Setting up a WIFI connection via command line on Debian/Ubuntu (Network Manager)

In case you don’t have a HDMI monitor around and got UART access to the board (e.g. UART adapter board or Sensors Mezzanine ), there are quite a few easy ways for you to configure a wireless connection, so you can then remotely access your board without any extra cables (besides the power adapter).

To show the overall status of NetworkManager:

root@linaro-alip:~# nmcli general status
STATE         CONNECTIVITY  WIFI-HW  WIFI     WWAN-HW  WWAN    
disconnected  none          enabled  enabled  enabled  enabled

To show all connections:

root@linaro-alip:~# nmcli connection show
NAME  UUID  TYPE  DEVICE

To show the device status (for the devices recognized by Network Manager:

root@linaro-alip:~# nmcli device status
DEVICE  TYPE      STATE         CONNECTION
wlan0   wifi      disconnected  --         
lo      loopback  unmanaged     --

To view the list of available access points:

root@linaro-alip:~# nmcli dev wifi list
*  SSID        MODE   CHAN  RATE       SIGNAL  BARS  SECURITY  
   foonet      Infra  7     54 Mbit/s  70      ▂▄▆_  WPA2      
   96boards    Infra  4     54 Mbit/s  80      ▂▄▆_  WPA2      
   linaro-wifi Infra  52    54 Mbit/s  7       ▂___  WPA2      
   debian      Infra  11    54 Mbit/s  89      ▂▄▆█  WPA1 WPA2

To connect to a WIFI access point, first create the connection:

root@linaro-alip:~# nmcli con add con-name WiFi ifname wlan0 type wifi ssid foonet
Connection 'WiFi' (4b40221c-9af9-45ae-b5df-7d8bfe301ad5) successfully added.

Then set up the password for your access point (e.g. for a WPA2 AP):

root@linaro-alip:~# nmcli con modify WiFi wifi-sec.key-mgmt wpa-psk
root@linaro-alip:~# nmcli con modify WiFi wifi-sec.psk myownpassword

Then just enable the connection:

root@linaro-alip:~# nmcli con up WiFi

Video Demonstration

video