2022-05-18 01:31:12 +00:00
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---
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layout: post
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title: "Connecting to University of Cincinnati's Securewireless with netctl"
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2022-05-18 02:21:33 +00:00
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slug: uc-netctl
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2022-05-18 01:31:12 +00:00
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date: 2015-01-13 17:14:00
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categories: linux
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---
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If you've set-up an Arch Linux installation, and you've used `wifi-menu` then
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you've used [netctl][netctl] before and didn't even know it. `netctl` is
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> ... a CLI-based tool used to configure and manage network connections via
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> profiles. It is a native Arch Linux project for network configuration.
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I used to think that the `wifi-menu` dialouge was a cute little installer helper
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program, but I learned later, that it can be used to automatically generate
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profiles in `/etc/netctl` that you can subsequently use to reconnect to network
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later with
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```bash
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# netctl start INTERFACE-SSID
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```
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... where *INTERFACE* is the name of your wireless interface device (see below)
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and *SSID* is the "name" of the network.
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I was a little disappointed (but not too shocked) when `wifi-menu` failed to
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connect to the University of Cincinnati's `Securewireless` network. This short
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guide will discuss the steps needed to connect to `Securewireless` using
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`netctl`, and discuss why these extra steps are needed.
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<!--more-->
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**Connect to Securewireless — _tl;dr_**
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Create and edit the file `/etc/netctl/INTERFACE-Securewireless` as root (using
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`sudo`). Note that _INTERFACE_ should be the name of your wireless interface.
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Use `ip link` to find out what it is. While the interface prefix is not
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mandatory, it does help you stay organized, `wifi-menu` adds it by default, and
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you'll need it below.
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```
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Connection='wireless'
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Interface=INTERFACE
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Security='wpa-configsection'
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Description="UC eduroam-like network"
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IP='dhcp'
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TimeoutWPA=30
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WPAConfigSection=(
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'ssid="Securewireless"'
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'key_mgmt=WPA-EAP'
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'identity="UC_USER_NAME"'
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'password="UC_CENTRAL_LOGIN_PASSWORD"'
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)
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```
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Where *`INTERFACE`* is your wireless interface as described above,
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*`UC_USER_NAME`* is your 6+2 user name without the domain suffix (e.g. smithbb1
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**not** smithbb1@mail.uc.edu), and *`UC_CENTRAL_LOGIN_PASSWORD`* is the central
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login password that you use for all of your UC services. (Leave in the quotes
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around the actual username and password.)
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**Details**
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The magic is in the `wpa-configsection`/`WPAConfigSection`. This allows you to
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step outside of simple WEP/WPA/WPA2 shared passphrase paradigm and set the
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security stack exactly how you need as if you were setting up `wpa_supplicant`
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by hand. There's a lot you can do here, like connect to an [eduroam][eduroam]
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network or use another pre-agreed upon security certificate, but UC's setup is
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pretty simple. If you need to see all of the settings you can put in the
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WPAConfigSection, see the manual page for `wpa_supplicant` or look at a [sample
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wpa_supplicant.conf][wpa_supplicant example].
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University of Cincinnati uses WPA Enterprise much like other universities.
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According to [UC's IT Handbook (last page)][uc_it_handbook](pdf), `Securewireless`
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uses:
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* WPA2 Enterprise Security
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* Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP)
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* No enterprise security certificate
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Through trial and error, I found the simplest `WPAConfigSection` needed to
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successfully connect. `ssid` is set to `Securewireless`, the name of UC's
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network. `key_mgmt=WPA-EAP` tells the WPA supplicant to use and `identity` and
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`password` through (Protected) Extensible Authentication Protocol to connect to
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the network.
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I hope that this either helps you connect to `Securewireless` at UC or points
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you in the right direction for creating a profile to connect to your WPA
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Enterprise network at your school/work.
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[netctl]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/netctl
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[eduroam]: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/WPA2_Enterprise#netctl
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[wpa_supplicant example]: http://w1.fi/cgit/hostap/plain/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
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[uc_it_handbook]: http://ucdirectory.uc.edu/studentplanner/ITHandbook.pdf
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