Beyond Linux® From Scratch - Version 2012-05-24

Chapter 16. Networking Utilities

NetworkManager-0.9.4.0

Introduction to NetworkManager

NetworkManager is a set of co-operative tools that make networking simple and straightforward. Whether WiFi, wired, 3G, or Bluetooth, NetworkManager allows you to quickly move from one network to another: once a network has been configured and joined once, it can be detected and re-joined automatically the next time its available.

This package is known to build and work properly using an LFS-7.0 platform.

Package Information

Additional Downloads

NetworkManager Dependencies

Required

D-Bus GLib Bindings-0.98, iptables-1.4.13, libnl-3.2.9, NSS-3.13.4, udev-Installed LFS Version and Wireless Tools-29

Recommended

ConsoleKit-0.4.5, dhcpcd-5.5.6 or DHCP-4.2.3-P2 Client Configuration, gobject-introspection-1.32.1, libsoup-2.38.1 and polkit-0.105

Optional

GTK-Doc-1.18, ModemManager, PPP-2.4.5 and wpa_supplicant-1.0 (Built with DBus support).

User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/NetworkManager

Installation of NetworkManager

Install NetworkManager by running the following commands: 

patch -Np1 -i ../NetworkManager-0.9.4.0-upstream-fixes-1.patch &&
patch -Np1 -i ../NetworkManager-0.9.4.0-lfs-1.patch &&
./configure --prefix=/usr \
            --sysconfdir=/etc \
            --libexecdir=/usr/lib/NetworkManager \
            --localstatedir=/var \
            --with-systemdsystemunitdir=no \
            --disable-ppp &&
make

To test the results, issue: make check.

Now, as the root user: 

make install

Command Explanations

--with-systemdsystemunitdir=no: This parameter is needed to avoid systemd files being installed.

--disable-ppp: This parameter disables optional PPP support in NetworkManager. Omit if you have PPP-2.4.5 installed.

--with-distro=lfs: This parameter is only needed if you failed to create /etc/lfs-release when you installed LFS.

Configuring NetworkManager

Config Files

/etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

Configuration Information

For NetworkManager to work, at least minimal configuration file must be present. Such file is not installed with make install. Issue following command as the root user to create minimal NetworkManager.conf file: 

cat >> /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf << "EOF"
[main]
plugins=keyfile
EOF

See man 5 NetworkManager.conf for any additional options.

Boot Script

To automatically start the NetworkManager daemon when the system is rebooted, install the /etc/rc.d/init.d/networkmanager bootscript from the blfs-bootscripts-201205011 package. 

make install-networkmanager

Contents

Installed Programs: nmcli, nm-online, nm-tool and NetworkManager
Installed Libraries: libnm-glib.so, libnm-glib-vpn.so and libnm-util.so
Installed Directories: /etc/NetworkManager, /usr/include/libnm-glib, /usr/include/NetworkManager, /usr/lib/NetworkManager, /usr/share/NetworkManager, /var/lib/NetworkManager and /var/run/NetworkManager

Short Descriptions

nmcli

is a command-line tool for controlling NetworkManager and getting its status.

nm-online

is a utility to find out whether you are online.

nm-tool

is used to provide information about NetworkManager, device, and wireless networks.

NetworkManager

is the network management daemon.

libnm-glib.so

contains functions used by NetworkManager.

libnm-glib-vpn.so

contains functions used by NetworkManager VPN plugins.

libnm-util.so

contains functions used by NetworkManager utils.

Last updated on 2012-05-16 16:39:28 +0000