Your message dated Wed, 6 Jul 2011 14:06:10 +0200
with message-id <[email protected]>
and subject line Re: [pkg-wpa-devel] Bug#513194: wpasupplicant: Please document
wpa-* interface
has caused the Debian Bug report #513194,
regarding wpasupplicant: wpa- options in /etc/network/interfaces are
underdocumented
to be marked as done.
This means that you claim that the problem has been dealt with.
If this is not the case it is now your responsibility to reopen the
Bug report if necessary, and/or fix the problem forthwith.
(NB: If you are a system administrator and have no idea what this
message is talking about, this may indicate a serious mail system
misconfiguration somewhere. Please contact [email protected]
immediately.)
--
513194: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=513194
Debian Bug Tracking System
Contact [email protected] with problems
--- Begin Message ---
Package: wpasupplicant
Version: 0.5.5-2
Severity: important
The wpa-* options are not mentioned in the man pages for interfaces(5),
wireless(7) or
wpa_supplicant(8). The only file that mentions them (AFAIK) is
/usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/README.modes.gz. The wireless-* options, that use
iwconfig and
iwpriv, are mentioned in all the appropriate places. Unfortunately, the latter
fail to
configure the rt2x00 drivers, which are included in recent mainstream kernels.
It took me
several weeks to find the README.modes file, and I expect most users would give
up before
finding it.
Suggested changes:
1. Add the contents of README.modes to the wpa_supplicant(8) man page, before
the SUPPORTED
FEATURES part. Or else put it in a new man page, and refer to that from
wpa_supplicant(8).
As a last resort, add README.modes to the SEE ALSO section of wpa_supplicant(8).
2. Add a description of the wpa-* options to section 10.6.1.3 (Configuring a
Wi-Fi
interface) of the Debian Reference Manual.
3. At the point where the interfaces(5) man page mentions the wireless-tools
package, add a
reference to wpasupplicant and README.modes. Add README.modes to the SEE ALSO
part of
this man page. (Or refer to wpa_supplicant(8), if a description of the options
has been
added there.)
4. Add README.modes to the SEE ALSO section of the wireless(7) man page.
I'd be happy to do the necessary writing, if someone could explain how to get
the changes
included in the various Debian packages and manuals involved.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 4.0
APT prefers stable
APT policy: (500, 'stable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.26
Locale: LANG=en_AU.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_AU.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Versions of packages wpasupplicant depends on:
ii libc6 2.3.6.ds1-13etch8 GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii libdbus-1-3 1.0.2-1+etch2 simple interprocess messaging syst
ii libncurses5 5.5-5 Shared libraries for terminal hand
ii libreadline5 5.2-2 GNU readline and history libraries
ii libssl0.9.8 0.9.8c-4etch4 SSL shared libraries
ii lsb-base 3.1-23.2etch1 Linux Standard Base 3.1 init scrip
Versions of packages wpasupplicant recommends:
ii dhcp3-client 3.0.4-13 DHCP Client
-- no debconf information
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Hi
On Wednesday 06 July 2011, Erik Saule wrote:
> Package: wpasupplicant
> Version: 0.6.10-2.1
> Severity: normal
>
>
> The wpa-* interface are still not documented in squeeze. I spent weeks
> trying to provide a good configuration using wpa_supplicant manually
> when I found by mistake the information online.
allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-ssid <whatever>
wpa-psk <whatever>
This is usually already sufficient, details (especially in regards to
roaming setups) below.
> The existence of wpa-* interface are mentionned NOWHERE where we might
> find some relevant information, despite I looked in many places:
> ifconfig(8), ifup(8), interfaces(5), wpa_supplicant(8),
> wpa_supplicant.conf(5) (which only provide exemples and no actuall
> manual) or wireless(7).
Besides manpages, /usr/share/doc/<packagename>/ is the canonical
location for package documentation and usage examples. I think
/usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/README.Debian.gz in particular, combined
with refinements in the other files, will answer your questions.
wpa_supplicant.conf(5) explicitly refers to
/usr/share/doc/<packagename>/ as well.
> The only place where we might find some information is in
> wireless(8). I quote: "In Debian 3.0 (and later) you can configure
> wireless LAN networking devices using the network configuration tool
> ifupdown(8)."
>
> However, there is no such thing as ifupdown(8) according to a search
> in all stable packages [1]. The only place where we find some exemple
> (and no actual documentation) is wpa_action(8), which is referenced
> nowhere. How are we supposed to find this very useful feature of
> wpa_supplicant?
>
> I would suggest to have a fully featured documentation for
> wpa_supplicant. At least, I believe wpa_supplicant man page should
> explain it can be used transparently by /etc/network/interfaces and
> point to wpa_action.
The manpages are upstream documentation, and while they're correct and
can be used as explained, there are alternative distribution specific
ways to configure network interfaces, be it through ifupdown,
network-manager, connman or /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-* (SuSE,
RedHat), while distribution- and distro-integration specific
documentation is provided under
/usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/README.Debian*.
> I can even write it if you do not have time to (but I am not so
> knowledgeable about it).
>
> [1]
> http://packages.debian.org/search?searchon=contents&keywords=ifupdown&mode=filename&suite=stable&arch=any
Personally I try to avoid non-essential distribution specific (not
acceptable for upstream inclusion) patches to upstream code or
documentation for maintenance reasons, especially if there are less
invasive options available, like
/usr/share/doc/<package>/README.Debian*.
What information are you missing from /usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/ and
wpasupplicant's manpages? Normally both ifupdown integration and even
more exotic configuration options should be explained therein.
Regards
Stefan Lippers-Hollmann
--- End Message ---
