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<!doctype refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN">
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<refentrytitle>wpa_cli</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
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<refname>wpa_cli</refname>
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<refpurpose>WPA command line client</refpurpose>
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<command>wpa_cli</command>
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<arg>-p <replaceable>path to ctrl sockets</replaceable></arg>
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<arg>-i <replaceable>ifname</replaceable></arg>
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<arg>-a <replaceable>action file</replaceable></arg>
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<arg>-P <replaceable>pid file</replaceable></arg>
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<arg><replaceable>command ...</replaceable></arg>
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<title>Overview</title>
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<para>wpa_cli is a text-based frontend program for interacting
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with wpa_supplicant. It is used to query current status, change
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configuration, trigger events, and request interactive user
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<para>wpa_cli can show the current authentication status, selected
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security mode, dot11 and dot1x MIBs, etc. In addition, it can
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configure some variables like EAPOL state machine parameters and
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trigger events like reassociation and IEEE 802.1X
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logoff/logon. wpa_cli provides a user interface to request
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authentication information, like username and password, if these
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are not included in the configuration. This can be used to
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implement, e.g., one-time-passwords or generic token card
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authentication where the authentication is based on a
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challenge-response that uses an external device for generating the
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<para>The control interface of wpa_supplicant can be configured to
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allow non-root user access (ctrl_interface_group in the
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configuration file). This makes it possible to run wpa_cli with a
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normal user account.</para>
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<para>wpa_cli supports two modes: interactive and command
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line. Both modes share the same command set and the main
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difference is in interactive mode providing access to unsolicited
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messages (event messages, username/password requests).</para>
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<para>Interactive mode is started when wpa_cli is executed without
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including the command as a command line parameter. Commands are
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then entered on the wpa_cli prompt. In command line mode, the same
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commands are entered as command line arguments for wpa_cli.</para>
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<title>Interactive authentication parameters request</title>
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<para>When wpa_supplicant need authentication parameters, like
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username and password, which are not present in the configuration
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file, it sends a request message to all attached frontend programs,
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e.g., wpa_cli in interactive mode. wpa_cli shows these requests
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with "CTRL-REQ-<type>-<id>:<text>"
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prefix. <type> is IDENTITY, PASSWORD, or OTP
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(one-time-password). <id> is a unique identifier for the
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current network. <text> is description of the request. In
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case of OTP request, it includes the challenge from the
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authentication server.</para>
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<para>The reply to these requests can be given with 'identity',
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'password', and 'otp' commands. <id> needs to be copied from the
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the matching request. 'password' and 'otp' commands can be used
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regardless of whether the request was for PASSWORD or OTP. The
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main difference between these two commands is that values given
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with 'password' are remembered as long as wpa_supplicant is
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running whereas values given with 'otp' are used only once and
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then forgotten, i.e., wpa_supplicant will ask frontend for a new
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value for every use. This can be used to implement
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one-time-password lists and generic token card -based
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authentication.</para>
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<para>Example request for password and a matching reply:</para>
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<blockquote><programlisting>
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CTRL-REQ-PASSWORD-1:Password needed for SSID foobar
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> password 1 mysecretpassword
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</programlisting></blockquote>
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<para>Example request for generic token card challenge-response:</para>
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<blockquote><programlisting>
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CTRL-REQ-OTP-2:Challenge 1235663 needed for SSID foobar
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</programlisting></blockquote>
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<title>Command Arguments</title>
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<listitem><para>Change the path where control sockets should
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be found.</para></listitem>
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<term>-i ifname</term>
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<listitem><para>Specify the interface that is being
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configured. By default, choose the first interface found with
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a control socket in the socket path.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Help. Show a usage message.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Show version information.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Run as a daemon in the background.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Run in daemon mode executing the action file
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based on events from wpa_supplicant. The specified file will
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be executed with the first argument set to interface name and
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second to "CONNECT" or "DISCONNECT" depending on the event.
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This can be used to execute networking tools required to configure
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the interface.</para>
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<para>Additionally, three environmental variables are available to
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the file: WPA_CTRL_DIR, WPA_ID, and WPA_ID_STR. WPA_CTRL_DIR
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contains the absolute path to the ctrl_interface socket. WPA_ID
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contains the unique network_id identifier assigned to the active
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network, and WPA_ID_STR contains the content of the id_str option.
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<listitem><para>Set the location of the PID
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file.</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Run a command. The available commands are
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listed in the next section.</para></listitem>
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<title>Commands</title>
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<para>The following commands are available:</para>
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<para>get current WPA/EAPOL/EAP status</para>
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<para>get MIB variables (dot1x, dot11)</para>
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<para>show this usage help</para>
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<term>interface [ifname]</term>
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<para>show interfaces/select interface</para>
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<term>level <debug level></term>
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<para>change debug level</para>
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<para>show full wpa_cli license</para>
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<para>IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine logoff</para>
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<para>IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine logon</para>
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<para>set variables (shows list of variables when run without arguments)</para>
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<para>show PMKSA cache</para>
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<term>reassociate</term>
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<para>force reassociation</para>
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<term>reconfigure</term>
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<para>force wpa_supplicant to re-read its configuration file</para>
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<term>preauthenticate <BSSID></term>
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<para>force preauthentication</para>
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<term>identity <network id> <identity></term>
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<para>configure identity for an SSID</para>
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<term>password <network id> <password></term>
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<para>configure password for an SSID</para>
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<term>pin <network id> <pin></term>
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<para>configure pin for an SSID</para>
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<term>otp <network id> <password></term>
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<para>configure one-time-password for an SSID</para>
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<term>bssid <network id> <BSSID></term>
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<para>set preferred BSSID for an SSID</para>
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<term>list_networks</term>
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<para>list configured networks</para>
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<term>terminate</term>
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<para>terminate <command>wpa_supplicant</command></para>
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<listitem><para>exit wpa_cli</para></listitem>
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<title>See Also</title>
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<refentrytitle>wpa_supplicant</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
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<para>wpa_supplicant is copyright (c) 2003-2007,
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Jouni Malinen <email>j@w1.fi</email> and
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All Rights Reserved.</para>
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<para>This program is dual-licensed under both the GPL version 2
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and BSD license. Either license may be used at your option.</para>
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