WPA_CLI(8)                                                                                                            WPA_CLI(8)



NAME
       wpa_cli - WPA command line client

SYNOPSIS
       wpa_cli [ -p path to ctrl sockets ] [ -i ifname ] [ -hvB ] [ -a action file ] [ -P pid file ] [ command ... ]


OVERVIEW
       wpa_cli  is a text-based frontend program for interacting with wpa_supplicant. It is used to query current status, change
       configuration, trigger events, and request interactive user input.

       wpa_cli can show the current authentication status, selected security mode, dot11 and dot1x MIBs, etc.  In  addition,  it
       can  configure  some  variables like EAPOL state machine parameters and trigger events like reassociation and IEEE 802.1X
       logoff/logon. wpa_cli provides a user interface to request authentication information, like  username  and  password,  if
       these  are  not  included  in the configuration. This can be used to implement, e.g., one-time-passwords or generic token
       card authentication where the authentication is based on a challenge-response that uses an external device for generating
       the response.

       The  control interface of wpa_supplicant can be configured to allow non-root user access (ctrl_interface GROUP= parameter
       in the configuration file). This makes it possible to run wpa_cli with a normal user account.

       wpa_cli supports two modes: interactive and command line. Both modes share the same command set and the  main  difference
       is in interactive mode providing access to unsolicited messages (event messages, username/password requests).

       Interactive  mode is started when wpa_cli is executed without including the command as a command line parameter. Commands
       are then entered on the wpa_cli prompt. In command line mode, the same commands are entered as command line arguments for
       wpa_cli.

INTERACTIVE AUTHENTICATION PARAMETERS REQUEST
       When  wpa_supplicant  need authentication parameters, like username and password, which are not present in the configura-
       tion file, it sends a request message to all attached frontend programs, e.g., wpa_cli in interactive mode. wpa_cli shows
       these  requests with "CTRL-REQ-<type>-<id>:<text>" prefix. <type> is IDENTITY, PASSWORD, or OTP (one-time-password). <id>
       is a unique identifier for the current network. <text> is description of the request. In case of OTP request, it includes
       the challenge from the authentication server.

       The  reply  to  these  requests  can be given with identity, password, and otp commands. <id> needs to be copied from the
       matching request. password and otp commands can be used regardless of whether the request was for PASSWORD  or  OTP.  The
       main difference between these two commands is that values given with password are remembered as long as wpa_supplicant is
       running whereas values given with otp are used only once and then forgotten, i.e., wpa_supplicant will ask frontend for a
       new value for every use.  This can be used to implement one-time-password lists and generic token card -based authentica-
       tion.

       Example request for password and a matching reply:


              CTRL-REQ-PASSWORD-1:Password needed for SSID foobar
              > password 1 mysecretpassword

       Example request for generic token card challenge-response:


              CTRL-REQ-OTP-2:Challenge 1235663 needed for SSID foobar
              > otp 2 9876

COMMAND ARGUMENTS
       -p path
              Change the path where control sockets should be found.

       -i ifname
              Specify the interface that is being configured.  By default, choose the  first  interface  found  with  a  control
              socket in the socket path.

       -h     Help.  Show a usage message.

       -v     Show version information.

       -B     Run as a daemon in the background.

       -a file
              Run in daemon mode executing the action file based on events from wpa_supplicant.  The specified file will be exe-
              cuted with the first argument set to interface name and second to "CONNECTED" or "DISCONNECTED" depending  on  the
              event.  This can be used to execute networking tools required to configure the interface.

              Additionally,  three  environmental  variables  are  available  to the file: WPA_CTRL_DIR, WPA_ID, and WPA_ID_STR.
              WPA_CTRL_DIR contains the absolute path to the ctrl_interface socket. WPA_ID contains the unique network_id  iden-
              tifier assigned to the active network, and WPA_ID_STR contains the content of the id_str option.

       -P file
              Set the location of the PID file.

       command
              Run a command.  The available commands are listed in the next section.

COMMANDS
       The following commands are available:

       status get current WPA/EAPOL/EAP status

       mib    get MIB variables (dot1x, dot11)

       help   show this usage help

       interface [ifname]
              show interfaces/select interface

       level <debug level>
              change debug level

       license
              show full wpa_cli license

       logoff IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine logoff

       logon  IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine logon

       set    set variables (shows list of variables when run without arguments)

       pmksa  show PMKSA cache

       reassociate
              force reassociation

       reconfigure
              force wpa_supplicant to re-read its configuration file

       preauthenticate <BSSID>
              force preauthentication

       identity <network id> <identity>
              configure identity for an SSID

       password <network id> <password>
              configure password for an SSID

       pin <network id> <pin>
              configure pin for an SSID

       otp <network id> <password>
              configure one-time-password for an SSID

       bssid <network id> <BSSID>
              set preferred BSSID for an SSID

       list_networks
              list configured networks

       terminate
              terminate wpa_supplicant

       quit   exit wpa_cli

SEE ALSO
       wpa_supplicant(8)

LEGAL
       wpa_supplicant is copyright (c) 2003-2007, Jouni Malinen <jATw1.fi> and contributors.  All Rights Reserved.

       This program is dual-licensed under both the GPL version 2 and BSD license. Either license may be used at your option.



                                                        15 February 2009                                              WPA_CLI(8)