Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man nwamd

System Administration Commands                          nwamd(1M)



NAME
     nwamd - network auto-magic daemon

SYNOPSIS
     /lib/inet/nwamd


DESCRIPTION
     nwamd is a system daemon to manage network interfaces.


     This daemon is  started  automatically  and  should  not  be
     invoked  directly.  It  does  not  constitute  a programming
     interface.

  Operation
     Whether this daemon is enabled or not depends on  your  ins-
     tallation  medium.  To  check  from within the GNOME desktop
     environment, double click on the "Network Manager"  icon  to
     open  the "Connection Properties" window. If "Configure net-
     work automatically" is  checked,  then  auto-magic  mode  is
     enabled.  To  check from the command line, enter the follow-
     ing:

       % svcs svc:/network/physical




     Two instances will be listed, one online and the other  dis-
     abled. If the "nwam" instance is online, then this daemon is
     running.


     To switch between manual and auto-magic mode,  you  can  use
     the  Network Monitor applet available within the GNOME desk-
     top environment. You can also switch manually from the  com-
     mand line by entering:

       % svcadm disable svc:/network/physical:default
       % svcadm enable svc:/network/physical:nwam




     To go from auto-magic mode to manual mode:

       % svcadm disable svc:/network/physical:nwam
       % svcadm enable svc:/network/physical:default






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System Administration Commands                          nwamd(1M)



     When switching modes like this, keep in mind that  all  net-
     work  interfaces  will  be brought down then back up. There-
     fore, if a different IP address is configured in  this  pro-
     cess, existing applications and sessions might be disrupted.


     The default configuration policy is to have one link  active
     at a time. If a wired link is available (that is, physically
     connected), it will be preferred over wireless  links.  This
     default  policy can be changed by creating alternate Network
     Configuration Profiles (NCPs); the nwam-manager GUI tool  or
     the  nwamcfg(1M)  command  can  be used to create and modify
     NCPs.


     If you used an earlier version of nwamd,  which  created  an
     /etc/nwam/llp  configuration  file, configuration present in
     that file will automatically be incorporated into the "User"
     NCP upon upgrade to the current version of nwamd.


     The automatic behavior provided by the NWAM service requires
     that  management of the network configuration be handed over
     to nwamd. Thus, any manual changes to the network configura-
     tion might be lost if conditions change such that a new pro-
     file is activated, or if nwamd is restarted.  If  persistent
     changes  are  desired, the recommended approach is to create
     an External Network Modifier (ENM), which can  be  activated
     and deactivated as needed by the NWAM service.

  Service Properties
     The following list takes the form:

     property_name property_type default_value

         description


     debug boolean false

         Enables debug logging using daemon.debug.


     version count 1

         Indicates whether legacy configuration has been imported
         and  updated  to  the current version. The property does
         not exist until a pre-version-1 configuration  has  been
         updated,  at  which time it is created with value set to
         1.





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System Administration Commands                          nwamd(1M)



     autoconf boolean false

         Indicates  whether  open  WLANs  should   be   connected
         automatically,  in  the  absence  of a better (more pre-
         ferred) choice.


     ncu_wait_time count 60

         The  number  of  seconds  to  wait  for   an   NCU   (or
         link/interface  NCU  pair,  as  appropriate)  to come up
         before  trying  the  next  available  NCU.  The  bringup
         activity  will  not  be  cancelled,  and  may eventually
         succeed, at which time the more preferred  NCU  will  be
         activated and the alternate might be disabled, depending
         on the specified  configuration conditions.


     condition_check_interval count 120

         The number of seconds between periodic condition  checks
         for conditionally activated objects. Minimum value is 30
         seconds.


     scan_interval count 120

         The number of seconds between periodic wireless scans.


     scan_level astring weak

         A signal strength threshold; if the currently  connected
         AP drops below this signal level, and equivalent APs (of
         the same ESSID) are available at higher signal strength,
         the  existing  connection  will be dropped in favor of a
         connection to an AP with stronger signal.


     strict_bssid boolean false

         If true, both ESSID and BSSID must be matched  in  order
         to  connect  to  a  previously connected WLAN. If false,
         only an ESSID match is required.


     active_ncp astring Automatic

         The currently active NCP. This property  should  not  be
         set  by the user; it is used internally by the NWAM ser-
         vice for persistence across  restarts.  The  appropriate
         user  interface to change the currently active NCP is by



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System Administration Commands                          nwamd(1M)



         means of the nwam-manager GUI or the  nwamadm  command's
         enable subcommand.


  Profiles
     The NWAM service manages network  configuration  by  storing
     desired  property  values  in  profiles.  It then determines
     which profile should be active at a given time, depending on
     current  network  conditions, and activates that profile. In
     addition to the Network Configuration Profiles  (NCPs)  dis-
     cussed  in the previous section, nwamd also manages Location
     and ENM profiles.

  Network Configuration Profiles (NCPs)
     An NCP specifies the configuration of the local network com-
     ponents,  including  physical links, IP tunnel links, and IP
     interfaces. An IP  interface  must  be  associated  with  an
     underlying link of either type. These components are collec-
     tively referred to as Network Configuration Units, or NCUs.


     There can be any number of NCPs configured on a system.  The
     Automatic NCP is created and managed by nwamd, and cannot be
     modified by the user. This NCP consists of one link NCU  and
     one interface NCU for each physical link present in the sys-
     tem. As links are added or removed from  the  system,  their
     corresponding  NCUs  will  be  added  or  removed  from  the
     Automatic NCP. The policy implemented  in  this  NCP  is  to
     prefer  wired  links  over  wireless, and to plumb IP on all
     connected wired links, or one  wireless  link  if  no  wired
     links are connected.


     The system will also create a User NCP upon upgrade from  an
     earlier version of the NWAM service, based on the configura-
     tion found in the old /etc/nwam/llp file. In most cases, the
     Automatic  NCP  will be active initially, even if a User NCP
     is created. However, if explicit changes, such as  a  static
     IP  address, are detected in the old configuration, the User
     NCP will be active initially.


     Finally, the user can create any number of additional  NCPs.
     These  NCPs  are  managed entirely by the user; NCUs must be
     added or removed explicitly, and it is possible to add  NCUs
     that  do not map to any link currently installed in the sys-
     tem, or to remove NCUs that do map to a link present in  the
     system. The user can determine the policy for these NCPs.


     After making its initial NCP selection, the system will  not
     change  the  active  NCP.  The  user may do this at any time



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System Administration Commands                          nwamd(1M)



     using the GUI or the nwamadm(1M) command.

  Locations
     A  Location  specifies  system-wide  network  configuration,
     including  areas  such  as name services, domain, IP Filter,
     and IPsec configuration.

  External Network Modifiers (ENMs)
     External Network Modifiers are, as the name suggests, appli-
     cations  external to the NWAM service that can modify and/or
     create network configuration. nwamd will activate/deactivate
     an ENM depending on conditions that are specified as part of
     the ENM profile. Alternatively, the  user  might  choose  to
     manually activate/deactivate ENMs as needed.

ATTRIBUTES
     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:



     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | SUNWcsr                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Interface Stability         | Volatile                    |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|


SEE ALSO
     svcs(1), netcfgd(1M), nwamadm(1M), nwamcfg(1M),  svcadm(1M),
     attributes(5), smf(5)


     See also nwam-manager(1M), available in  the  JDS/GNOME  man
     page collection.

NOTES
     The networking service is managed by the service  management
     facility, smf(5), under the service identifier:

       svc:/network/physical




     Administrative actions on this service,  such  as  enabling,
     disabling,  or  requesting  restart,  can be performed using
     svcadm(1M). The service's status can be  queried  using  the
     svcs(1) command.




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