nmcli
– commandline tool for controlling NetworkManager
see also :
nm-tool - nm-online - NetworkManager - nm-connection-editor
Synopsis
nmcli [
OPTIONS ] OBJECT { COMMAND |
help }
OBJECT
:= { nm | con | dev }
OPTIONS
:= {
-t[erse]
-p[retty]
-m[mode] tabular | multiline
-f[ields] <field1,field2,...> | all |
common
-e[scape] yes | no
-v[ersion]
-h[elp]
}
add an example, a script, a trick and tips
examples
nmcli -t -f RUNNING nm
tells you whether NetworkManager is running or not.
nmcli -t -f STATE nm
shows the overall status of NetworkManager.
nmcli nm wifi off
switches Wi-Fi off.
nmcli -p con list
lists all connections NetworkManager has.
nmcli -f name,autoconnect con list
lists all connections’ names and their autoconnect settings.
nmcli con list id "My wired connection"
lists all details of the connection with "My wired connection"
name.
nmcli -p con up id "My wired connection" iface eth0
activates the connection with name "My wired connection" on
interface eth0. The -p option makes nmcli show progress of the
activation.
nmcli con up uuid 6b028a27-6dc9-4411-9886-e9ad1dd43761 ap
00:3A:98:7C:42:D3
connects the Wi-Fi connection with UUID
6b028a27-6dc9-4411-9886-e9ad1dd43761 to the AP with BSSID
00:3A:98:7C:42:D3.
nmcli dev status
shows the status for all devices.
nmcli dev disconnect iface em2
disconnects a connection on interface em2 and marks the device as
unavailable for auto-connecting. That’s why no connection will
automatically be activated on the device until the device’s
"autoconnect" is set to TRUE or user manually activates a
connection.
nmcli -f GENERAL,WIFI-PROPERTIES dev list iface wlan0
lists details for wlan0 interface; only GENERAL and
WIFI-PROPERTIES sections will be shown.
nmcli dev wifi
lists available Wi-Fi access points known to NetworkManager.
nmcli dev wifi con "Cafe Hotspot 1" password caffeine name
"My cafe"
creates a new connection named "My cafe" and then connects it to
"Cafe Hotspot 1" SSID using "caffeine" password. This is mainly
useful when connecting to "Cafe Hotspot 1" for the first time.
Next time, it is better to use ’nmcli con up id "My cafe"’ so
that the existing connection profile can be used and no
additional is created.
source
EOF
}
uuid() {
nmcli con list | grep
$essid | head -n1
| awk '{ print $2
}'
}
case "$cmd" in
down)
down)
sudo nmcli con down uuid `uuid`
;;
up)
sudo nmcli con up uuid `uuid`
;;
list)
nmcli con list
;;
*)
usage
exit 1
;;
esac
source
nmcli -t con down id "China Unicom
Default"
sudo nmcli nm sleep true
## What does it do ?
Disconnect your network
example added by an anonymous user
description
nmcli is
a command-line tool for controlling NetworkManager and
reporting on its status. It is not meant as a full
replacement for nm-applet or other similar clients
but as a complementary utility to those programs. The main
usage for nmcli is on servers, headless machines or
for power users who prefer the command line.
Typical
applications include:
—
Initscripts: ifup/ifdown can utilize NetworkManager via
nmcli instead of having to manage connections itself
and possibly interfere with NetworkManager.
—
Servers, headless machines: No GUI is available; then
nmcli can be used to activate/deactivate connections.
However, if a connection requires a secret in order to
activate and if that secret is not stored at the system
level, nmcli will not be able to activate it; it is
currently unable to supply the secrets to
NetworkManager.
—
User sessions: nmcli can be used to
activate/deactivate connections from the command line, but a
client with a secret agent (like nm-applet) is needed
for supplying secrets not stored at the system level.
Keyring dialogs and password prompts may appear if this
happens.
OPTIONS
-t, --terse
Output is terse. This mode is
designed and suitable for computer (script) processing.
-p,
--pretty
Output is pretty. This causes
nmcli to produce easily readable outputs for humans,
i.e. values are aligned, headers are printed, etc.
-m, --mode
tabular | multiline
Switch between tabular
and multiline output. If omitted, default is
tabular for most commands. For the commands producing
more structured information, that cannot be displayed on a
single line, default is multiline. Currenly, they
are:
’nmcli con list id|uuid <name>’
’nmcli dev list’
tabular – Output is a table where each line
describes a single entry. Columns define particular
properties of the entry.
multiline – Each entry comprises multiple lines,
each property on its own line. The values are prefixed with
the property name.
-f,
--fields <field1,field2,...> | all |
common
This option is used to specify
what fields (column names) should be printed. Valid field
names differ for specific commands. List available fields by
providing an invalid value to the
--fields option.
all is used to print all valid field values of the
command. common is used to print common field values
of the command. If omitted, default is common. The
option is mandatory when --terse is used.
In this case, generic values all and common
cannot be used. (This is to maintain compatibility when new
fields are added in the future).
-e,
--escape yes | no
Whether to escape
’:’ and ’\’ characters in terse
tabular mode. The escape character is ’\’. If
omitted, default is yes.
-v,
--version
Show nmcli version.
-h,
--help
Print help information.
OBJECT
Use this object to inquire and
change state of NetworkManager.
COMMAND
:= { status | permissions | enable | sleep | wifi | wwan
|
wimax }
status
Show overall status of NetworkManager. This is the
default action, when no command is provided to nm
object.
Reference to D-Bus:
No simple reference.
permissions
Show the permissions a caller
has for various authenticated operations that NetworkManager
provides, like enable/disable networking, changing Wi-Fi,
WWAN, and WiMAX state, modifying connections, etc.
Reference to D-Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method: GetPermissions
arguments: none
enable [true|false]
Get networking-enabled status
or enable/disable networking by NetworkManager. All
interfaces managed by NetworkManager are deactivated when
networking has been disabled.
Reference to D-Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method: Enable
arguments: TRUE or FALSE
sleep [true|false]
Get sleep status or put to
sleep/awake NetworkManager. All interfaces managed by
NetworkManager are deactivated when it falls asleep. This
command is not meant for user to enable/disable networking,
use enable for that. D-Bus Sleep method is
designed to put NetworkManager to sleep or awake for
suspending/resuming the computer.
Reference to D-Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method: Sleep
arguments: TRUE or FALSE
wifi [on|off]
Inquire or set status of Wi-Fi
in NetworkManager. If no arguments are supplied, Wi-Fi
status is printed; on enables Wi-Fi; off
disables Wi-Fi.
Reference to D-Bus:
No simple reference.
wwan [on|off]
Inquire or set status of WWAN
in NetworkManager. If no arguments are supplied, WWAN status
is printed; on enables WWAN; off disables
WWAN.
Reference to D-Bus:
No simple reference.
wimax [on|off]
Inquire or set status of WiMAX
in NetworkManager. If no arguments are supplied, WiMAX
status is printed; on enables WiMAX; off
disables WiMAX.
Note: WiMAX support is a compile-time decision, so it may be
unavailable on some installations.
Reference to D-Bus:
No simple reference.
Get information about
NetworkManager’s connections.
COMMAND
:= { list | status | up | down | delete }
list [id <id> | uuid <id>]
List configured connections.
Without a parameter, all connections are listed. In order to
get connection details, id with connection’s
name or uuid with connection’s UUID shall be
specified. When no command is given to the con
object, the default action is ’nmcli con list’.
Reference to D-Bus:
No simple reference.
status
Print status of active connections.
Reference to D-Bus:
No simple reference.
up id <id> | uuid
<id> [iface <iface>] [ap <BSSID>] [nsp
<name>]
[--nowait] [--timeout
<timeout>]
Activate a connection. The
connection is identified by its name using id or UUID
using uuid. When requiring a particular device to
activate the connection on, the iface option with
interface name should be given. In case of a VPN connection,
the iface option specify the device of the base
connection. The ap option specify what particular AP
should be used in case of a Wi-Fi connection.
Available
options are:
iface
– interface that will be used for activation
ap
– BSSID of the AP which the command should connect
to (for Wi-Fi connections)
nsp
– NSP (Network Service Provider) which the command
should connect to (for WiMAX connections)
--nowait
– exit immediately without waiting for command
completion
--timeout
– how long to wait for command completion (default
is 90 s)
Reference to
D-Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method: ActivateConnection
arguments: according to arguments
down id <id> | uuid
<id>
Deactivate a connection. The
connection is identified by its name using id or UUID
using uuid.
Reference to D-Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method: DeactivateConnection
arguments: according to arguments
delete id <id> | uuid
<id>
Delete a configured connection.
The connection to delete is specified with id
(connection name) or uuid (connection UUID).
Reference to D-Bus:
interface:
org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Settings.Connection
method: Delete
arguments: none
Get information about
devices.
COMMAND
:= { status | list | disconnect | wifi }
status
Print status of devices. This is the default action,
when no command is specified to dev object.
Reference to D-Bus:
No simple reference.
list [iface
<iface>]
Get detailed information about
devices. Without an argument, all devices are examined. To
get information for a specific device, the iface
argument with the interface name should be provided.
Reference to D-Bus:
No simple reference.
disconnect iface
<iface> [--nowait] [--timeout
<timeout>]
Disconnect a device and prevent
the device from automatically activating further connections
without user/manual intervention.
Available
options are:
--nowait
– exit immediately without waiting for command
completion
--timeout
– how long to wait for command completion (default
is 10 s)
Reference to
D-Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Device
method: Disconnect
arguments: none
wifi [list [iface
<iface>] [bssid <BSSID>]]
List available Wi-Fi access
points. The iface and bssid options can be
used to list APs for a particular interface or with a
specific BSSID, respectively.
Reference to D-Bus:
No simple reference.
wifi connect <(B)SSID>
[password <password>] [wep-key-type
key|phrase] [iface <iface>] [bssid <BSSID>]
[name <name>]
[--private] [--nowait]
[--timeout <timeout>]
Connect to a Wi-Fi network
specified by SSID or BSSID. The command creates a new
connection and then activates it on a device. This is a
command-line counterpart of clicking an SSID in a GUI
client. The command always creates a new connection and thus
it is mainly useful for connecting to new Wi-Fi networks. If
a connection for the network already exists, it’s
better to connect through it using nmcli con up id
<name>. Note that only open, WEP and WPA-PSK
networks are supported at the moment. It is also supposed
that IP configuration is obtained via DHCP.
Available
options are:
password
– password for secured networks (WEP or WPA)
wep-key-type
– type of WEP secret, either key for
ASCII/HEX key or phrase for passphrase
iface
– interface that will be used for activation
bssid
– if specified, the created connection will be
restricted just for the BSSID
name
– if specified, the connection will use the name
(else NM creates a name itself)
--private
– the connection will only be visible to the user
who created it (else the connection is system-wide)
--nowait
– exit immediately without waiting for command
completion
--timeout
– how long to wait for command completion (default
is 90 s)
Reference to
D-Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method: AddAndActivateConnection
arguments: according to arguments
environment variables
nmcli’s behavior is affected by the following environment
variables.
LC_ALL
If set to a non-empty string value, it overrides the values of
all the other internationalization variables.
LC_MESSAGES
Determines the locale to be used for internationalized messages.
LANG
Provides a default value for the internationalization variables
that are unset or null.
Internationalization notes:
Be aware that nmcli is localized and that’s why the output
depends on your environment. This is important to realize
especially when you parse the output.
Call nmcli as LC_ALL=C nmcli to be sure the locale
is set to "C" while executing in a script.
LC_ALL, LC_MESSAGES, LANG variables specify
the LC_MESSAGES locale category (in that order), which determines
the language that nmcli uses for messages. The "C" locale
is used if none of these variables are set, and this locale uses
English messages.
exit status
nmcli exits with status 0 if it succeeds, a value greater
than 0 is returned if an error occurs.
0
Success – indicates the operation succeeded
1
Unknown or unspecified error
2
Invalid user input, wrong nmcli invocation
3
Timeout expired (see commands with --timeout option)
4
Connection activation failed
5
Connection deactivation failed
6
Disconnecting device failed
7
Connection deletion failed
8
NetworkManager is not running
9
nmcli and NetworkManager versions mismatch
bugs
There are
probably some bugs. If you find a bug, please report it to
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/ — product
NetworkManager.
see also