[ale] Ubuntu nm-applet

[Brian Pitts]

Christopher Fowler wrote:
> Does anyone know if there is a way to make the nm-applet NOT ask for a
> password to bring up wireless?
> 
> I have a desktop that when rebooted requires interaction from the user
> to start wireless.  I first saw that wireless did not come up unless the
> user logged in.  I setup automatic login in gdm.  I then saw the
> nm-applet prompt.  If I reboot the machine it does not come up on the
> network till I go over to it and type the password.
>   

The answers below are based on my experience with NetworkManager 0.6 
Fedora has been making major changes, including adding systemwide 
configuration, in 0.7.

Is this a WEP or WPA encrypted network? When the user logs in, is 
nm-applet asking the user for the wireless network's encryption key, or 
is gnome-keyring asking the user to unlock the keyring?

If it's the former: the encryption key should be stored in gnome's 
keyring. Perhaps somehow you denied network manger access to the 
keyring? You can see what is  saved in a keyring using the "passwords" 
tab of the seahorse program.

If it's the latter: If the user's system password and keyring password 
match, libpam-gnome-keyring automatically unlocks the keyring when the 
user logs in. if you changed the system password, perhaps the keyring 
password wasn't automatically changed and the keyring can no longer be 
automatically unlocked. In Ubuntu 8.04, you can change the keyring 
password with the "change unlock password" button in 
system->preferences->encryption and keyrings.

 > Is it possible to configure a wireless connection just like a wired
 > connection.

You can set up an unencrypted or WEP-encrypted wireless network simply 
by modifying /etc/network/interfaces. How to set up WPA will vary by 
distribution. Debian Etch integrates it in the interfaces file, but most 
distributions probably require a separate wpa_supplicant.conf somewhere.

-Brian