On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 18:48:44 +0100
Edward Bartolo <edbarx@???> wrote:

> I would like to humbly add my little contribution to this thread.
>
> I am posting using Devuan 64 bit connected to a home WIFI without any
> network managers. I connect by using separate /etc/network/interfaces
> files. The one for my home wifi is in /etc/network/interfaces while
> the rest are saved under my home directory.
>
> To connect, I use the command as root:
> ifup wlan0 -i an-interfaces-file

I, too, am a big fan of command based network connections rather than
data based. My only question is this: What is life like when you walk
from Macdonalds to Burger King and change hotspots?

I think for the travelling guy, there must be a quick facility to see
available hotspots with their strengths and security status, choose
one, input a password if that ESSID hasn't been encountered already,
and log in.

What was in your "an-interfaces-file"? (obviously change the
passwords). Did you use wpa-supplicant at all?


[snip]

> My point is, what I do manually, can be done through code resulting in
> a simple application. The advantage I see is, it would be standalone.

Pre-cisely!

> I am tempted to create this application to automate my connection, but
> most probably, as I am more prolific in Delphi Pascal, the language of
> choice will be Lazarus Pascal. I can write C++ GUI applications but
> that requires more effort on my part. As long as logic programming in
> C/C++ that is on the same level if not easier.

Show me the way you do it manually, and I'll make something into which
you can plug in your Lazarus front end. Somebody else can plug in their
Dialog front end.

>
> The hardest part seem to be allowing the ifup command to run with root
> privileges.

Well, if the user doesn't mind having sudo with a sudoers file, easiest
way to do that is to allow sudo nopassword. Is there a non-root group
that would allow ifup to do its thing?

What does your ifup command look like, and what does the
"an-interfaces-file" look like? Does one interfaces file contain lots
of ESSIDs, or one ESSID per interface file? What do you do about making
the password secure from prying, non-root eyes? As far as you know, do
you use wpa_supplicant in any way?

Thanks,

SteveT

Steve Litt
August 2015 featured book: Troubleshooting: Just the Facts
http://www.troubleshooters.com/tjust