Provided by: wicd-daemon_1.7.2.4-4.1ubuntu1_all 
NAME
Wicd - Wired and Wireless Network Connection Manager
THEORY OF OPERATION
Wicd is designed to give the user as much control over behavior of network connections as
possible. Every network, both wired and wireless, has its own profile with its own
configuration options and connection behavior. Wicd will try to automatically connect
only to networks the user specifies it should try, with a preference first to a wired
network, then to wireless.
For wired connections, users have many options for determining what network settings to
use. Wicd allows creation of an unlimited number of wired profiles, each of which has its
own unique settings. The user can choose to automatically connect to a selected default
profile, choose a profile from a pop-up window every time wicd connects, or have wicd
automatically choose the last profile used to manually connect.
For wireless connections, users can select any number of wireless networks to
automatically connect; wicd will choose the one with the highest signal strength to try to
connect.
If the user chooses, wicd will try to automatically reconnect when it detects that a
connection is lost. If the last known connection state is wired, wicd will first try to
reconnect to the wired network, and if it is not available, wicd will try any available
wireless networks which have automatic connection enabled. If the last known connection
state is wireless, wicd will first try to reconnect to the previously connected network
(even if that network does not have automatic connection enabled), and should that fail,
it will try both a wired connection and any available wireless networks which have
automatic connection enabled.
Wicd uses built-in linux wireless-tools, such as ifconfig and iwconfig, to get and
configure network info. There is some flexibility in its use of DHCP, providing support
for dhclient, dhcpcd, and pump. Wicd uses wpa_supplicant to handle all wireless
encryption settings, and uses a template-based system to create the configuration files
used by wpa_supplicant. These templates can be edited, and new templates can be created
by the user and imported into wicd, allowing connection to networks with uncommon
encryption settings.
STRUCTURE
Wicd has two major parts: the daemon, which runs with root privileges; and the user
interface, which runs with normal user privileges. The two parts run as separate
processes and make use of D-Bus to communicate.
The daemon is responsible for making and configuring connections, reading and writing
configuration files and logs, and monitoring the connection status. The daemon's job is
split between two processes: wicd-daemon.py and monitor.py. All the connection status
monitoring, as well as the auto-reconnection logic, takes place in monitor.py. Everthing
else is done by wicd-daemon.py.
The user interface (stored in wicd-gtk), which is made up of a tray icon, a main GUI
window, and its child dialogs, gets configuration and network info from the daemon either
by querying it using the methods in the daemon's dbus interface or by receiving signals
emitted from the daemon over D-Bus. Any configuration changes made in the user interface
are passed back to the daemon, which actually applies the changes and writes them to
configuration files.
Since the user interface just queries for connection and configuration info from the
daemon, it is possible to run wicd without the GUI at all. Also, the daemon is started by
wicd's init script during system startup (before any user logs in), making it possible to
use wicd with "headless" machines.
USAGE HINTS
Choosing Alternate Tools
Wicd supports several alternatives regarding the networking tools on linux. In the
"External Programs" tab of the Preferences menu, you can choose your preferred DHCP
client, link detection tool, and routing tool if the defaults aren't suitable for your
particular distribution or system.
Custom Scripts
If you need to run any custom commands before or after connecting to or disconnecting from
a network, Wicd supports this; however, you will need to have a graphical sudo helper
installed (currently supported are kdesu, gksu, and ktsuss). Also see /etc/wicd/scripts/
in FILES.
If you do not have a graphical sudo helper installed, you still have the ability to use
custom scripts, but you will have to set them up manually. See wicd-wired-
settings.conf(5) and/or wicd-wireless-settings.conf(5) for more information on how to do
so.
Automatically Connecting to Networks
Wicd uses the BSSID to recognize a particular network (and thus to decide whether it
should automatically connect to it). If you are on a network that has many different
access points which all have the same ESSID (many universities have such networks), there
is an option in the "Advanced Settings" to "Use these settings for all networks sharing
this essid." With this option enabled, Wicd will autoconnect to that network, regardless
of which node it sees.
FILES
/etc/wicd/manager-settings.conf
This file contains global settings for Wicd.
See this file's own man page for more information about it.
/etc/wicd/wired-settings.conf
This file contains settings related to the wired interface.
See this file's own man page for more information about it.
/etc/wicd/wireless-settings.conf
This file contains settings related to the wireless interface.
See this file's own man page for more information about it.
/etc/wicd/dhclient.conf.template
This is used to replace /etc/dhclient.conf during Wicd activity, if you're using
dhclient(1) as DHCP client. See dhclient.conf(5) for more information.
/etc/wicd/encryption/templates/
This directory contains various templates for encrypted (WEP, WPA, etcetera) connections.
If none of them fit your needs, you may create your own and add it to this directory. If
you do this, please contact the authors (see below) of Wicd.
/etc/wicd/scripts/
Dropping a script in the relevant directory will cause it to be executed when the
specified event is preformed upon connection or disconnect from or to any network. Please
note that pre/post disconnect scripts may be executed multiple times on already-
disconnected interfaces.
The scripts will be passed different parameters, depending if Wicd is acting on a wired or
a wireless network. In the former case, "wired wired wired" will be passed (three times,
just for compatibility with the wireless case). If Wicd is acting on a wireless network,
it will pass "wireless ESSID BSSID" to the script.
Available directories are:
/etc/wicd/scripts/predisconnect
/etc/wicd/scripts/postdisconnect
/etc/wicd/scripts/preconnect
/etc/wicd/scripts/postconnect
/var/lib/wicd/configurations/
This directory contains individual configuration files for each encrypted network you set
up in Wicd.
/var/log/wicd/
This directory contains logfiles of Wicd's activity. Please refer to the log if you are
having connection or other problems.
SEE ALSO
wicd-manager-settings.conf(5), wicd-wired-settings.conf(5), wicd-wireless-
settings.conf(5), dhclient.conf(5), wicd-curses(8), ifconfig(8), iwconfig(8),
wpa_supplicant(8), route(8), ip(8), mii-tool(8), ethtool(8), dhclient(8), dhcpcd(8),
pump(8).
WICD AUTHORS
Adam Blackburn <compwiz18@gmail.com>
Dan O'Reilly <oreilldf@gmail.com>
Andrew Psaltis <ampsaltis@gmail.com> (curses client)
David Paleino <d.paleino@gmail.com>
MANPAGE AUTHOR
Robby Workman <rworkman@slackware.com>
wicd-1.7.2.4 WICD(8)