     The options are as follows:

     -d      Enable debugging messages.  If this option is supplied twice,  more
	     verbose messages are displayed.

     -h      Show help text.

     -t      Include timestamps in debugging output.

     -v      Display version information on the terminal and exit.

     -B      Detach from the controlling terminal and run as a daemon process in
	     the background.

     -K      Include key information in debugging output.

     -P pidfile
	     Store PID in pidfile.

SEE ALSO
     ath(4),   ipw(4),	 iwi(4),   mwl(4),   ral(4),  rum(4),  run(4),	ural(4),
     hostapd.conf(5), hostapd_cli(8), ifconfig(8)

HISTORY
     The hostapd utility first appeared in FreeBSD 6.0.

AUTHORS
     The hostapd utility was written by Jouni Malinen  <j@w1.fi>.   This  manual
     page is derived from the README file included in the hostapd distribution.

FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly	  July 18, 2012 		      HOSTAPD(8)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=hostapd&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+15.1-RELEASE+and+Ports.quarterly>

home | help