Tribblix: manual page: nwamd.8

NWAMD(8) Maintenance Commands and Procedures NWAMD(8)

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 installation
medium. To check from within the GNOME desktop environment, double
click on the "Network Manager" icon to open the "Connection
Properties" window. If "Configure network automatically" is checked,
then auto-magic mode is enabled. To check from the command line,
enter the following:

% svcs svc:/network/physical

Two instances will be listed, one online and the other disabled. 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 desktop environment. You
can also switch manually from the command 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

When switching modes like this, keep in mind that all network
interfaces will be brought down then back up. Therefore, if a
different IP address is configured in this process, existing
applications and sessions might be disrupted.

There is a limitation that only one link is active at a time in auto-
magic mode. This mode is not recommended for machines that use more
than one link at a time. For machines with wired and wireless links,
wired link are preferred by default, although this can be adjusted
from the GNOME NWAM Manager menu (right-click on the icon), or from
the command line, by editing the plain text file /etc/nwam/llp. For
the latter (hand-editing) procedure, the first instance of a link in
/etc/nwam/llp sets the priority of that link. Subsequent instances
of that link set parameters associated with the interface on that
link.

The /etc/nwam/llp interface is volatile and might change in a future
release.

Static IP Addresses

A static IP address can be configured by changing the line in the
/etc/nwam/llp file that contains an interface name and the name of
the method for obtaining an IP address. It might look like:

nge0 dhcp

Change this line to one that looks like:

nge0 static I1.I2.I3.I4/P

...where the I's are the digits of the IPv4 address and the P is an
optional prefix. If the prefix is not provided, it is derived, using
classful assumptions.

Configuring IPv6
IPv6 is configured by default on a link. It can also be explicitly
added in the /etc/nwam/llp file by providing a line that contains an
interface name and the string ipv6. It might look like:

nge0 ipv6

If IPv6 should not be plumbed on a given link, a noipv6 entry should
be created in the /etc/nwam/llp file for that link. It might look
like:

nge0 noipv6

An optional static IPv6 address can be provided on the same line,
immediately after the ipv6 token. Whether you provide a static
address or not, IPv6 will use DHCPv6 or stateless address
configuration, as directed by the local network configuration.

PROFILES

All interfaces listed in this section are volatile and may change in
a future release. They are documented here so that those wishing to
experiment with this may do so.

Profiles are a mechanism for making multiple related changes to the
system configuration after IP service is available.

There is no direct support for the profiles yet, but a "roll your
own" mechanism is provided for now. Once an interface is brought up
and an IP address is configured for it, the daemon looks for the file
/etc/nwam/ulp/check-conditions. If this file exists and is
executable, it is run. This should print a single line of output,
which is the name of the profile that the user wishes to activate
based on the current conditions. If such a line is read successfully
(foo in this example), then /etc/nwam/ulp/foo/bringup is executed.
Likewise, when the interface gets torn down for whatever reason,
/etc/nwam/ulp/foo/teardown is executed. The "bringup" and "teardown"
scripts are invoked via pfexec(1) with default basic privileges.
Samples for each of these scripts can be found at:

o http://opensolaris.org/os/project/nwam/prototype/check-
conditions

o http://opensolaris.org/os/project/nwam/prototype/bringup

o http://opensolaris.org/os/project/nwam/prototype/teardown

Wireless

If no wired link is available, a scan for wireless LANs is done, and
the resulting list offered via a GUI popup window prompts the console
user to select a preference. If a successful connection is made, the
WLAN in question is stored in the plain text file
/etc/nwam/known_wifi_nets and the daemon may connect to any WLAN in
that list without prompting the user again. If a user wishes to add
other preferences or revoke existing ones, he can do so by bringing
up the NWAM Manager menu with right-click on the icon, and then
selecting "Manage Favorite Wireless Networks...". A user can also
edit the known_wifi_nets file directly. This interface is volatile
and might change in a future release.

ATTRIBUTES

NOTES

The networking service is managed by the service management facility,
smf(7), under the service identifier:

svc:/network/physical

Administrative actions on this service, such as enabling, disabling,
or requesting restart, can be performed using svcadm(8). The
service's status can be queried using the svcs(1) command.

November 24, 2008 NWAMD(8)