In this tutorial, we provide a step by step guide on how to install and use NMCLI tool on Debian Linux.
According to man pages:
NMCLI is a command-line tool for controlling NetworkManager and reporting network status. It can be utilized as a replacement for nm-applet or other graphical clients. nmcli is used to create, display, edit, delete, activate, and deactivate network connections, as well as control and display network device status.
Typical uses include:
- Scripts: Utilize NetworkManager via nmcli instead of managing network connections manually. nmcli supports a terse output format which is better suited for script processing. Note that NetworkManager can also execute scripts, called “dispatcher scripts”, in response to network events. See NetworkManager(8) for details about these dispatcher scripts.
- Servers, headless machines, and terminals: nmcli can be used to control NetworkManager without a GUI, including creating, editing, starting and stopping network connection and viewing network status.
Using NMCLI tool on Debian Linux
On on headless Debian systems, nmcli tool may not be installed by default.
If not installed, then you can run the command below to install it;
apt install network-managerThe command installs a command line tool, nmcli and nmtui, a text User Interface for controlling NetworkManager.
You can then use nmcli command to create, display, edit, delete, activate, and deactivate network connections, as well as control and display network device status.
The command line syntax for nmcli command;
nmcli [OPTIONS...] {help | general | networking | radio | connection | device | agent | monitor} [COMMAND] [ARGUMENTS...]When run with no arguments;
nmcliThis is the sample output;
enp0s8: connected to Wired connection 1
"Intel 82540EM"
ethernet (e1000), 08:00:27:56:8E:61, hw, mtu 1500
inet4 192.168.58.26/24
route4 192.168.58.0/24
inet6 fe80::a00:27ff:fe56:8e61/64
route6 fe80::/64
enp0s3: unmanaged
"Intel 82540EM"
ethernet (e1000), 08:00:27:88:1B:AE, hw, mtu 1500
lo: unmanaged
"lo"
loopback (unknown), 00:00:00:00:00:00, sw, mtu 65536
Use "nmcli device show" to get complete information about known devices and
"nmcli connection show" to get an overview on active connection profiles.
Consult nmcli(1) and nmcli-examples(7) manual pages for complete usage details.
To show overall status of NetworkManager;
nmcli generalSTATE CONNECTIVITY WIFI-HW WIFI WWAN-HW WWAN
connected limited enabled enabled enabled enabledTo show complete information about known devices;
nmcli device show
GENERAL.DEVICE: enp0s8
GENERAL.TYPE: ethernet
GENERAL.HWADDR: 08:00:27:56:8E:61
GENERAL.MTU: 1500
GENERAL.STATE: 100 (connected)
GENERAL.CONNECTION: Wired connection 1
GENERAL.CON-PATH: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/2
WIRED-PROPERTIES.CARRIER: on
IP4.ADDRESS[1]: 192.168.58.31/24
IP4.ADDRESS[2]: 192.168.58.26/24
IP4.GATEWAY: --
IP4.ROUTE[1]: dst = 192.168.58.0/24, nh = 0.0.0.0, mt = 100
IP4.ROUTE[2]: dst = 169.254.0.0/16, nh = 0.0.0.0, mt = 1000
IP6.ADDRESS[1]: fe80::f3aa:9e8c:be4b:daf9/64
IP6.GATEWAY: --
IP6.ROUTE[1]: dst = fe80::/64, nh = ::, mt = 100
IP6.ROUTE[2]: dst = ff00::/8, nh = ::, mt = 256, table=255
...
To show information about specific device;
nmcli dev sh enp0s8To show an overview on active connection profiles;
nmcli connection showNAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
Wired connection 1 049a12b7-79f5-3236-bc50-e69be0d2b618 ethernet enp0s8Show system hostname using nmcli;
nmcli general hostnameyou can even use abbreviations;
nmcli g hTo see more example usage of nmcli command, run;
man nmcli-examplesMore nmcli command usage examples;
Listing available Wi-Fi APs
nmcli device wifi listIN-USE BSSID SSID MODE CHAN RATE SIGNAL BARS SECURITY
* E0:CC:7A:3F:78:64 SUDO Infra 5 130 Mbit/s 43 ▂▄__ WPA2
E0:CC:7A:3E:40:6C CMT_M-A4 Infra 3 130 Mbit/s 19 ▂___ WPA2Connect to a password-protected wifi network;
nmcli device wifi connect "$SSID" password "$PASSWORD"nmcli --ask device wifi connect "$SSID"Showing general information and properties for a Wi-Fi interface;
nmcli -p -f general,wifi-properties device show
===============================================================================
Device details (wlp0s20f3)
===============================================================================
GENERAL.DEVICE: wlp0s20f3
GENERAL.TYPE: wifi
GENERAL.NM-TYPE: NMDeviceWifi
GENERAL.DBUS-PATH: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/13
GENERAL.VENDOR: Intel Corporation
GENERAL.PRODUCT: Wireless-AC 9462
GENERAL.DRIVER: iwlwifi
GENERAL.DRIVER-VERSION: 5.4.0-48-generic
GENERAL.FIRMWARE-VERSION: 48.4fa0041f.0
GENERAL.HWADDR: 5C:80:B6:86:61:0E
GENERAL.MTU: 1500
GENERAL.STATE: 100 (connected)
GENERAL.REASON: 0 (No reason given)
GENERAL.IP4-CONNECTIVITY: 4 (full)
GENERAL.IP6-CONNECTIVITY: 3 (limited)
GENERAL.UDI: /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.3/net/wlp0s20f3
GENERAL.IP-IFACE: wlp0s20f3
GENERAL.IS-SOFTWARE: no
GENERAL.NM-MANAGED: yes
GENERAL.AUTOCONNECT: yes
GENERAL.FIRMWARE-MISSING: no
GENERAL.NM-PLUGIN-MISSING: no
GENERAL.PHYS-PORT-ID: --
GENERAL.CONNECTION: SUDO
GENERAL.CON-UUID: 2f048f49-9ffd-45f4-91e1-0dab7a88a12b
GENERAL.CON-PATH: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/7
GENERAL.METERED: no (guessed)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WIFI-PROPERTIES.WEP: yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.WPA: yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.WPA2: yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.TKIP: yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.CCMP: yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.AP: yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.ADHOC: yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.2GHZ: yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.5GHZ: yes
Go through more examples on man nmcli-exmaples.
You can also check our example in the links below;
Connect to WiFi in Linux Using NMCLI command
Create Virtual/Secondary IP addresses on an Interface in Linux
