[pkg-wpa-devel] cleaning up our suggested modes of use

[Marc Haber]

On Wed, Aug 02, 2006 at 09:36:45PM +1000, Kel Modderman wrote:
> On Wednesday 02 August 2006 21:13, Marc Haber wrote:
> > On Sat, Jul 22, 2006 at 11:22:57AM +1000, Kel Modderman wrote:
> > > Development of the "new order" wpasupplicant seems to be stabilising,
> > > and I see now two clear modes of operation, and would like to propose a
> > > clean up; consolidate documentation and code support for (IMO) the two
> > > preferred modes of operation.
> > >
> > >   1. managed mode, all WPA settings given via the interfaces stanza for
> > >      any given network interface
> > >   2. roaming mode via wpa-roam/wpa_action: requires user supplied or
> > >      hand crafted wpa_supplicant.conf, and supports multiple locations
> > >      and network profiles
> >
> > So the people who have moved from wpa_supplicant.conf to
> > /etc/network/interfaces a few releases ago when wpa_supplicant.conf
> > was deprecated are now asked to migrate back?
> 
> No, absolutely not.

How can I have roaming without wpa_supplicant.conf?

> > >    * hand crafted action scripts, their documentation, examples and
> > >      support in ifupdown.sh in the form of conf_wpa_cli() (and some
> > >      variable names) should disappear. I would like to _completely_
> > >      purge this stuff. These are not really a good solution for anybody
> > >      and they have been condemned before [1]. They are hackish and I
> > >      really dislike conf_wpa_cli() and WPA_CLI_ACTFILE. This would help
> > >      clean up a congested NEWS.Debian file too.
> >
> > How are the WPA settings from /e/n/i then moved to the wpa_supplicant
> > code? Or doesn't /etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wpasupplicant count as "hand
> > crafted"?
> 
> I am referring to the example action scripts only:
> 
> /usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/examples/wpacli-action-dhclient
> /usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/examples/wpacli-action-skeleton
> 
> When you look back at the backlash from the major package transition earlier 
> this year, these action scripts were not widely accepted. I hinted to that in 
> last mail, iirc. wpa_action is a completely functional and maintainable 
> approach that make keeping these examples around a waste of time.

Ok, thanks, understood.

> > Is roaming mode via wpa-roam/wpa_action available in Debian unstable
> > now? Where can I find docs about how to use it?
> 
> Yes, it is available since 0.5.3+20060522-1. It is documented in wpa_action(8) 
> manpage.
> 
> I've worked _very_ hard on this. I noticed confusion about howto use it, just 
> like you express now, that has motivated me to write more about its usage. 
> Please see:
> 
> http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/pkg-wpa/trunk/wpasupplicant/debian/README.modes?op=file&rev=0&sc=0

In the "How it works" chapter, it shuold be mentioned that the magic
is hidden in a ifupdown action script,
/etc/network/if-pre-up.d/wpasupplicant.

"Notes about managed mode" has a typo, "automattically".

What is the /usr/sbin/foo --bar mentioned in the /e/n/i chapter?

In "Controlling the Roaming Daemon with wpa_action" it is said that
ifupdown shouldn't be called manually. Is it possible to associate a
eth1 "down" action with wpa_action eth1 stop so that the entire
interface can be cleanly taken down with ifdown eth1 as it would be
for a wired ethernet?

whereami is not used at all, in difference to what siretart has
written in this thread.

Otherwise, the document is simply great. It explains the
interrelationship of the modules and different packages nicely and is
very good work, which I really appreciate.

Greetings
Marc

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