Two prerequisites for connecting to any type of wireless network in Linux are (1) have the wireless tools and (2) have the right kernel modules loaded for your wireless card. Hardware configuration is beyond the scope of this article, but you can ensure that you have both by running the iwconfig command. If you have iwconfig, you have the wireless tools. If iwconfig reports that one of your network adapters has wireless extensions, then your hardware is working.

Ubuntu and Fedora Linux

Ubuntu and Fedora come with the Network Manager, which can be used to connect to the ASU network. The screen shots below are from Ubuntu Linux, but Fedora Linux uses the same software. In some screens the order of the buttons may be different.

1. Locate the network manager icon in your notification area / system tray.

2. Click the network manager icon to display a list of available networks. Click asu.

3. Enter the settings for connecting to the ASU wireless network.

Settings:

• Wireless Security: WPA2 Enterprise or WPA Enterprise
• EAP Method: PEAP
• Key Type: Automatic (Default)
• Phase2 Type: MSCHAPv2
• Identity: asu
• Password: asu
• All other fields should be left empty.
• Optionally check the Show Passwords checkbox to ensure you have typed asu correctly.

4. If this is the first time you have used the Ubuntu keyring application, you will be prompted for a keyring password. The username and password asu, in this case, is being stored in the keyring. This is a password that you create to secure sensitive information kept in your keyring.

5. The network manager icon should change to a series of wireless signal bars.

If this is the first time you have connected to ASU's wireless, you will need to go to the network registration website and register your computer. The web address for this service is:

https://netreg2.appstate.edu

Detailed Linux configuration for general use

The asu wireless network uses WPA or WPA2 Enterprise for security. It can be configured with TKIP or AES-CCMP, and authenticates using PEAP and MSCHAPv2. The Linux software universally used to connect to this type of network is the WPA Supplicant. Once configured, the WPA supplicant can be used to completely control your wireless connections, whether they are WPA, WEP, or open.

After ensuring that you have your hardware configured and the wireless tools installed, all that remains is to start the wpa_supplicant program with a wpa_supplicant.conf. Below is a wpa_supplicant.conf file that has many examples and comments. The only network active in this configuration file is the asu network.

## wpa_supplicant.conf with ASU wireless section
 
## These lines are variable between distros and set-ups
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=admin # also commonly 0 or wheel
eapol_version=1            #
ap_scan=1                  # 2 has been suggested
fast_reauth=1              # Can remove this

## example configuration for an open network
#network={
#        ssid=""
#        key_mgmt=NONE
# priority=0
#}
 
## example configuration for a WEP network
## Single key WEP
#network={
# ssid="My WEP network"
# key_mgmt=NONE
# wep_key0="mykey"
# wep_tx_keyidx=0
# priority=5
#}

## example configuration for WPA personal/PSK
#network={
# ssid="My WPA network"
# key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
# proto=WPA
# pairwise=TKIP
# group=TKIP
# psk="mykey"
# priority=5
#}
 
## ASU wireless network
network={
 ssid="asu"
 scan_ssid=1
 key_mgmt=WPA-EAP
 eap=PEAP
 identity="asu"
 password="asu"
## These three lines could be used to verify the
## network certificate. You will need to obtain the
## certificate for this to work.
# ca_cert="/etc/cert/ca-equifax.pem"
# phase1="peaplabel=1"
# phase2="auth=MSCHAPV2"
 priority=10
}