Troubleshooting NWAM Autoconfiguration

The information in this section describes how to troubleshoot NWAM autoconfiguration issues.

Monitoring the Current State of All Network Connections

The nwamadm command can be used with the show-events subcommand to listen for and display events that are being monitored by the NWAM daemon, nwamd. This subcommand provides useful information about events that are related to the configuration process for profiles and configuration objects, as they are configured by NWAM.

The syntax for the nwamadm show-events command is as follows:

nwamadm show-events [-v]

In the following example, the nwam show-events command is used with the -v option to display events in verbose mode:

$ nwamadm show-events -v
EVENT                    DESCRIPTION                                            
LINK_STATE               bge0 -> state down                                     
OBJECT_STATE             ncu link:bge0 -> state online*, interface/link is down 
OBJECT_STATE             ncu link:bge0 -> state offline, interface/link is down 
OBJECT_STATE             ncu interface:bge0 -> state online*, conditions for
act 
OBJECT_STATE             ncu interface:bge0 -> state offline, conditions for
act 
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state (0) flags 2004801                        
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state (0) flags 2004800                        
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state (0) flags 1004803                        
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state index 4 flags 0x0 address
fe80::214:4fff: 
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state (0) flags 1004802                        
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state index 4 flags 0x0 address
129.156.235.229 
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state (0) flags 1004803                        
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state (0) flags 1004802                        
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state (0) flags 1004803                        
IF_STATE                 bge0 -> state (0) flags 1004802         

Troubleshooting Network Interface Configuration Issues

The nwamadm list -x command is useful for determining why a network interface might not be configured correctly. This command displays the various entities that are configured by NWAM, their current state, and the reason why these entities are in that state.

For example, if a cable is unplugged, you can use the nwamadm list -x command to determine if the link state is offline and why, for example, “cable unplugged”. Similarly, for duplicate address detection, the output of the nwamadm list -x command reveals that the interface is online (up), but the IP interface is in a maintenance state. In this instance, the reason that is given is “Duplicate address detected”.

The following is an example of the output of the nwamadm list -x command:

$ nwamadm list -x
TYPE         PROFILE        STATE          AUXILIARY STATE
ncp          User           offline        conditions for activation are not
met
ncp          Automatic      online         active
 ncu:phys    iwk0           offline*       scanning for available networks on
WiFi link
 ncu:ip      iwk0           online         interface or link is up
 ncu:phys    e1000g0        online         interface or link is up
 ncu:ip      e1000g0        online         interface or link is up
loc          Automatic      online         active
loc          NoNet          offline        conditions for activation are not
met
loc          Legacy         offline        conditions for activation are not
met

After determining the reason that an interface is offline, you can proceed to correct the problem. In the case of a duplicate IP address, you must modify the static IP address that is assigned to the specified interface by using the nwamcfg command. For instructions, see Setting and Changing Property Values of a Profile. After you commit the changes, run the nwamadm list -x command again to check that the interface is now configured correctly, and that its state is displayed as “online”.

Another example of why an interface might not be configured correctly is if no unsecured WLANs are available. In this case, the WiFi link's state would be displayed as “offline”, and the reason would be, "need wifi selection". Or, if a WiFi selection was made, but a key is required, the reason would be, "need wifi key".