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Version: 5.0.1 (in Debian 10)
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Short description:
The manual page and help for the iw linux command. The iw command is a modern tool in Linux systems that can be used to configure and manage wireless network devices. This tool is particularly useful for querying the status and settings of wireless interfaces such as WiFi adapters.
The main functions of iw are:
- List of interfaces: You can view the list of available wireless interfaces by issuing the iw dev command. This information includes the name and type of the interface, as well as the data of any connected networks.
- Search for wireless networks: Using the iw dev [interface name] scan command, we can search for nearby wireless networks. This command provides detailed information about networks, such as SSID, signal strength, and security protocols used.
- Network connection: To connect to the wireless network, we can use the iw dev [interface name] connect [SSID] command. If necessary, we can also provide the access key to connect.
- Setting network parameters: The iw command allows you to set various network parameters, such as frequency or network mode.
- Statistics and Diagnostics: With iw, the statistics of the wireless interface can be queried, which can be useful for debugging or optimizing network performance.
Other information:
- The iw command can only be used if the wireless adapters in the system support the cfg80211 and mac80211 frameworks.
- The availability of certain settings and functions depends on the capabilities of the wireless device and the version of the kernel running on the system.
- For security reasons, running certain iw commands may require administrative privileges (sudo).
Man page output
man iw
IW(8) Linux IW(8) NAME iw - show / manipulate wireless devices and their configuration SYNOPSIS iw [ OPTIONS ] { help [ command ] | OBJECT COMMAND } OBJECT := { dev | phy | reg } OPTIONS := { --version | --debug } OPTIONS --version print version information and exit. --debug enable netlink message debugging. IW - COMMAND SYNTAX OBJECT dev <interface name> - network interface. phy <phy name> - wireless hardware device (by name). phy#<phy index> - wireless hardware device (by index). reg - regulatory agent. COMMAND Specifies the action to perform on the object. The set of possible actions depends on the object type. iw help will print all supported commands, while iw help command will print the help for all matching commands. SEE ALSO ip(8), crda(8), regdbdump(8), regulatory.bin(5) http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Documentation/iw iw 7 June 2012 IW(8)
Help output
sudo iw --help
Usage: iw [options] command Options: --debug enable netlink debugging --version show version (5.0.1) Commands: help [command] Print usage for all or a specific command, e.g. "help wowlan" or "help wowlan enable". event [-t|-r] [-f] Monitor events from the kernel. -t - print timestamp -r - print relative timstamp -f - print full frame for auth/assoc etc. features commands list all known commands and their decimal & hex value phy list List all wireless devices and their capabilities. phy <phyname> info Show capabilities for the specified wireless device. dev <devname> cac channel <channel> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] dev <devname> cac freq <freq> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] dev <devname> cac freq <control freq> [5|10|20|40|80|80+80|160] [<center1_freq> [<center2_freq>]] dev <devname> cac trigger channel <channel> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] dev <devname> cac trigger freq <frequency> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] dev <devname> cac trigger freq <frequency> [5|10|20|40|80|80+80|160] [<center1_freq> [<center2_freq>]] Start or trigger a channel availability check (CAC) looking to look for radars on the given channel. phy <phyname> channels Show available channels. dev <devname> switch channel <channel> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] [beacons <count>] [block-tx] dev <devname> switch freq <freq> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] [beacons <count>] [block-tx] dev <devname> switch freq <control freq> [5|10|20|40|80|80+80|160] [<center1_freq> [<center2_freq>]] [beacons <count>] [block-tx] Switch the operating channel by sending a channel switch announcement (CSA). dev List all network interfaces for wireless hardware. dev <devname> info Show information for this interface. dev <devname> del Remove this virtual interface dev <devname> interface add <name> type <type> [mesh_id <meshid>] [4addr on|off] [flags <flag>*] [addr <mac-addr>] phy <phyname> interface add <name> type <type> [mesh_id <meshid>] [4addr on|off] [flags <flag>*] [addr <mac-addr>] Add a new virtual interface with the given configuration. Valid interface types are: managed, ibss, monitor, mesh, wds. The flags are only used for monitor interfaces, valid flags are: none: no special flags fcsfail: show frames with FCS errors control: show control frames otherbss: show frames from other BSSes cook: use cooked mode active: use active mode (ACK incoming unicast packets) mumimo-groupid <GROUP_ID>: use MUMIMO according to a group id mumimo-follow-mac <MAC_ADDRESS>: use MUMIMO according to a MAC address The mesh_id is used only for mesh mode. dev <devname> ibss join <SSID> <freq in MHz> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] [fixed-freq] [<fixed bssid>] [beacon-interval <TU>] [basic-rates <rate in Mbps,rate2,...>] [mcast-rate <rate in Mbps>] [key d:0:abcde] Join the IBSS cell with the given SSID, if it doesn't exist create it on the given frequency. When fixed frequency is requested, don't join/create a cell on a different frequency. When a fixed BSSID is requested use that BSSID and do not adopt another cell's BSSID even if it has higher TSF and the same SSID. If an IBSS is created, create it with the specified basic-rates, multicast-rate and beacon-interval. dev <devname> ibss leave Leave the current IBSS cell. dev <devname> station dump [-v] List all stations known, e.g. the AP on managed interfaces dev <devname> station set <MAC address> mesh_power_mode <active|light|deep> Set link-specific mesh power mode for this station dev <devname> station set <MAC address> vlan <ifindex> Set an AP VLAN for this station. dev <devname> station set <MAC address> plink_action <open|block> Set mesh peer link action for this station (peer). dev <devname> station del <MAC address> [subtype <subtype>] [reason-code <code>] Remove the given station entry (use with caution!) Example subtype values: 0xA (disassociation), 0xC (deauthentication) dev <devname> station get <MAC address> Get information for a specific station. dev <devname> survey dump List all gathered channel survey data dev <devname> ocb leave Leave the OCB mode network. dev <devname> ocb join <freq in MHz> <5MHz|10MHz> Join the OCB mode network. dev <devname> mesh leave Leave a mesh. dev <devname> mesh join <mesh ID> [[freq <freq in MHz> <NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|80MHz>] [basic-rates <rate in Mbps,rate2,...>]], [mcast-rate <rate in Mbps>] [beacon-interval <time in TUs>] [dtim-period <value>] [vendor_sync on|off] [<param>=<value>]* Join a mesh with the given mesh ID with frequency, basic-rates, mcast-rate and mesh parameters. Basic-rates are applied only if frequency is provided. dev <devname> mpath dump List known mesh paths. dev <devname> mpath set <destination MAC address> next_hop <next hop MAC address> Set an existing mesh path's next hop. dev <devname> mpath new <destination MAC address> next_hop <next hop MAC address> Create a new mesh path (instead of relying on automatic discovery). dev <devname> mpath del <MAC address> Remove the mesh path to the given node. dev <devname> mpath get <MAC address> Get information on mesh path to the given node. dev <devname> mpp dump List known mesh proxy paths. dev <devname> mpp get <MAC address> Get information on mesh proxy path to the given node. dev <devname> scan [-u] [freq <freq>*] [duration <dur>] [ies <hex as 00:11:..>] [meshid <meshid>] [lowpri,flush,ap-force,duration-mandatory] [randomise[=<addr>/<mask>]] [ssid <ssid>*|passive] Scan on the given frequencies and probe for the given SSIDs (or wildcard if not given) unless passive scanning is requested. If -u is specified print unknown data in the scan results. Specified (vendor) IEs must be well-formed. dev <devname> scan sched_stop Stop an ongoing scheduled scan. dev <devname> scan sched_start [interval <in_msecs> | scan_plans [<interval_secs:iterations>*] <interval_secs>] [delay <in_secs>] [freqs <freq>+] [matches [ssid <ssid>]+]] [active [ssid <ssid>]+|passive] [randomise[=<addr>/<mask>]] Start a scheduled scan at the specified interval on the given frequencies with probing for the given SSIDs (or wildcard if not given) unless passive scanning is requested. If matches are specified, only matching results will be returned. dev <devname> scan abort Abort ongoing scan dev <devname> scan trigger [freq <freq>*] [duration <dur>] [ies <hex as 00:11:..>] [meshid <meshid>] [lowpri,flush,ap-force,duration-mandatory] [randomise[=<addr>/<mask>]] [ssid <ssid>*|passive] Trigger a scan on the given frequencies with probing for the given SSIDs (or wildcard if not given) unless passive scanning is requested. Duration(in TUs), if specified, will be used to set dwell times. dev <devname> scan dump [-u] Dump the current scan results. If -u is specified, print unknown data in scan results. reg reload Reload the kernel's regulatory database. phy <phyname> reg get Print out the devices' current regulatory domain information. reg get Print out the kernel's current regulatory domain information. reg set <ISO/IEC 3166-1 alpha2> Notify the kernel about the current regulatory domain. dev <devname> auth <SSID> <bssid> <type:open|shared> <freq in MHz> [key 0:abcde d:1:6162636465] Authenticate with the given network. dev <devname> connect [-w] <SSID> [<freq in MHz>] [<bssid>] [key 0:abcde d:1:6162636465] [mfp:req/opt/no] Join the network with the given SSID (and frequency, BSSID). With -w, wait for the connect to finish or fail. dev <devname> disconnect Disconnect from the current network. dev <devname> link Print information about the current link, if any. dev <devname> offchannel <freq> <duration> Leave operating channel and go to the given channel for a while. dev <devname> cqm rssi <threshold|off> [<hysteresis>] Set connection quality monitor RSSI threshold. phy <phyname> wowlan show Show WoWLAN status. phy <phyname> wowlan disable Disable WoWLAN. phy <phyname> wowlan enable [any] [disconnect] [magic-packet] [gtk-rekey-failure] [eap-identity-request] [4way-handshake] [rfkill-release] [net-detect [interval <in_msecs> | scan_plans [<interval_secs:iterations>*] <interval_secs>] [delay <in_secs>] [freqs <freq>+] [matches [ssid <ssid>]+]] [active [ssid <ssid>]+|passive] [randomise[=<addr>/<mask>]]] [tcp <config-file>] [patterns [offset1+]<pattern1> ...] Enable WoWLAN with the given triggers. Each pattern is given as a bytestring with '-' in places where any byte may be present, e.g. 00:11:22:-:44 will match 00:11:22:33:44 and 00:11:22:33:ff:44 etc. Offset and pattern should be separated by '+', e.g. 18+43:34:00:12 will match '43:34:00:12' after 18 bytes of offset in Rx packet. The TCP configuration file contains: source=ip[:port] dest=ip:port@mac data=<hex data packet> data.interval=seconds [wake=<hex packet with masked out bytes indicated by '-'>] [data.seq=len,offset[,start]] [data.tok=len,offset,<token stream>] Net-detect configuration example: iw phy0 wowlan enable net-detect interval 5000 delay 30 freqs 2412 2422 matches ssid foo ssid bar phy <phyname> coalesce show Show coalesce status. phy <phyname> coalesce disable Disable coalesce. phy <phyname> coalesce enable <config-file> Enable coalesce with given configuration. The configuration file contains coalesce rules: delay=<delay> condition=<condition> patterns=<[offset1+]<pattern1>,<[offset2+]<pattern2>,...> delay=<delay> condition=<condition> patterns=<[offset1+]<pattern1>,<[offset2+]<pattern2>,...> ... delay: maximum coalescing delay in msec. condition: 1/0 i.e. 'not match'/'match' the patterns patterns: each pattern is given as a bytestring with '-' in places where any byte may be present, e.g. 00:11:22:-:44 will match 00:11:22:33:44 and 00:11:22:33:ff:44 etc. Offset and pattern should be separated by '+', e.g. 18+43:34:00:12 will match '43:34:00:12' after 18 bytes of offset in Rx packet. dev <devname> roc start <freq> <time in ms> wdev <idx> p2p stop wdev <idx> p2p start dev <devname> vendor recvbin <oui> <subcmd> <filename|-|hex data> dev <devname> vendor recv <oui> <subcmd> <filename|-|hex data> dev <devname> vendor send <oui> <subcmd> <filename|-|hex data> dev <devname> mgmt dump frame <type as hex ab> <pattern as hex ab:cd:..> [frame <type> <pattern>]* [count <frames>] Register for receiving certain mgmt frames and print them. Frames are selected by their type and pattern containing the first several bytes of the frame that should match. Example: iw dev wlan0 mgmt dump frame 40 00 frame 40 01:02 count 10 dev <devname> ap stop Stop AP functionality dev <devname> ap start <SSID> <control freq> [5|10|20|40|80|80+80|160] [<center1_freq> [<center2_freq>]] <beacon interval in TU> <DTIM period> [hidden-ssid|zeroed-ssid] head <beacon head in hexadecimal> [tail <beacon tail in hexadecimal>] [inactivity-time <inactivity time in seconds>] [key0:abcde d:1:6162636465] wdev <idx> nan add_func type <publish|subscribe|followup> [active] [solicited] [unsolicited] [bcast] [close_range] name <name> [info <info>] [flw_up_id <id> flw_up_req_id <id> flw_up_dest <mac>] [ttl <ttl>] [srf <include|exclude> <bf|list> [bf_idx] [bf_len] <mac1;mac2...>] [rx_filter <str1:str2...>] [tx_filter <str1:str2...>] wdev <idx> nan rm_func cookie <cookie> wdev <idx> nan config [pref <pref>] [bands [2GHz] [5GHz]] wdev <idx> nan stop wdev <idx> nan start pref <pref> [bands [2GHz] [5GHz]] dev <devname> measurement ftm_request <config-file> [timeout=<seconds>] [randomise[=<addr>/<mask>]] Send an FTM request to the targets supplied in the config file. Each line in the file represents a target, with the following format: <addr> bw=<[20|40|80|80+80|160]> cf=<center_freq> [cf1=<center_freq1>] [cf2=<center_freq2>] [ftms_per_burst=<samples per burst>] [ap-tsf] [asap] [bursts_exp=<num of bursts exponent>] [burst_period=<burst period>] [retries=<num of retries>] [burst_duration=<burst duration>] [preamble=<legacy,ht,vht,dmg>] [lci] [civic] dev <devname> ftm start_responder [lci=<lci buffer in hex>] [civic=<civic buffer in hex>] Start an FTM responder. Needs a running ap interface dev <devname> ftm get_stats Get FTM responder statistics. phy <phyname> set txq limit <packets> | memory_limit <bytes> | quantum <bytes> Set TXQ parameters. The limit and memory_limit are global queue limits for the whole phy. The quantum is the DRR scheduler quantum setting. Valid values: 1 - 2**32 phy <phyname> set antenna <bitmap> | all | <tx bitmap> <rx bitmap> Set a bitmap of allowed antennas to use for TX and RX. The driver may reject antenna configurations it cannot support. dev <devname> set txpower <auto|fixed|limit> [<tx power in mBm>] Specify transmit power level and setting type. phy <phyname> set txpower <auto|fixed|limit> [<tx power in mBm>] Specify transmit power level and setting type. phy <phyname> set distance <auto|distance> Enable ACK timeout estimation algorithm (dynack) or set appropriate coverage class for given link distance in meters. To disable dynack set valid value for coverage class. Valid values: 0 - 114750 phy <phyname> set coverage <coverage class> Set coverage class (1 for every 3 usec of air propagation time). Valid values: 0 - 255. phy <phyname> set netns { <pid> | name <nsname> } Put this wireless device into a different network namespace: <pid> - change network namespace by process id <nsname> - change network namespace by name from /run/netns or by absolute path (man ip-netns) phy <phyname> set retry [short <limit>] [long <limit>] Set retry limit. phy <phyname> set rts <rts threshold|off> Set rts threshold. phy <phyname> set frag <fragmentation threshold|off> Set fragmentation threshold. dev <devname> set channel <channel> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] phy <phyname> set channel <channel> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] dev <devname> set freq <freq> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] dev <devname> set freq <control freq> [5|10|20|40|80|80+80|160] [<center1_freq> [<center2_freq>]] phy <phyname> set freq <freq> [NOHT|HT20|HT40+|HT40-|5MHz|10MHz|80MHz] phy <phyname> set freq <control freq> [5|10|20|40|80|80+80|160] [<center1_freq> [<center2_freq>]] Set frequency/channel the hardware is using, including HT configuration. phy <phyname> set name <new name> Rename this wireless device. dev <devname> set mcast_rate <rate in Mbps> Set the multicast bitrate. dev <devname> set peer <MAC address> Set interface WDS peer. dev <devname> set noack_map <map> Set the NoAck map for the TIDs. (0x0009 = BE, 0x0006 = BK, 0x0030 = VI, 0x00C0 = VO) dev <devname> set 4addr <on|off> Set interface 4addr (WDS) mode. dev <devname> set type <type> Set interface type/mode. Valid interface types are: managed, ibss, monitor, mesh, wds. dev <devname> set meshid <meshid> dev <devname> set monitor <flag>* Set monitor flags. Valid flags are: none: no special flags fcsfail: show frames with FCS errors control: show control frames otherbss: show frames from other BSSes cook: use cooked mode active: use active mode (ACK incoming unicast packets) mumimo-groupid <GROUP_ID>: use MUMIMO according to a group id mumimo-follow-mac <MAC_ADDRESS>: use MUMIMO according to a MAC address dev <devname> set mesh_param <param>=<value> [<param>=<value>]* Set mesh parameter (run command without any to see available ones). dev <devname> set power_save <on|off> Set power save state to on or off. dev <devname> set bitrates [legacy-<2.4|5> <legacy rate in Mbps>*] [ht-mcs-<2.4|5> <MCS index>*] [vht-mcs-<2.4|5> <NSS:MCSx,MCSy... | NSS:MCSx-MCSy>*] [sgi-2.4|lgi-2.4] [sgi-5|lgi-5] Sets up the specified rate masks. Not passing any arguments would clear the existing mask (if any). phy <phyname> get txq Get TXQ parameters. dev <devname> get mesh_param [<param>] Retrieve mesh parameter (run command without any to see available ones). dev <devname> get power_save <param> Retrieve power save state. Commands that use the netdev ('dev') can also be given the 'wdev' instead to identify the device. You can omit the 'phy' or 'dev' if the identification is unique, e.g. "iw wlan0 info" or "iw phy0 info". (Don't when scripting.) Do NOT screenscrape this tool, we don't consider its output stable.
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