WPA_CLI(8)

NAME
wpa_cli - text-based frontend program for interacting with wpa_supplicant

SYNOPSIS
wpa_cli [commands]

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 configuration, 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 configure 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 information such as username and password when it is not provided in the wpa_supplicant.conf(5) configuration file. This can be used, for example, to implement one-time passwords or generic token card authentication where the authentication is based on a challenge-response that uses an external device 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 that in interactive mode, wpa_cli provides access to unsolicited messages (event messages, username/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 terminal in response to the wpa_cli prompt. In command line mode, the same commands 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 interactive 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, and <text> is description of the request. In the case of a OTP (One Time Password) request, it includes the challenge from the authentication 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

COMMANDS
The following commands may be supplied on the command line or at a prompt when operating interactively.

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

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

help
    Show usage help.

status
    Get current WPA/EAPOL/EAP status.

add_network
    Add a network. Returns a number to be used in set_network commands.

set_network network_id ssid my_ssid_name
    Make network_id use the SSID my_ssid_name.

set_network network_id psk my_ssid_password
    Make network_id use the password my_ssid_password

enable_network network_id
    Begin using the network at network_id.

list_network
    List the networks configured.

scan
    Begin a scan of nearby APs. Results can be obtained with scan_results.

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

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

terminate
    Force wpa_supplicant(8) to terminate.

quit
    Exit wpa_cli.

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

EXAMPLES
A sample run of discovering and connecting to a network with SSID "MyWifiNetwork" and with a password "MyWifiPassword".

If wpa_supplicant isn't already running, start it with the command service wpa_supplicant onestart.

Find the network

    scan
    scan_results
    17:07:08.868: bssid / frequency / signal level / flags / ssid
    14:aa:ff:ee:aa:cc	2437	187	[WPA-PSK-CCMP+TKIP][ESS]	MyWifiNetwork
    44:ee:ff:bb:33:33	2452	168	[WPA2-PSK-CCMP][ESS]	SomeOtherNetwork

Now, let's create a network and configure it.

    add_network
    17:08:13.047: 1

That means the new network_id we should use is 1.

    set_network 1 ssid "MyWifiNetwork"
    set_network 1 psk "MyWifiPassword"
    enable_network 1

After this point, you should be connected, but no IP address is configured. You will likely want to configure the address using dhcpcd(8).

HISTORY
The wpa_cli utility first appeared in NetBSD 4.0.

AUTHORS
The wpa_cli utility was written by Jouni Malinen <jkmaline@cc.hut.fi>. This manual page is derived from the README file included in the wpa_supplicant distribution.