WPA Supplicant

sillyfrog	Example SSID for this document
mypassword123	Example passphrase for this document
wlan0	Example interface for this document

NOTE - You can use nano/vi/vim or whatever you like to edit these files.

You can generate a config file like this:

wpa_passphrase sillyfrog mypassword123 > /etc/wpa_supplicant/example.conf

You can setup a config file by hand like this:

/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

ctrl_interface=/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
update_config=1
ap_scan=1
country=US

network={
    ssid="sillyfrog"
    psk=59e0d07fa4c7741797a4e394f38a5c321e3bed51d54ad5fcbd3f84bc7415d73d
}

You can use a clear text password instead of a key like this:

psk="mypassword123"

No password

If you prefer not to use a password you can do so like this:

network={
   ssid="MYSSID"
   key_mgmt=NONE
}

Connect to AP

Start up wpa_supplicant and associate to the AP:

wpa_supplicant -B -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Use this command to get an IP ( temporary, won’t survive reboot, need to already have dhcpcd package installed previously for this command to work ):

dhcpcd

Persistent Wifi

If you want your wifi connection to survive reboot you can configure systemd-networkd to connect to the AP and request IP info with DHCP.

You need to have a wpa_suplicant config file that includes the wifi NIC name and follows this naming convention. I prefer to just create a link.

cd /etc/wpa_supplicant/
ln -s wpa_supplicant.conf wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf

Create a systemd network interface file for the interface.

vi /etc/systemd/network/30-wifi.network


[Match]
Name=wlan0

[Network]
DHCP=ipv4

[DHCPv6]
UseDomains=true

Enable this service ( use the correct NIC name ):

systemctl enable wpa_supplicant@wlan0.conf

Reboot just to be sure everything is working:

reboot

Verify that you have an IP with either of these commands:

ip a
ifconfig -a

References

• Arch Linux WPA Supplicant Doc