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Connecting Systems Using Fixed Network Configuration in Oracle Solaris 11.1     Oracle Solaris 11.1 Information Library
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Document Information

Preface

1.  Overview of Fixed Network Configuration

2.  Configuring a System for the Network

3.  Working With Datalinks

4.  Working With IP Interfaces

5.  Configuring Wireless Networking on Laptops Running Oracle Solaris

WiFi Communications Task Map

How to Connect to a WiFi Network

How to Monitor the WiFi Link

Secure WiFi Communications

How to Set Up an Encrypted WiFi Network Connection

A.  Comparison Map: ifconfig and ipadm Commands

B.  Comparison Map: ndd and ipadm Commands

Index

WiFi Communications Task Map

Task
Description
For Instructions
Connect to a WiFi network
Set up and establish communications with a local WiFi network.
Monitor communications on the WiFi link.
Use standard Oracle Solaris networking tools to check the state of the WiFi link.
Establish secure WiFi communications.
Create a Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) key and use it establish connections with a secure WiFi network

How to Connect to a WiFi Network

Before You Begin

Perform the following steps to connect your laptop to a WiFi network.

  1. Become an administrator.

    For more information, see How to Use Your Assigned Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris 11.1 Administration: Security Services.

  2. Display the physical attributes of datalinks.
    # dladm show-phys
    LINK            MEDIA                STATE    SPEED  DUPLEX    DEVICE
    net0            Ethernet             up       1500   full      ath0
    net1            Ethernet             up       1500   full      e1000g0

    In this example, the output indicates that two links are available. Net0 over the device ath0 link supports WiFi communications. The e1000g0 link serves to connect the system to a wired network.

  3. Configure the WiFi interface.

    Use the following steps to configure the interface:

    1. Create the interface that supports WiFi:
      # ipadm create-ip net0
    2. Verify that the link has been plumbed:
      # ipadm show-if
      IFNAME      CLASS        STATE     ACTIVE     OVER
      lo0         loopback     ok        yes        --
      net0        ip           ok        yes        --
  4. Check for available networks.
    # dladm scan-wifi
     LINK       ESSID        BSSID/IBSSID       SEC     STRENGTH   MODE   SPEED
     net0       ofc          00:0e:38:49:01:d0  none     good       g      54Mb
     net0       home         00:0e:38:49:02:f0  none     very weak  g      54Mb
     net0       linksys      00:0d:ed:a5:47:e0  none     very good  g      54Mb
     

    The example output of the scan-wifi command displays information about the available WiFi networks at the current location. The information in the output includes:

    LINK

    Refers to the link name to be used in the WiFi connection.

    ESSID

    Refers to the Extended Service Set ID. The ESSID is the name of the WiFi network, which can be randomly named by the administrator of the specific wireless network.

    BSSID/IBSSID

    Refers to the Basic Service Set ID, the unique identifier for a particular ESSID. The BSSID is the 48-bit MAC address of the nearby access point that serves the network with a particular ESSID.

    SEC

    Refers to the type of security that is needed to access the network. The values are none or WEP. For information about WEP, refer to Secure WiFi Communications.

    STRENGTH

    Refers to the strength of the radio signals from the WiFi networks that are available at your location.

    MODE

    Refers to the version of the 802 .11 protocol that is run by the network. The modes are a, b, or g, or these modes in combination.

    SPEED

    Refers to the speed in megabits per second of the particular network.

  5. Connect to a WiFi network.

    Do either of the following:

    • Connect to the unsecured WiFi network with the strongest signal.

      # dladm connect-wifi
    • Connect to an unsecured network by specifying its ESSID.

      # dladm connect-wifi -e ESSID

      The connect-wifi subcommand of dladm has several more options for connecting to a WiFi network. For complete details, refer to the dladm(1M) man page.

  6. Configure an IP address for the interface.

    Do either of the following:

    • Obtain an IP address from a DHCP server.

      # ipadm create-addr -T dhcp interface

      If the WiFi network does not support DHCP, you receive the following message:

      ipadm: interface: interface does not exist or cannot be managed using DHCP
    • Configure a static IP address:

      Use this option if you have a dedicated IP address for the system.

      # ipadm create-addr -a address interface
  7. Check the status of the WiFi network to which the system is connected.
    # dladm show-wifi
    LINK       STATUS        ESSID       SEC     STRENGTH   MODE   SPEED
    net0       connected     ofc         none    very good   g      36Mb

    In this example, the output indicates that the system is now connected to the ofc network. The earlier scan-wifi output from Step 4 indicated that ofc has the strongest signal among the available networks. The dladm connect-wifi command automatically chooses the WiFi network with strongest signal, unless you directly specify a different network.

  8. Access the Internet through the WiFi network.

    Do either of the following, depending on the network to which the system is connected:

    • If the access point offers free service, you can now run a browser or an application of your choice.

    • If the access point is in a commercial WiFi network that requires a fee, follow the instructions provided at the current location. Typically, you run a browser, supply a key, and give credit card information to the network provider.

  9. Conclude the session.

    Do one of the following:

    • Terminate the WiFi session but leave the system running.

      # dladm disconnect-wifi 
    • Terminate a particular WiFi session when more than one session is currently running.

      # dladm disconnect-wifi link

      where link represents the interface that is being used for the session.

    • Cleanly shut down the system while the WiFi session is running.

      # shutdown -g0 -i5

      You do not need to explicitly disconnect the WiFi session prior to turning off the system through the shutdown command.

Example 5-1 Connecting to a Specific WiFi Network

The following example combines the different steps you would take to connect your Oracle Solaris laptop to a wireless network. The example also shows how you can force the system to connect to a specific and preferred wireless network instead of allowing the OS to randomly select the wireless network. In the example assume that you have the static IP address 10.192.16.3/24 configured on your laptop. The example begins with determining the availability of a WiFi link.

# dladm show-phys
LINK            MEDIA                STATE    SPEED  DUPLEX    DEVICE
net0            Ethernet             up       1500   full      ath0
net1            Ethernet             up       1500   full      e1000g0

# ipadm create-ip net0
IFNAME      CLASS        STATE     ACTIVE     OVER
lo0         loopback     ok        yes        --
net0        ip           ok        yes        --

# dladm scan-wifi
 LINK       ESSID        BSSID/IBSSID       SEC     STRENGTH   MODE   SPEED
 net0       wifi-a       00:0e:38:49:01:d0  none     weak       g      54Mb
 net0       wifi-b       00:0e:38:49:02:f0  none     very weak  g      54Mb
 net0       ofc-net      00:0d:ed:a5:47:e0  wep      very good  g      54Mb
 net0       citinet      00:40:96:2a:56:b5  none     good       b      11Mb

# dladm connect-wifi -e citinet

# ipadm create-addr -a 10.192.16.3/24 net0
ipadm: net0/v4
# ipadm show-addr net0
ADDROBJ           TYPE     STATE        ADDR
net0/v4           static   ok           10.192.16.3/24

# dladm show-wifi
LINK       STATUS        ESSID         SEC     STRENGTH   MODE   SPEED
net0       connected     citinet       none    good       g      11Mb

Run a browser or other application to commence your work over the WiFi network.

# firefox

The home page for the Firefox browser appears.

Terminate the session but leave the laptop running.

# dladm disconnect-wifi
# dladm show-wifi
LINK       STATUS        ESSID         SEC     STRENGTH   MODE   SPEED
net0       disconnected   --            --       --       --       --

The output of show-wifi verifies that you have disconnected the net0 link from the WiFi network.

How to Monitor the WiFi Link

This procedure explains how to monitor the status of a WiFi link through standard networking tools and change a selected link property through the linkprop subcommand.

  1. Become an administrator.

    For more information, see How to Use Your Assigned Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris 11.1 Administration: Security Services.

  2. Connect to the WiFi network, as described in How to Connect to a WiFi Network.
  3. View the properties of the link.

    Use the following syntax:

    # dladm show-linkprop link

    For example, you would use the following syntax to show the status of the connection established over the net0 wireless link:

    # dladm show-linkprop net0
    ...
    PROPERTY        VALUE           DEFAULT         POSSIBLE
    channel         5               --              -- 
    powermode       off             off             off,fast,max
    radio           ?               on              on,off 
    speed           36               --              1,2,5.5,6,9,11,12,18,24,36,48,54
    ...
  4. Set a fixed speed for the link.

    Caution

    Caution - Oracle Solaris automatically chooses the optimal speed for the WiFi connection. Modifying the initial speed of the link might cause reduced performance or prevent the establishment of certain WiFi connections.


    You can modify the link speed to one of the possible values for speed that is listed in the show-linkprop output.

    # dladm set-linkprop -p speed=value link
  5. Check the packet flow over the link.
    # netstat -I net0 -i 5
       input   net0      output       input  (Total)    output
    packets errs  packets errs  colls  packets errs  packets errs  colls
    317     0     106     0     0      2905    0     571     0     0
    14      0     0       0     0      20      0     0       0     0
    7       0     0       0     0      16      0     1       0     0
    5       0     0       0     0      9       0     0       0     0
    304     0     10      0     0      631     0     316     0     0
    338     0     9       0     0      722     0     381     0     0
    294     0     7       0     0      670     0     371     0     0
    306     0     5       0     0      649     0     338     0     0
    289     0     5       0     0      597     0     301     0     0

Example 5-2 Setting the Speed of a Link

This example shows how to set the speed of a link after you have connected to a WiFi network

# dladm show-linkprop -p speed net0
PROPERTY        VALUE           DEFAULT         POSSIBLE
speed           24               --              1,2,5,6,9,11,12,18,24,36,48,54
# dladm set-linkprop -p speed=36 net0

# dladm show-linkprop -p speed net0
PROPERTY        VALUE           DEFAULT         POSSIBLE
speed           36               --              1,2,5,6,9,11,12,18,24,36,48,54