LinuxQuestions.org - WPA with Fedora 4

My ndiswrapper and wpa_supplicant howto for wpa

It is always a good idea to have wireless security by enabling WPA or WPA2. In order to do this obtain an application called the wpa_supplicant which can be downloaded here
http://hostap.epitest.fi/wpa_supplicant

I have had problems with the latest stable version which was 0.3.9 and had to go with the latest developement version wpa_supplicant-0.4.5.tar.gz. Likewise for different versions of ndiswrapper. After extracting wpa_supplicant create a .config file with the following options to get it to work with the ndiswrapper and then make it and copy the appropriate files into their correct directory.

Code:

[root@localhost rpms]# tar -xvzf wpa_supplicant-0.4.5.tar.gz

[root@localhost rpms]# cd wpa_supplicant-0.4.5

[root@localhost wpa_supplicant]# CONFIG_DRIVER_NDISWRAPPER=y > .config

[root@localhost wpa_supplicant]# CONFIG_CTRL_IFACE=y >> .config

[root@localhost wpa_supplicant]# make

[root@localhost wpa_supplicant]# cp wpa_cli wpa_supplicant wpa_passphrase 

                                    /usr/local/bin/

Now make a configuration file with the appropriate security settings in /etc/. Mine reads as follows for a WPA TKIP configuration.

Code:

[root@localhost wpa_supplicant-0.4.5]# nano /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant # for wpa_cli support



network={

  ssid="joeshmoe" #Access Point name

  psk="mySecret"  #My WPA password (plaintext or encrypted)

  key_mgmt=WPA-PSK

  proto=WPA

  pairwise=TKIP

  group=TKIP

}

Now see if things are working. It is important that you configure the access point before you start wpa_supplicant.

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# iwconfig wlan0 essid any

[root@localhost ~]# ifconfig wlan0 up

[root@localhost ~]# wpa_supplicant -Dndiswrapper 

                    -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -Bw

[root@localhost ~]# dhclient wlan0

If there are any errors, replace the wpa_supplicant option -Bw with -dd and try to debug the output to find the problem.

Now automate this process by issueing the command

Code:

[root@localhost root]# echo "/usr/local/bin/wpa_supplicant -Dndiswrapper 

                                      -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -Bw" >>  

                                      /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup-wireless

If something goes wrong get ethereal, run tethereal in a shell, if the AP does not reply to your DHCP Discover with an Offer, then there is probably a problem with your encryption method.

Hopefully this will help, I create notes on everything I do and this was copy and pasted from that.