Re: NetworkManager WiFi AP Mode

[Dan Williams <dcbw redhat com>]

On Thu, 2016-06-02 at 15:03 -0700, Ali Nematollahi wrote:
> Hi guys
>
> I'm trying to use NM to start a WiFi AP mode. I've had some success
> but a
> big portion of the process is very unclear to me and I'm hoping to
> get some
> help.
>
> So I have this NM configuration:
>
> # cat Hotspot
> [connection]
> id=Hotspot
> uuid=3e13073d-6d7a-440d-ab2b-4f42c9fdacaf
> type=802-11-wireless
> autoconnect=true
>
> [802-11-wireless]
> ssid=AliAP
> mode=ap
> security=802-11-wireless-security
>
> [802-11-wireless-security]
> key-mgmt=wpa-psk
> psk=alisecurepassword984364 234@
>
> [ipv4]
> method=shared
>
> [ipv6]
> method=auto

Looks good so far.

> With this, the NM starts up and does what it needs to do (I think):
> (NetworkManager:2989): NetworkManager-WARNING **: <warn>  glib-
> version:
> cannot handle SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2 signals. Consider upgrading glib to
> 2.36.0 or newer
> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  NetworkManager (version 1.0.10) is
> starting...
> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  Read config:
> /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf
> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  init!
> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  update_system_hostname

<snip>

> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  (wlan0): new 802.11 WiFi device
> (carrier:
> UNKNOWN, driver: 'wl18xx_driver', ifindex: 5)
> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  (wlan0): device state change: unmanaged
> ->
> unavailable (reason 'managed') [10 20 2]
> [ 1424.134834] wlcore: PHY firmware version: Rev 8.2.0.0.195
> [ 1424.222506] wlcore: firmware booted (Rev 8.8.0.0.13)
> [ 1424.244537] wlcore: down
> [ 1424.664565] wlcore: PHY firmware version: Rev 8.2.0.0.195
> [ 1424.752521] wlcore: firmware booted (Rev 8.8.0.0.13)
> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  (can0): new Generic device (carrier:
> UNKNOWN,
> driver: 'c_can_platform', ifindex: 2)
> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  (can1): new Generic device (carrier:
> UNKNOWN,
> driver: 'c_can_platform', ifindex: 3)
> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  wpa_supplicant stopped
> NetworkManager[2989]: <info>  (wlan0): supplicant interface state:
> starting
> -> init

Looking at the code, I don't think NM is able to talk to
wpa_supplicant.  This line (starting -> init) will only get printed if
D-Bus failed to service activate the supplicant.  There's two fixes
there:

1) fix whatever problem is wrong with D-Bus service activation; this
requires that D-Bus is built with the same --datadir as wpa_supplicant,
and that the /usr/share/dbus-1/system-
services/fi.w1.wpa_supplicant1.service file exists and points to the
wpa_supplicant binary.

2) run the supplicant at system startup with the "-u" (enable D-Bus
interface) option; either as a system service via your normal service
framework (sysvinit, openrc, systemd, etc) or just launch it manually
somehow.

Once NM can talk to wpa_supplicant, it should start your AP connection
and actually enable the AP on wlan0.

Dan

> # ifconfig
> eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr ec:24:b8:cf:e0:be
>           UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
>           RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
>           TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
>           collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
>           RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
>           Interrupt:56
>
> lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
>           inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
>           UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
>           RX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
>           TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
>           collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
>           RX bytes:448 (448.0 B)  TX bytes:448 (448.0 B)
>
> wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 5c:31:3e:ce:be:5b
>           UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
>           RX packets:49 errors:0 dropped:21 overruns:0 frame:0
>           TX packets:49 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
>           collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
>           RX bytes:7734 (7.5 KiB)  TX bytes:8838 (8.6 KiB)
>
>
> So WLAN0 is up. Great!
>
> When I was using "iw" and stuff to set up my AP, I used to start
> hostapd
> and udhcpd to set up the IP address, and start broadcasting the SSID.
> When I get to this point with NM, I was under the impression that NM
> would
> take care of all of this. But I cannot see my SSID on my phone. I do
> have a
> functioning wpa_supplicant btw.
>
> Out of curiosity, I started hostapd and udhcpd. I could get hostapd
> to work
> (but not the SSID I set in NM!!) and UDHCPD never worked.
>
> I was wondering what I was missing in this and how I can start the
> broadcast and activate the DHCPD automatically with NM.
>
> I'm running NM 1.0.10.
>
>
>
> Thanks!
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