WPA supplicant

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When dealing with "strong" encryption of WiFi networks, you have to setup a WPA or WPA2 configuration. To handle the requirements of these protocols during association, a userspace daemon is needed: it is called a WPA supplicant. The most used one on Linux is wpa_supplicant; we will see here how to install and configure it.

Note: wpa_supplicant is also able to handle WEP connections

Installation

$ make menuconfig

Package Selection for the target  --->
    Networking  --->
        [*]   wpa_supplicant
        [ ]     Enable WPA with EAP
        [*]     Install wpa_cli binary
        [ ]     Install wpa_passphrase binary

EAP is only needed if you plan to use WPA in Enterprise mode == with a Radius server.

You also have to install drivers to make WPA Supplicant work:

$ make linux26-menuconfig

Device drivers  --->
    [*] Network device support  --->
            Wireless LAN  --->
                [*] Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11)
                <M>   Marvell 8xxx Libertas WLAN driver support
                < >     Marvell Livertas 8388 USB 802.11b/g cards
                <M>     Marvell Libertas 8385 and 8686 SDIO 802.11b/g cards
    <M> MMC/SD/SDIO card support  --->
              *** MMC/SD/SDIO Card Drivers ***
        <M>   MMC block device driver

Usage

wpa_supplicant needs a configuration file in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf. Here is an example:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
network={
ssid="SSID"
scan_ssid=1
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
psk="PASSPHRASE"
}

# wpa_supplicant -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -B

Links

• wpa_supplicant README
• wpa_supplicant Webpage