NAME

       wpa_cli - WPA command line client

SYNOPSIS

       wpa_cli  [ -p path to ctrl sockets ] [ -g path to global ctrl_interface socket ] [ -i ifname ] [ -hvB ] [
       -a action file ] [ -P pid file ] [ -G ping interval ] [ command ... ]

OVERVIEW

       wpa_cli is a text-based frontend program for interacting with wpa_supplicant. It is used to query current
       status, change configuration, trigger events, and request interactive user input.

       wpa_cli can show the current authentication status, selected security mode, dot11 and dot1x MIBs, etc. In
       addition, it can configure some variables like EAPOL state machine parameters  and  trigger  events  like
       reassociation  and  IEEE 802.1X logoff/logon. wpa_cli provides a user interface to request authentication
       information, like username and password, if these are not included in the configuration. This can be used
       to  implement,  e.g., one-time-passwords or generic token card authentication where the authentication is
       based on a challenge-response that uses an external device for generating the response.

       The control interface of wpa_supplicant can be configured to allow non-root user  access  (ctrl_interface
       GROUP=  parameter  in  the  configuration file). This makes it possible to run wpa_cli with a normal user
       account.

       wpa_cli supports two modes: interactive and command line. Both modes share the same command set  and  the
       main  difference  is  in  interactive  mode  providing  access  to  unsolicited messages (event messages,
       username/password requests).

       Interactive mode is started when wpa_cli is executed without including the  command  as  a  command  line
       parameter.  Commands  are then entered on the wpa_cli prompt. In command line mode, the same commands are
       entered as command line arguments for wpa_cli.

INTERACTIVE AUTHENTICATION PARAMETERS REQUEST

       When wpa_supplicant need authentication parameters, like username and password, which are not present  in
       the  configuration  file,  it sends a request message to all attached frontend programs, e.g., wpa_cli in
       interactive mode. wpa_cli shows these  requests  with  "CTRL-REQ-<type>-<id>:<text>"  prefix.  <type>  is
       IDENTITY,  PASSWORD,  or  OTP  (one-time-password).  <id> is a unique identifier for the current network.
       <text> is description of the request. In case  of  OTP  request,  it  includes  the  challenge  from  the
       authentication server.

       The  reply  to  these  requests  can be given with identity, password, and otp commands. <id> needs to be
       copied from the matching request. password and otp commands can be used regardless of whether the request
       was  for  PASSWORD  or  OTP.  The  main  difference  between these two commands is that values given with
       password are remembered as long as wpa_supplicant is running whereas values given with otp are used  only
       once  and then forgotten, i.e., wpa_supplicant will ask frontend for a new value for every use.  This can
       be used to implement one-time-password lists and generic token card -based authentication.

       Example request for password and a matching reply:

              CTRL-REQ-PASSWORD-1:Password needed for SSID foobar
              > password 1 mysecretpassword

       Example request for generic token card challenge-response:

              CTRL-REQ-OTP-2:Challenge 1235663 needed for SSID foobar
              > otp 2 9876

COMMAND ARGUMENTS

       -p path
              Change the path where control sockets should be found.

       -g control socket path
              Connect to the global control socket at the  indicated  path  rather  than  an  interface-specific
              control socket.

       -i ifname
              Specify the interface that is being configured.  By default, choose the first interface found with
              a control socket in the socket path.

       -h     Help.  Show a usage message.

       -v     Show version information.

       -B     Run as a daemon in the background.

       -a file
              Run in daemon mode executing the action file based on events from wpa_supplicant.   The  specified
              file  will  be executed with the first argument set to interface name and second to "CONNECTED" or
              "DISCONNECTED" depending on the event.  This can be used to execute networking tools  required  to
              configure the interface.

              Additionally,  three  environmental variables are available to the file: WPA_CTRL_DIR, WPA_ID, and
              WPA_ID_STR. WPA_CTRL_DIR contains the absolute path to the ctrl_interface socket. WPA_ID  contains
              the  unique  network_id  identifier  assigned  to  the active network, and WPA_ID_STR contains the
              content of the id_str option.

       -P file
              Set the location of the PID file.

       -G ping interval
              Set the interval (in seconds) at which wpa_cli pings the supplicant.

       command
              Run a command.  The available commands are listed in the next section.

COMMANDS

       The following commands are available:

       status get current WPA/EAPOL/EAP status

       mib    get MIB variables (dot1x, dot11)

       help   show this usage help

       interface [ifname]
              show interfaces/select interface

       level <debug level>
              change debug level

       license
              show full wpa_cli license

       logoff IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine logoff

       logon  IEEE 802.1X EAPOL state machine logon

       set    set variables (shows list of variables when run without arguments)

       pmksa  show PMKSA cache

       reassociate
              force reassociation

       reconfigure
              force wpa_supplicant to re-read its configuration file

       preauthenticate <BSSID>
              force preauthentication

       identity <network id> <identity>
              configure identity for an SSID

       password <network id> <password>
              configure password for an SSID

       pin <network id> <pin>
              configure pin for an SSID

       otp <network id> <password>
              configure one-time-password for an SSID

       bssid <network id> <BSSID>
              set preferred BSSID for an SSID

       list_networks
              list configured networks

       terminate
              terminate wpa_supplicant

       quit   exit wpa_cli

SEE ALSO

       wpa_supplicant(8)

LEGAL

       wpa_supplicant is copyright  (c)  2003-2016,  Jouni  Malinen  <j@w1.fi>  and  contributors.   All  Rights
       Reserved.

       This program is licensed under the BSD license (the one with advertisement clause removed).

                                                 05 August 2024                                       WPA_CLI(8)