通过命令连接wifi

Step 1: Find available WiFi adapters – WiFi network from command line

This actually help .. I mean you need to know your WiFi device name before you go an connect to a WiFi network. So just use the following command that will list all the connected WiFi adapters in your Linux machines.

root@kali:~# iw dev
phy#1
    Interface wlan0
        ifindex 4
        type managed
root@kali:~#

Let me explain the output:

This system has 1 physical WiFi adapters.

Designated name: phy#1

1. Device names: wlan0
2. Interface Index: 4. Usually as per connected ports (which can be an USB port).
3. Type: Managed. Type specifies the operational mode of the wireless devices. managed means the device is a WiFi station or client that connects to an access point
4.  

   Step 2: Check device status – WiFi network from command line
   

   By this time many of you are thinking, why two network devices. The reason I am using two is because I would like to show how a connected and disconnected device looks like side by side. Next command will show you exactly that.

   You can check that if the wireless device is up or not using the following command:

   root@kali:~# ip link show wlan0
   4: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DORMANT qlen 1000
       link/ether 00:60:64:37:4a:30 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
   root@kali:~# 
   

   As you can already see, I got once interface (wlan0) as state UP and wlan1 as state DOWN.

   Look for the word “UP” inside the brackets in the first line of the output.

   In the above example, wlan1 is not UP. Execute the following command to

   Step 3: Bring up the WiFi interface – WiFi network from command line
   

   Use the following command to bring up the WiFI interface

   root@kali:~# ip link set wlan0 up

   Note: If you’re using Ubuntu, Linux Mint, CentOS, Fedora etc. use the command with ‘sudo’ prefix

   

   If you run the show link command again, you can tell that wlan1 is now UP.

   root@kali:~# ip link show wlan0
   4: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP mode DORMANT qlen 1000
       link/ether 00:60:64:37:4a:30 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
   root@kali:~# 
   

   Step 4: Check the connection status – WiFi network from command line
   

   You can check WiFi network connection status from command line using the following command

   root@kali:~# iw wlan0 link
   Not connected.
   root@kali:~# 

   

   The above output shows that you are not connected to any network.

   Step 5: Scan to find WiFi Network – WiFi network from command line
   

   Scan to find out what WiFi network(s) are detected

   root@kali:~# iw wlan0 scan
   BSS 9c:97:26:de:12:37 (on wlan0)
       TSF: 5311608514951 usec (61d, 11:26:48)
       freq: 2462
       beacon interval: 100
       capability: ESS Privacy ShortSlotTime (0x0411)
       signal: -53.00 dBm 
       last seen: 104 ms ago
       Information elements from Probe Response frame:
       SSID: blackMOREOps
       Supported rates: 1.0* 2.0* 5.5* 11.0* 18.0 24.0 36.0 54.0 
       DS Parameter set: channel 11
       ERP: Barker_Preamble_Mode
       RSN:     * Version: 1
            * Group cipher: CCMP
            * Pairwise ciphers: CCMP
            * Authentication suites: PSK
            * Capabilities: 16-PTKSA-RC (0x000c)
       Extended supported rates: 6.0 9.0 12.0 48.0 
   ---- truncated ----

   The 2 important pieces of information from the above are the SSID and the security protocol (WPA/WPA2 vs WEP). The SSID from the above example is blackMOREOps. The security protocol is RSN, also commonly referred to as WPA2. The security protocol is important because it determines what tool you use to connect to the network.

   — following image is a sample only —

   

   Step 6: Generate a wpa/wpa2 configuration file – WiFi network from command line
   

   Now we will generate a configuration file for wpa_supplicant that contains the pre-shared key (“passphrase“) for the WiFi network.

   root@kali:~# wpa_passphrase blackMOREOps >> /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
   abcd1234
   root@kali:~#
   (where 'abcd1234' was the Network password)

   wpa_passphrase uses SSID as a string, that means you need to type in the passphrase for the WiFi network blackMOREOps after you run the command.

   

   Note: If you’re using Ubuntu, Linux Mint, CentOS, Fedora etc. use the command with ‘sudo’ prefix

   wpa_passphrase will create the necessary configuration entries based on your input. Each new network will be added as a new configuration (it wont replace existing configurations) in the configurations file /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf.

   root@kali:~# cat /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf 
   # reading passphrase from stdin
   network={
    ssid="blackMOREOps"
    #psk="abcd1234"
    psk=42e1cbd0f7fbf3824393920ea41ad6cc8528957a80a404b24b5e4461a31c820c
   }
   root@kali:~# 
   

   Step 7: Connect to WPA/WPA2 WiFi network – WiFi network from command line
   

   Now that we have the configuration file, we can use it to connect to the WiFi network. We will be usingwpa_supplicant to connect. Use the following command

   root@kali:~# wpa_supplicant -B -D wext -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
   ioctl[SIOCSIWENCODEEXT]: Invalid argument 
   ioctl[SIOCSIWENCODEEXT]: Invalid argument 
   root@kali:~#

   Where,

   • -B means run wpa_supplicant in the background.
   • -D specifies the wireless driver. wext is the generic driver.
   • -c specifies the path for the configuration file.
   

   Use the iw command to verify that you are indeed connected to the SSID.

   root@kali:~# iw wlan0 link
   Connected to 9c:97:00:aa:11:33 (on wlan0)
       SSID: blackMOREOps
       freq: 2412
       RX: 26951 bytes (265 packets)
       TX: 1400 bytes (14 packets)
       signal: -51 dBm
       tx bitrate: 6.5 MBit/s MCS 0
   
       bss flags:    short-slot-time
       dtim period:    0
       beacon int:    100
   

   Step 8: Get an IP using dhclient – WiFi network from command line
   

   Until step 7, we’ve spent time connecting to the WiFi network. Now use dhclient to get an IP address by DHCP

   root@kali:~# dhclient wlan0
   Reloading /etc/samba/smb.conf: smbd only.
   root@kali:~#

   You can use ip or ifconfig command to verify the IP address assigned by DHCP. The IP address is10.0.0.4 from below.

   root@kali:~# ip addr show wlan0
   4: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000
       link/ether 00:60:64:37:4a:30 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
       inet 10.0.0.4/24 brd 10.0.0.255 scope global wlan0
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
       inet6 fe80::260:64ff:fe37:4a30/64 scope link 
          valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
   root@kali:~# 
   
   (or)
   
   root@kali:~# ifconfig wlan0
   wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:60:64:37:4a:30 
    inet addr:10.0.0.4 Bcast:10.0.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
    inet6 addr: fe80::260:64ff:fe37:4a30/64 Scope:Link
    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
    RX packets:23868 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:23502 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
    RX bytes:22999066 (21.9 MiB) TX bytes:5776947 (5.5 MiB)
   
   root@kali:~# 
   

   Add default routing rule.The last configuration step is to make sure that you have the proper routing rules.

   root@kali:~# ip route show 
   default via 10.0.0.138 dev wlan0 
   10.0.0.0/24 dev wlan0  proto kernel  scope link  src 10.0.0.4 

   

   Step 9: Test connectivity – WiFi network from command line
   

   Ping Google’s IP to confirm network connection (or you can just browse?)

   root@kali:~# ping 8.8.8.8
   PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8) 56(84) bytes of data.
   64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_req=3 ttl=42 time=265 ms
   64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_req=4 ttl=42 time=176 ms
   64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_req=5 ttl=42 time=174 ms
   64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_req=6 ttl=42 time=174 ms
   ^C
   --- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
   6 packets transmitted, 4 received, 33% packet loss, time 5020ms
   rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 174.353/197.683/265.456/39.134 ms
   root@kali:~# 
   

   Conclusion

   This is a very detailed and long guide. Here is a short summary of all the things you need to do in just few line.

   root@kali:~# iw dev
   root@kali:~# ip link set wlan0 up
   root@kali:~# iw wlan0 scan
   root@kali:~# wpa_passphrase blackMOREOps >> /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
   root@kali:~# wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
   root@kali:~# iw wlan0 link
   root@kali:~# dhclient wlan0
   root@kali:~# ping 8.8.8.8
   (Where wlan0 is wifi adapter and blackMOREOps is SSID)
   (Add Routing manually)
   root@kali:~# ip route add default via 10.0.0.138 dev wlan0

   At the end of it, you should be able to connect to WiFi network. Depending on the Linux distro you are using and how things go, your commands might be slightly different. Edit commands as required to meet your needs.