README-wifi-iwctl(iwd).md

iwd (iNet wireless daemon) is a modern console utility for managing Wi-Fi on Linux, which can work as an alternative to wpa_supplicant. To connect to Wi-Fi using iwd, you need to follow several steps to connect to Wi-Fi from the Arch boot ISO where NetworkManager is not available.

Steps to connect to Wi-Fi through iwd:

1. Starting the iwd service:

   First, make sure that the iwd service is running:

   sudo systemctl start iwd

   If you want the service to start automatically at boot, activate it:

   sudo systemctl enable iwd

2. Starting the iwctl utility:

   To connect to Wi-Fi, use the iwctl utility, which comes with iwd. Start it:

   sudo iwctl

   Inside this interface, you will enter commands to manage Wi-Fi connections.

3. Checking available interfaces:

   To see the list of wireless interfaces, run the command:

   device list

   You will see a list of available interfaces. This will usually be something like wlan0.

4. Scanning for available networks:

   Now you can scan for available Wi-Fi networks:

   station wlan0 scan

   (Replace wlan0 with the name of your interface if it's different).

5. Viewing available networks:

   After scanning, you can see a list of available networks:

   station wlan0 get-networks

6. Connecting to a network:

   To connect to a network, run the command:

   station wlan0 connect <SSID>

   Replace <SSID> with the name of the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to. If the network is password-protected, you will be prompted to enter the password.

7. Checking the connection:

   After connecting, you can check the status of your connection:

   station wlan0 show

   If everything went well, you will see information about the connection.

8. Exiting iwctl:

   To exit the iwctl utility, simply run:

   exit

Configuring IP using dhclient (if NetworkManager or systemd-networkd is not used):

If NetworkManager or systemd-networkd are not managing network connections, you may need to manually request an IP address via DHCP:

sudo dhclient wlan0

After this, an IP address should be assigned.

Additional commands:

• Disconnecting from a network:

  If you want to disconnect from the current network, use:

  station wlan0 disconnect

• Viewing current connections:

  Command to view the status:

  station wlan0 show

Installing iwd (if not installed):

If iwd is not installed, it can be installed via pacman:

sudo pacman -S iwd

Summary:

1. Start iwd and the iwctl utility.
2. Use iwctl to scan for available networks and connect.
3. Enter the password if the network is protected.
4. Check the connection using station wlan0 show.

This way, you can connect to Wi-Fi from the console using iwd.