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nmcli

command‐line tool for controlling NetworkManager

nmcli [ OPTIONS ] OBJECT { COMMAND | help }

OBJECT := { nm | con | dev }

OPTIONS := {
-t[erse]
-p[retty]
-m[mode] tabular | multiline
-f[ields] <field1,field2,...> | all | common
-e[scape] yes | no
-v[ersion]
-h[elp]
}

nmcli is a command‐line tool for controlling NetworkManager and reporting on its status. It is not meant as a full replacement for nm‐applet or other similar clients but as a complementary utility to those programs. The main usage for nmcli is on servers, headless machines or for power users who prefer the command line.

Typical applications include:

—
Initscripts: ifup/ifdown can utilize NetworkManager via nmcli instead of having to manage connections itself and possibly interfere with NetworkManager.
—
Servers, headless machines: No GUI is available; then nmcli can be used to activate/deactivate connections. However, if a connection requires a secret in order to activate and if that secret is not stored at the system level, nmcli will not be able to activate it; it is currently unable to supply the secrets to NetworkManager.
—
User sessions: nmcli can be used to activate/deactivate connections from the command line, but a client with a secret agent (like nm‐applet) is needed for supplying secrets not stored at the system level. Keyring dialogs and password prompts may appear if this happens.

OPTIONS

Output is terse. This mode is designed and suitable for computer (script) processing.
Output is pretty. This causes nmcli to produce easily readable outputs for humans, i.e. values are aligned, headers are printed, etc.
Switch between tabular and multiline output. If omitted, default is tabular for most commands. For the commands producing more structured information, that cannot be displayed on a single line, default is multiline. Currenly, they are: 
  'nmcli con list id|uuid <name>'
  'nmcli dev list'
tabular – Output is a table where each line describes a single entry. Columns define particular properties of the entry.
multiline – Each entry comprises multiple lines, each property on its own line. The values are prefixed with the property name.
This option is used to specify what fields (column names) should be printed. Valid field names differ for specific commands. List available fields by providing an invalid value to the --fields option.
all is used to print all valid field values of the command. common is used to print common field values of the command. If omitted, default is common. The option is mandatory when --terse is used. In this case, generic values all and common cannot be used. (This is to maintain compatibility when new fields are added in the future).
Whether to escape ':' and '\' characters in terse tabular mode. The escape character is '\'. If omitted, default is yes.
Show nmcli version.
Print help information.

OBJECT

NetworkManager
Use this object to inquire and change state of NetworkManager.

COMMAND := { status | permissions | enable | sleep | wifi | wwan | wimax }


Show overall status of NetworkManager. This is the default action, when no command is provided to nm object. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
No simple reference.

Show the permissions a caller has for various authenticated operations that NetworkManager provides, like enable/disable networking, changing Wi‐Fi, WWAN, and WiMAX state, modifying connections, etc. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method:    GetPermissions
arguments: none

Get networking‐enabled status or enable/disable networking by NetworkManager. All interfaces managed by NetworkManager are deactivated when networking has been disabled. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method:    Enable
arguments: TRUE or FALSE

Get sleep status or put to sleep/awake NetworkManager. All interfaces managed by NetworkManager are deactivated when it falls asleep. This command is not meant for user to enable/disable networking, use enable for that. D‐Bus Sleep method is designed to put NetworkManager to sleep or awake for suspending/resuming the computer. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method:    Sleep
arguments: TRUE or FALSE

Inquire or set status of Wi‐Fi in NetworkManager. If no arguments are supplied, Wi‐Fi status is printed; on enables Wi‐Fi; off disables Wi‐Fi. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
No simple reference.

Inquire or set status of WWAN in NetworkManager. If no arguments are supplied, WWAN status is printed; on enables WWAN; off disables WWAN. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
No simple reference.

Inquire or set status of WiMAX in NetworkManager. If no arguments are supplied, WiMAX status is printed; on enables WiMAX; off disables WiMAX.
Note: WiMAX support is a compile‐time decision, so it may be unavailable on some installations. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
No simple reference.

Connections
Get information about NetworkManager's connections.

COMMAND := { list | status | up | down | delete }


List configured connections. Without a parameter, all connections are listed. In order to get connection details, id with connection's name or uuid with connection's UUID shall be specified. When no command is given to the con object, the default action is 'nmcli con list'. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
No simple reference.

Print status of active connections. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
No simple reference.

Activate a connection. The connection is identified by its name using id or UUID using uuid. When requiring a particular device to activate the connection on, the iface option with interface name should be given. In case of a VPN connection, the iface option specify the device of the base connection. The ap option specify what particular AP should be used in case of a Wi‐Fi connection.

Available options are:

– interface that will be used for activation
– BSSID of the AP which the command should connect to (for Wi‐Fi connections)
– NSP (Network Service Provider) which the command should connect to (for WiMAX connections)
– exit immediately without waiting for command completion
– how long to wait for command completion (default is 90 s)

Reference to D‐Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method:    ActivateConnection
arguments: according to arguments


Deactivate a connection. The connection is identified by its name using id or UUID using uuid. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method:    DeactivateConnection
arguments: according to arguments

Delete a configured connection. The connection to delete is specified with id (connection name) or uuid (connection UUID). 
Reference to D‐Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Settings.Connection
method:    Delete
arguments: none

Devices
Get information about devices.

COMMAND := { status | list | disconnect | wifi }


Print status of devices. This is the default action, when no command is specified to dev object. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
No simple reference.

Get detailed information about devices. Without an argument, all devices are examined. To get information for a specific device, the iface argument with the interface name should be provided. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
No simple reference.

Disconnect a device and prevent the device from automatically activating further connections without user/manual intervention.

Available options are:

– exit immediately without waiting for command completion
– how long to wait for command completion (default is 10 s)

Reference to D‐Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Device
method:    Disconnect
arguments: none

List available Wi‐Fi access points. The iface and bssid options can be used to list APs for a particular interface or with a specific BSSID, respectively. 
Reference to D‐Bus:
No simple reference.

Connect to a Wi‐Fi network specified by SSID or BSSID. The command creates a new connection and then activates it on a device. This is a command‐line counterpart of clicking an SSID in a GUI client. The command always creates a new connection and thus it is mainly useful for connecting to new Wi‐Fi networks. If a connection for the network already exists, it's better to connect through it using nmcli con up id <name>. Note that only open, WEP and WPA‐PSK networks are supported at the moment. It is also supposed that IP configuration is obtained via DHCP.

Available options are:

– password for secured networks (WEP or WPA)
– type of WEP secret, either key for ASCII/HEX key or phrase for passphrase
– interface that will be used for activation
– if specified, the created connection will be restricted just for the BSSID
– if specified, the connection will use the name (else NM creates a name itself)
– the connection will only be visible to the user who created it (else the connection is system‐wide)
– exit immediately without waiting for command completion
– how long to wait for command completion (default is 90 s)

Reference to D‐Bus:
interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
method:    AddAndActivateConnection
arguments: according to arguments

nmcli's behavior is affected by the following environment variables.

If set to a non‐empty string value, it overrides the values of all the other internationalization variables.
Determines the locale to be used for internationalized messages.
Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or null.


Internationalization notes:
Be aware that nmcli is localized and that's why the output depends on your environment. This is important to realize especially when you parse the output.
Call nmcli as LC_ALL=C nmcli to be sure the locale is set to "C" while executing in a script.

LC_ALL, LC_MESSAGES, LANG variables specify the LC_MESSAGES locale category (in that order), which determines the language that nmcli uses for messages. The "C" locale is used if none of these variables are set, and this locale uses English messages.

nmcli exits with status 0 if it succeeds, a value greater than 0 is returned if an error occurs.

0
Success – indicates the operation succeeded
1
Unknown or unspecified error
2
Invalid user input, wrong nmcli invocation
3
Timeout expired (see commands with --timeout option)
4
Connection activation failed
5
Connection deactivation failed
6
Disconnecting device failed
7
Connection deletion failed
8
NetworkManager is not running
9
nmcli and NetworkManager versions mismatch

tells you whether NetworkManager is running or not.

shows the overall status of NetworkManager.

switches Wi‐Fi off.

lists all connections NetworkManager has.

lists all connections' names and their autoconnect settings.

lists all details of the connection with "My wired connection" name.

activates the connection with name "My wired connection" on interface eth0. The -p option makes nmcli show progress of the activation.

connects the Wi‐Fi connection with UUID 6b028a27-6dc9-4411-9886-e9ad1dd43761 to the AP with BSSID 00:3A:98:7C:42:D3.

shows the status for all devices.

disconnects a connection on interface em2 and marks the device as unavailable for auto‐connecting. That's why no connection will automatically be activated on the device until the device's "autoconnect" is set to TRUE or user manually activates a connection.

lists details for wlan0 interface; only GENERAL and WIFI-PROPERTIES sections will be shown.

lists available Wi‐Fi access points known to NetworkManager.

creates a new connection named "My cafe" and then connects it to "Cafe Hotspot 1" SSID using "caffeine" password. This is mainly useful when connecting to "Cafe Hotspot 1" for the first time. Next time, it is better to use 'nmcli con up id "My cafe"' so that the existing connection profile can be used and no additional is created.

There are probably some bugs. If you find a bug, please report it to https://bugzilla.gnome.org/ — product NetworkManager.

nm-tool(1), nm-online(1), NetworkManager(8), nm-settings(5), nm pplet(1), nm-connection-editor(1).