How to enable WPA on Kubuntu

This page contains excerpts from the more general parent wiki ["WifiDocs/WPAHowTo"].

The purpose of this wiki is to clarify the procedure of getting WPA to work on Kubuntu. The parent wiki is hard to read, and it is hard to know which parts pertain to KDE.

Note for the impatient

Go directly to the [#EasySteps Easy steps] section.

Other wikis of interest

• The original ["WifiDocs/WPAHowTo"] wiki that most of this stuff comes from.

• Special considerations for the [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/RalinkRT2500 RT2500 chipset] (I do not have one, so I did not test this).

External references

To further understand what is going on, these links might be useful.

• WPA explained on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access Wikipedia].

• [http://hostap.epitest.fi/wpa_supplicant/ wpa_supplicant] website.

• [http://www.gnome.org/projects/NetworkManager/ NetworkManager] site on Verbatim(Gnome.org).

• The Verbatim(KNetworkManager) docs on [http://en.opensuse.org/Projects/KNetworkManager OpenSuse] webpages (thanks Verbatim(Novell)).

Forgetting to state the obvious

I'll include some basic information for inexperienced Linux users here. Please bear with me, or skip directly to the [#EasySteps Easy steps] section below.

You need a working Internet connection

To be able to install packages you will need a working Internet connection. Most laptops (mine at least) does not have problem with the wired LAN card, and this will be your best option for installing the required packages. Please also note that Verbatim(KNetworkManager) only enables one interface at a time. I do not quite understand why this should be so. Maybe future versions will support multiple interfaces and routing.

Explanations of the instructions

When I write

$ chmod u+x somefile

this means that chmod is a command to be entered on a command prompt. Such a prompt is readily supplied by terminal emulators, i.e. Konsole. The action of the command issued can be investigated by issuing

$ man chmod

and reading the manual for the command. To become adept in using the man tool, issue

$ man man

Anchor(EasySteps)

Easy steps to get WPA to work on Kubuntu

These are the steps needed to get WPA up and running on Kubuntu.

1. Check to see if your card is supported by [http://hostap.epitest.fi/wpa_supplicant/ wpa_supplicant]. If your card is not supported, I guess you are out of luck for now.

2. Download the packages needed; knetworkmanager, network-manager and wpasupplicant. Personally I prefer aptitude, but please use the package manager of your choice (e.g. Adept). If you use aptitude, enter this command, supplying your own password at the password prompt:

   $ sudo aptitude install knetworkmanager network-manager wpasupplicant 

   Technically knetworkmanager should drag in wpasupplicant and network-manager, but no harm done to specify them explicitly.

3. Reboot the computer.

   Might work without rebooting, but better safe than sorry.

4. Log in to KDE and start Verbatim(KNetworkManager) from the Internet menu.

5. There should now be a tray icon for Verbatim(KNetworkManager) in the system tray. Click on it and select the appropriate network, or specify a network with the Connect to Other Wireless Network ...

6. Specify the passphrase and other details for your network.

That's all there is to it.

Final remarks

Here are som remarks for tuning the system.

Remembering passphrases

If Verbatim(KWalletManager) is configured, Verbatim(KNetworkManager) should use this to remember passphrases. Check [http://en.opensuse.org/Projects/KNetworkManager#How_can_I_store_passphrases_associated_with_encrypted_wireless_networks.3F this link] for further information.

Workaround for automatic startup

I could not get the manager to work after system reboot. This might be because I tried to start knetworkmanager as root the first time round. Don't know. My manager does not show any NICs when started by the session manager. Anyhow, there is no need to run knetworkmanager as root, as it is only a frontend to a daemon doing the actual network setup.

On the Dell Inspirion 510m laptop I am doing the testing this hack is suffiscient to get the manager to work across reboots.

1. Start System Settings from the K menu.

2. Click Advanced in the upper left corner of the window.

3. Click Session manager.

4. Add knetworkmanager to the comma-separated list of applications to exclude from the session management (in the bottom of the window), and click Apply.

5. Create a file in the ~/.kde/Autostart folder named knetworkmanager.

6. Enter this into the file:

   # Adding a short wait cycle prior to starting KNetworkManager
   # Legger til en lilten pause før jeg starter KNetworkManager
   sleep 10
   
   # Start manager
   # Starte manager
   knetworkmanager

   The two preceding steps can be combined into one by starting Verbatim(Konsole Terminal Emulator) from the K -> System menu, issuing the command nano ~/.kde/Autostart/knetworkmanager, cutting and pasting the above text into the editor window and pressing the key sequence [Ctrl] + x, and then pressing the [ENTER] key.

7. Make the file executable:

   $ chmod u+x ~/.kde/Autostart/knetworkmanager

This should do the trick. Not sure wether to file this as a bug, I need more info from others on wether this is a widespread issue. Please add a few lines about your experience ...

After a bit of fiddling I found that Verbatim(KNetworkManager) worked properly even with the sleep 10 removed. This might be different for your system, so I'll leave it in there.

Also note that any tools dependent on the network to be up, like adept_notify and klamav (KDE frontend to clamav) will not work properly until after the wireless network has settled. I could not get this to work. Possibly Verbatim(KNetworkManager) needs to be integrated in the network services of KDE for this to work properly ...

CategoryNetworking CategoryLaptop