Wireless Tools-29
Introduction to Wireless Tools
The Wireless Extension (WE) is a generic API in the Linux kernel allowing
a driver to expose configuration and statistics specific to common
Wireless LANs to userspace. A single set of tools can support all the
variations of Wireless LANs, regardless of their type, as long as the
driver supports Wireless Extensions. WE parameters may also be changed on
the fly without restarting the driver (or Linux).
The Wireless Tools (WT) package is a set
of tools allowing manipulation of the Wireless Extensions. They use a
textual interface to support the full Wireless Extension.
This package is known to build and work properly
using an LFS 11.3 platform.
Package Information
Additional Downloads
User Notes:
https://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/WirelessTools
Kernel Configuration
To use Wireless Tools, the kernel must have
the appropriate drivers and other support available. The appropriate bus
must also be available. For many laptops, the PCMCIA bus (CONFIG_PCCARD)
needs to be built. In some cases, this bus support will also need to be
built for embedded wireless cards. The appropriate bridge support also
needs to be built. For many modern laptops, the CardBus host bridge
(CONFIG_YENTA) will be needed.
In addition to the bus, the actual driver for the specific wireless card
must also be available. There are many wireless cards and they don't
all work with Linux. The first place to look for card support is the
kernel. The drivers are located in Device Drivers → Network Device
Support → Wireless LAN (non-hamradio). There are also external
drivers available for some very common cards. For more information,
look at the user notes.
After the correct drivers are loaded, the interface will
appear in /proc/net/wireless.
Installation of Wireless Tools
First, apply a patch that fixes a problem when numerous
networks are available:
patch -Np1 -i ../wireless_tools-29-fix_iwlist_scanning-1.patch
To install Wireless Tools,
use the following commands:
make
This package does not come with a test suite.
Now, as the root user:
make PREFIX=/usr INSTALL_MAN=/usr/share/man install
Command Explanations
INSTALL_MAN=/usr/share/man: Install manual pages
in /usr/share/man instead of
/usr/man.
Contents
Installed Programs: ifrename, iwconfig, iwevent, iwgetid, iwlist, iwpriv,
and iwspy
Installed Library: libiw.so
Installed Directories: None
Short Descriptions
ifrename |
renames network interfaces based on various static criteria
|
iwconfig |
configures a wireless network interface
|
iwevent |
displays wireless events generated by drivers and setting changes
|
iwgetid |
reports ESSID, NWID or AP/Cell Address of wireless networks
|
iwlist |
gets detailed wireless information from a wireless interface
|
iwpriv |
configures optional (private) parameters of a wireless network
interface
|
iwspy |
gets wireless statistics from specific node
|
libiw.so
|
contains functions required by the wireless programs and
provides an API for other programs
|