2 \page ctrl_iface_page %wpa_supplicant control interface
4 %wpa_supplicant implements a control interface that can be used by
5 external programs to control the operations of the %wpa_supplicant
6 daemon and to get status information and event notifications. There is
7 a small C library, in a form of a single C file, wpa_ctrl.c, that
8 provides helper functions to facilitate the use of the control
9 interface. External programs can link this file into them and then use
10 the library functions documented in wpa_ctrl.h to interact with
11 %wpa_supplicant. This library can also be used with C++. wpa_cli.c and
12 wpa_gui are example programs using this library.
14 There are multiple mechanisms for inter-process communication. For
15 example, Linux version of %wpa_supplicant is using UNIX domain sockets
16 for the control interface and Windows version UDP sockets. The use of
17 the functions defined in wpa_ctrl.h can be used to hide the details of
18 the used IPC from external programs.
21 \section using_ctrl_iface Using the control interface
23 External programs, e.g., a GUI or a configuration utility, that need to
24 communicate with %wpa_supplicant should link in wpa_ctrl.c. This
25 allows them to use helper functions to open connection to the control
26 interface with wpa_ctrl_open() and to send commands with
29 %wpa_supplicant uses the control interface for two types of communication:
30 commands and unsolicited event messages. Commands are a pair of
31 messages, a request from the external program and a response from
32 %wpa_supplicant. These can be executed using wpa_ctrl_request().
33 Unsolicited event messages are sent by %wpa_supplicant to the control
34 interface connection without specific request from the external program
35 for receiving each message. However, the external program needs to
36 attach to the control interface with wpa_ctrl_attach() to receive these
39 If the control interface connection is used both for commands and
40 unsolicited event messages, there is potential for receiving an
41 unsolicited message between the command request and response.
42 wpa_ctrl_request() caller will need to supply a callback, msg_cb,
43 for processing these messages. Often it is easier to open two
44 control interface connections by calling wpa_ctrl_open() twice and
45 then use one of the connections for commands and the other one for
46 unsolicited messages. This way command request/response pairs will
47 not be broken by unsolicited messages. wpa_cli is an example of how
48 to use only one connection for both purposes and wpa_gui demonstrates
49 how to use two separate connections.
51 Once the control interface connection is not needed anymore, it should
52 be closed by calling wpa_ctrl_close(). If the connection was used for
53 unsolicited event messages, it should be first detached by calling
57 \section ctrl_iface_cmds Control interface commands
59 Following commands can be used with wpa_ctrl_request():
61 \subsection ctrl_iface_PING PING
63 This command can be used to test whether %wpa_supplicant is replying
64 to the control interface commands. The expected reply is \c PONG if the
65 connection is open and %wpa_supplicant is processing commands.
68 \subsection ctrl_iface_MIB MIB
70 Request a list of MIB variables (dot1x, dot11). The output is a text
71 block with each line in \c variable=value format. For example:
74 dot11RSNAOptionImplemented=TRUE
75 dot11RSNAPreauthenticationImplemented=TRUE
76 dot11RSNAEnabled=FALSE
77 dot11RSNAPreauthenticationEnabled=FALSE
78 dot11RSNAConfigVersion=1
79 dot11RSNAConfigPairwiseKeysSupported=5
80 dot11RSNAConfigGroupCipherSize=128
81 dot11RSNAConfigPMKLifetime=43200
82 dot11RSNAConfigPMKReauthThreshold=70
83 dot11RSNAConfigNumberOfPTKSAReplayCounters=1
84 dot11RSNAConfigSATimeout=60
85 dot11RSNAAuthenticationSuiteSelected=00-50-f2-2
86 dot11RSNAPairwiseCipherSelected=00-50-f2-4
87 dot11RSNAGroupCipherSelected=00-50-f2-4
89 dot11RSNAAuthenticationSuiteRequested=00-50-f2-2
90 dot11RSNAPairwiseCipherRequested=00-50-f2-4
91 dot11RSNAGroupCipherRequested=00-50-f2-4
92 dot11RSNAConfigNumberOfGTKSAReplayCounters=0
93 dot11RSNA4WayHandshakeFailures=0
95 dot1xSuppHeldPeriod=60
96 dot1xSuppAuthPeriod=30
97 dot1xSuppStartPeriod=30
99 dot1xSuppSuppControlledPortStatus=Authorized
100 dot1xSuppBackendPaeState=2
101 dot1xSuppEapolFramesRx=0
102 dot1xSuppEapolFramesTx=440
103 dot1xSuppEapolStartFramesTx=2
104 dot1xSuppEapolLogoffFramesTx=0
105 dot1xSuppEapolRespFramesTx=0
106 dot1xSuppEapolReqIdFramesRx=0
107 dot1xSuppEapolReqFramesRx=0
108 dot1xSuppInvalidEapolFramesRx=0
109 dot1xSuppEapLengthErrorFramesRx=0
110 dot1xSuppLastEapolFrameVersion=0
111 dot1xSuppLastEapolFrameSource=00:00:00:00:00:00
115 \subsection ctrl_iface_STATUS STATUS
117 Request current WPA/EAPOL/EAP status information. The output is a text
118 block with each line in \c variable=value format. For example:
121 bssid=02:00:01:02:03:04
127 ip_address=192.168.1.21
128 Supplicant PAE state=AUTHENTICATED
129 suppPortStatus=Authorized
134 \subsection ctrl_iface_STATUS-VERBOSE STATUS-VERBOSE
136 Same as STATUS, but with more verbosity (i.e., more \c variable=value pairs).
139 bssid=02:00:01:02:03:04
146 ip_address=192.168.1.21
147 Supplicant PAE state=AUTHENTICATED
148 suppPortStatus=Authorized
154 Supplicant Backend state=IDLE
163 \subsection ctrl_iface_PMKSA PMKSA
168 Index / AA / PMKID / expiration (in seconds) / opportunistic
169 1 / 02:00:01:02:03:04 / 000102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f / 41362 / 0
170 2 / 02:00:01:33:55:77 / 928389281928383b34afb34ba4212345 / 362 / 1
174 \subsection ctrl_iface_SET SET <variable> <value>
181 - dot11RSNAConfigPMKLifetime
182 - dot11RSNAConfigPMKReauthThreshold
183 - dot11RSNAConfigSATimeout
187 SET EAPOL::heldPeriod 45
191 \subsection ctrl_iface_LOGON LOGON
193 IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine logon.
196 \subsection ctrl_iface_LOGOFF LOGOFF
198 IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine logoff.
201 \subsection ctrl_iface_REASSOCIATE REASSOCIATE
206 \subsection ctrl_iface_RECONNECT RECONNECT
208 Connect if disconnected (i.e., like \c REASSOCIATE, but only connect
209 if in disconnected state).
212 \subsection ctrl_iface_PREAUTH PREAUTH <BSSID>
214 Start pre-authentication with the given BSSID.
217 \subsection ctrl_iface_ATTACH ATTACH
219 Attach the connection as a monitor for unsolicited events. This can
220 be done with wpa_ctrl_attach().
223 \subsection ctrl_iface_DETACH DETACH
225 Detach the connection as a monitor for unsolicited events. This can
226 be done with wpa_ctrl_detach().
229 \subsection ctrl_iface_LEVEL LEVEL <debug level>
234 \subsection ctrl_iface_RECONFIGURE RECONFIGURE
236 Force %wpa_supplicant to re-read its configuration data.
239 \subsection ctrl_iface_TERMINATE TERMINATE
241 Terminate %wpa_supplicant process.
244 \subsection ctrl_iface_BSSID BSSID <network id> <BSSID>
246 Set preferred BSSID for a network. Network id can be received from the
247 \c LIST_NETWORKS command output.
250 \subsection ctrl_iface_LIST_NETWORKS LIST_NETWORKS
252 List configured networks.
255 network id / ssid / bssid / flags
256 0 example network any [CURRENT]
259 (note: fields are separated with tabs)
262 \subsection ctrl_iface_DISCONNECT DISCONNECT
264 Disconnect and wait for \c REASSOCIATE or \c RECONNECT command before
268 \subsection ctrl_iface_SCAN SCAN
270 Request a new BSS scan.
273 \subsection ctrl_iface_SCAN_RESULTS SCAN_RESULTS
275 Get the latest scan results.
278 bssid / frequency / signal level / flags / ssid
279 00:09:5b:95:e0:4e 2412 208 [WPA-PSK-CCMP] jkm private
280 02:55:24:33:77:a3 2462 187 [WPA-PSK-TKIP] testing
281 00:09:5b:95:e0:4f 2412 209 jkm guest
284 (note: fields are separated with tabs)
287 \subsection ctrl_iface_BSS BSS
289 Get detailed per-BSS scan results. \c BSS command can be used to
290 iterate through scan results one BSS at a time and to fetch all
291 information from the found BSSes. This provides access to the same
292 data that is available through \c SCAN_RESULTS but in a way that
293 avoids problems with large number of scan results not fitting in the
296 There are two options for selecting the BSS with the \c BSS command:
297 "BSS <idx>" requests information for the BSS identified by the index
298 (0 .. size-1) in the scan results table and "BSS <BSSID>" requests
299 information for the given BSS (based on BSSID in 00:01:02:03:04:05
302 BSS information is presented in following format. Please note that new
303 fields may be added to this field=value data, so the ctrl_iface user
304 should be prepared to ignore values it does not understand.
307 bssid=00:09:5b:95:e0:4e
315 ie=000b6a6b6d2070726976617465010180dd180050f20101000050f20401000050f20401000050f2020000
321 \subsection ctrl_iface_SELECT_NETWORK SELECT_NETWORK <network id>
323 Select a network (disable others). Network id can be received from the
324 \c LIST_NETWORKS command output.
327 \subsection ctrl_iface_ENABLE_NETWORK ENABLE_NETWORK <network id>
329 Enable a network. Network id can be received from the
330 \c LIST_NETWORKS command output. Special network id \c all can be
331 used to enable all network.
334 \subsection ctrl_iface_DISABLE_NETWORK DISABLE_NETWORK <network id>
336 Disable a network. Network id can be received from the
337 \c LIST_NETWORKS command output. Special network id \c all can be
338 used to disable all network.
341 \subsection ctrl_iface_ADD_NETWORK ADD_NETWORK
343 Add a new network. This command creates a new network with empty
344 configuration. The new network is disabled and once it has been
345 configured it can be enabled with \c ENABLE_NETWORK command. \c ADD_NETWORK
346 returns the network id of the new network or FAIL on failure.
349 \subsection ctrl_iface_REMOVE_NETWORK REMOVE_NETWORK <network id>
351 Remove a network. Network id can be received from the
352 \c LIST_NETWORKS command output. Special network id \c all can be
353 used to remove all network.
356 \subsection ctrl_iface_SET_NETWORK SET_NETWORK <network id> <variable> <value>
358 Set network variables. Network id can be received from the
359 \c LIST_NETWORKS command output.
361 This command uses the same variables and data formats as the
362 configuration file. See example wpa_supplicant.conf for more details.
364 - ssid (network name, SSID)
365 - psk (WPA passphrase or pre-shared key)
366 - key_mgmt (key management protocol)
367 - identity (EAP identity)
368 - password (EAP password)
372 \subsection ctrl_iface_GET_NETWORK GET_NETWORK <network id> <variable>
374 Get network variables. Network id can be received from the
375 \c LIST_NETWORKS command output.
378 \subsection ctrl_iface_SAVE_CONFIG SAVE_CONFIG
380 Save the current configuration.
383 \section ctrl_iface_interactive Interactive requests
385 If %wpa_supplicant needs additional information during authentication
386 (e.g., password), it will use a specific prefix, \c CTRL-REQ-
387 (\a WPA_CTRL_REQ macro) in an unsolicited event message. An external
388 program, e.g., a GUI, can provide such information by using
389 \c CTRL-RSP- (\a WPA_CTRL_RSP macro) prefix in a command with matching
392 The following fields can be requested in this way from the user:
393 - IDENTITY (EAP identity/user name)
394 - PASSWORD (EAP password)
395 - NEW_PASSWORD (New password if the server is requesting password change)
396 - PIN (PIN code for accessing a SIM or smartcard)
397 - OTP (one-time password; like password, but the value is used only once)
398 - PASSPHRASE (passphrase for a private key file)
401 CTRL-REQ-<field name>-<network id>-<human readable text>
402 CTRL-RSP-<field name>-<network id>-<value>
405 For example, request from %wpa_supplicant:
407 CTRL-REQ-PASSWORD-1-Password needed for SSID test-network
410 And a matching reply from the GUI:
412 CTRL-RSP-PASSWORD-1-secret
416 \subsection ctrl_iface_GET_CAPABILITY GET_CAPABILITY <option> [strict]
418 Get list of supported functionality (eap, pairwise, group,
419 proto). Supported functionality is shown as space separate lists of
420 values used in the same format as in %wpa_supplicant configuration.
421 If optional argument, 'strict', is added, only the values that the
422 driver claims to explicitly support are included. Without this, all
423 available capabilities are included if the driver does not provide
424 a mechanism for querying capabilities.
426 Example request/reply pairs:
430 AKA FAST GTC LEAP MD5 MSCHAPV2 OTP PAX PEAP PSK SIM TLS TTLS
434 GET_CAPABILITY pairwise
439 GET_CAPABILITY pairwise strict
444 CCMP TKIP WEP104 WEP40
448 GET_CAPABILITY key_mgmt
449 WPA-PSK WPA-EAP IEEE8021X NONE
458 GET_CAPABILITY auth_alg
463 \subsection ctrl_iface_AP_SCAN AP_SCAN <ap_scan value>
465 Change ap_scan value:
467 1 = %wpa_supplicant requests scans and uses scan results to select the AP,
468 2 = %wpa_supplicant does not use scanning and just requests driver to
469 associate and take care of AP selection
472 \subsection ctrl_iface_INTERFACES INTERFACES
474 List configured interfaces.