Re: Wifi adapter setup documentation?

[Christopher Berardi <cberardi%natoufa.com@localhost>]

On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 01:29:10PM -0700, Andy Ruhl wrote:
> Sorry if this is a stupid question...
> 
> Where do I go in the NetBSD documentation to learn how to set up a
> modern wifi adapter? I haven't done it for a while, and the last time
> I did it there was no WPA yet. It was pretty easy back then. I'm aware
> that there are man pages, but it would be nice to assemble something
> with some order to it as a starting point.
> 
> I sorta know what to look for just because I read these lists, so I
> don't need someone to explain how to do it... I'm just asking about
> documentation.

Besides the regular network documentation (e.g., ifconfig(8)), there seems to
4 man pages strictly for wpa_supplicant:
    wpa_cli(8)
    wpa_passphrase(8)
    wpa_supplicant(8)
    wpa_supplicant.conf(5)

For me, it was as easy as creating this wpa_supplicant.conf:

    ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
    ctrl_interface_group=wheel
    # default wireless network
    network={
        ssid="my_network_name"
        scan_ssid=1
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        psk="my_very_top_secret_key"
    }

and then adding this to my rc.conf:

    # This is for wireless
    wpa_supplicant=YES
    wpa_supplicant_flags="-B -i wpi0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf"
    critical_filesystems_local="/var /usr"

You can learn what each of those settings means in the above mentioned
manpages. Also note that this only sets up the wireless interface. Normal
configuration that applies to any network interface (e.g., DHCP) will still
need to be taken care of.
                                                                                
Hope this helps.



-- 
Christopher Berardi
http://www.natoufa.com/

Be still, and know that I am God (Psalms 46:10)