NMCLI(1)

NAME
nmcli - command-line tool for controlling NetworkManager

SYNOPSIS

nmcli [OPTIONS...] {help | general | networking | radio | connection | device | agent | monitor} [COMMAND] [ARGUMENTS...]

DESCRIPTION

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 connections and viewing network status.

OPTIONS

-t | --terse
    Output is terse. This mode is designed and suitable for computer (script) processing.

-p | --pretty
    Output is pretty. This causes nmcli to produce easily readable outputs for humans, i.e. values are aligned, headers are printed, etc.

-m | --mode {tabular | multiline}
    Switch between tabular and multiline output:

    tabular
        Output is a table where each line describes a single entry. Columns define particular properties of the entry.

    multiline
        Each entry comprises multiple lines, each property on its own line. The values are prefixed with the property name.

    If omitted, default is tabular for most commands. For the commands producing more structured information, that cannot be displayed on a single line, default is multiline. Currently, they are:

        • nmcli connection show ID

        • nmcli device show

-c | --colors {yes | no | auto}
    This option controls color output (using terminal escape sequences). yes enables colors, no disables them, auto only produces colors when standard output is directed to a terminal. The default value is auto.

-f | --fields {[field...] | all | common}
    This option is used to specify what fields (column names) should be printed. Valid field names differ for specific commands. List available fields by providing an invalid value to the --fields option. all is used to print all valid field values of the command. common is used to print common field values of the command.

    If omitted, default is common. The option is mandatory when --terse is used. In this case, generic values all and common cannot be used. This is to maintain compatibility when new fields are added in the future.

-e | --escape {yes | no}
    Whether to escape : and \ characters in terse tabular mode. The escape character is \.

    If omitted, default is yes.

-n | --nocheck
    This option can be used to force nmcli to skip checking nmcli and NetworkManager version compatibility. Use it with care, because using incompatible versions may produce incorrect results.

-a | --ask
    When using this option nmcli will stop and ask for any missing required arguments, so do not use this option for non-interactive purposes like scripts. This option controls, for example, whether you will be prompted for a password if it is required for connecting to a network.

-s | --show-secrets
    When using this option nmcli will display passwords and secrets that might be present in an output of an operation. This option also influences echoing passwords typed by user as an input.

[-w | --wait seconds...]
    This option sets a timeout period for which nmcli will wait for NetworkManager to finish operations. It is especially useful for commands that may take a longer time to complete, e.g. connection activation.

    Specifying a value of 0 instructs nmcli not to wait but to exit immediately with a status of success. The default value depends on the executed command.

-v | --version
    Show nmcli version.

-h | --help
    Print help information.

GENERAL COMMANDS

nmcli general {status | hostname | permissions | logging} [ARGUMENTS...]

Use this command to show NetworkManager status and permissions. You can also get and change system hostname, as well as NetworkManager logging level and domains.

status
    Show overall status of NetworkManager. This is the default action, when no additional command is provided for nmcli general.

hostname [hostname]
    Get and change system hostname. With no arguments, this prints currently configured hostname. When you pass a hostname, it will be handed over to NetworkManager to be set as a new system hostname.

    Note that the term "system" hostname may also be referred to as "persistent" or "static" by other programs or tools. The hostname is stored in /etc/hostname file in most distributions. For example, systemd-hostnamed service uses the term "static" hostname and it only reads the /etc/hostname file when it starts.

permissions
    Show the permissions a caller has for various authenticated operations that NetworkManager provides, like enable and disable networking, changing Wi-Fi and WWAN state, modifying connections, etc.

logging [level level] [domain domains...]
    Get and change NetworkManager logging level and domains. Without any argument current logging level and domains are shown. In order to change logging state, provide level and, or, domain parameters. See NetworkManager.conf(5) for available level and domain values.

NETWORKING CONTROL COMMANDS

nmcli networking {on | off | connectivity} [ARGUMENTS...]

Query NetworkManager networking status, enable and disable networking.

on, off
    Enable enable or disable networking control by NetworkManager. All interfaces managed by NetworkManager are deactivated when networking is disabled.

connectivity [check]
    Get network connectivity state. The optional check argument tells NetworkManager to re-check the connectivity, else the most recent known connectivity state is displayed without re-checking.

    Possible states are:

    none
        the host is not connected to any network.

    portal
        the host is behind a captive portal and cannot reach the full Internet.

    limited
        the host is connected to a network, but it has no access to the Internet.

    full
        the host is connected to a network and has full access to the Internet.

    unknown
        the connectivity status cannot be found out.

RADIO TRANSMISSION CONTROL COMMANDS

nmcli radio {all | wifi | wwan} [ARGUMENTS...]

Show radio switches status, or enable and disable the switches.

wifi [on | off]
    Show or set status of Wi-Fi in NetworkManager. If no arguments are supplied, Wi-Fi status is printed; on enables Wi-Fi; off disables Wi-Fi.

wwan [on | off]
    Show or set status of WWAN (mobile broadband) in NetworkManager. If no arguments are supplied, mobile broadband status is printed; on enables mobile broadband, off disables it.

all [on | off]
    Show or set all previously mentioned radio switches at the same time.

ACTIVITY MONITOR

nmcli monitor

Observe NetworkManager activity. Watches for changes in connectivity state, devices or connection profiles.

See also nmcli connection monitor and nmcli device monitor to watch for changes in certain devices or connections.

CONNECTION MANAGEMENT COMMANDS

nmcli connection {show | up | down | add | edit | modify | delete | monitor | reload | load} [ARGUMENTS...]

NetworkManager stores all network configuration as "connections", which are collections of data (Layer2 details, IP addressing, etc.) that describe how to create or connect to a network. A connection is "active" when a device uses that connection's configuration to create or connect to a network. There may be multiple connections that apply to a device, but only one of them can be active on that device at any given time. The additional connections can be used to allow quick switching between different networks and configurations.

Consider a machine which is usually connected to a DHCP-enabled network, but sometimes connected to a testing network which uses static IP addressing. Instead of manually reconfiguring eth0 each time the network is changed, the settings can be saved as two connections which both apply to eth0, one for DHCP (called default) and one with the static addressing details (called testing). When connected to the DHCP-enabled network the user would run nmcli con up default , and when connected to the static network the user would run nmcli con up testing.

show [--active] [--order [+-]category:...]
    List in-memory and on-disk connection profiles, some of which may also be active if a device is using that connection profile. Without a parameter, all profiles are listed. When --active option is specified, only the active profiles are shown.

    The --order option can be used to get custom ordering of connections. The connections can be ordered by active status (active), name (name), type (type) or D-Bus path (path). If connections are equal according to a sort order category, an additional category can be specified. The default sorting order is equivalent to --order active:name:path. + or no prefix means sorting in ascending order (alphabetically or in numbers), - means reverse (descending) order. The category names can be abbreviated (e.g. --order -a:na).

show [--active] [id | uuid | path | apath] ID...
    Show details for specified connections. By default, both static configuration and active connection data are displayed. When --active option is specified, only the active profiles are taken into account. Use global --show-secrets option to display secrets associated with the profile.

    id, uuid, path and apath keywords can be used if ID is ambiguous. Optional ID-specifying keywords are:

    id
        the ID denotes a connection name.

    uuid
        the ID denotes a connection UUID.

    path
        the ID denotes a D-Bus static connection path in the format of /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Settings/num or just num.

    apath
        the ID denotes a D-Bus active connection path in the format of /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/num or just num.

    It is possible to filter the output using the global --fields option. Use the following values:

    profile
        only shows static profile configuration.

    active
        only shows active connection data (when the profile is active).

    You can also specify particular fields. For static configuration, use setting and property names as described in nm-settings(5) manual page. For active data use GENERAL, IP4, DHCP4, IP6, DHCP6, VPN.

    When no command is given to the nmcli connection, the default action is nmcli connection show.

up [id | uuid | path] ID... [ifname ifname] [ap BSSID] [passwd-file file]
    Activate a connection. The connection is identified by its name, UUID or D-Bus path. If ID is ambiguous, a keyword id, uuid or path can be used. When requiring a particular device to activate the connection on, the ifname option with interface name should be given. If the ID is not given an ifname is required, and NetworkManager will activate the best available connection for the given ifname. In case of a VPN connection, the ifname option specifies the device of the base connection. The ap option specify what particular AP should be used in case of a Wi-Fi connection.

    If --wait option is not specified, the default timeout will be 90 seconds.

    See connection show above for the description of the ID-specifying keywords.

    Available options are:

    ifname
        interface that will be used for activation.

    ap
        BSSID of the AP which the command should connect to (for Wi-Fi connections).

    passwd-file
        some networks may require credentials during activation. You can give these credentials using this option. Each line of the file should contain one password in the form:

            setting_name.property_name:the password

        For example, for WPA Wi-Fi with PSK, the line would be

            802-11-wireless-security.psk:secret12345

        For 802.1X password, the line would be

            802-1x.password:my 1X password

        nmcli also accepts wifi-sec and wifi strings instead of 802-11-wireless-security. When NetworkManager requires a password and it is not given, nmcli will ask for it when run with --ask. If --ask was not passed, NetworkManager can ask another secret agent that may be running (typically a GUI secret agent, such as nm-applet or gnome-shell).

down [id | uuid | path | apath] ID...
    Deactivate a connection from a device without preventing the device from further auto-activation. Multiple connections can be passed to the command.

    Be aware that this command deactivates the specified active connection, but the device on which the connection was active, is still ready to connect and will perform auto-activation by looking for a suitable connection that has the 'autoconnect' flag set. This includes the just deactivated connection. So if the connection is set to auto-connect, it will be automatically started on the disconnected device again.

    In most cases you may want to use device disconnect command instead.

    The connection is identified by its name, UUID or D-Bus path. If ID is ambiguous, a keyword id, uuid, path or apath can be used.

    See connection show above for the description of the ID-specifying keywords.

    If --wait option is not specified, the default timeout will be 10 seconds.

add ifname ifname [con-name name] [autoconnect {yes | no}] [save {yes | no}] [master master] [slave-type type] [type type] [ARGUMENTS...] [ip4 addr] [gw4 addr] [ip6 addr] [gw6 addr] [-- [+|-]setting.property value ...]
    Add a connection for NetworkManager. Arguments differ according to connection types, see below.

    ifname
        interface to bind the connection to. The connection will only be applicable to this interface name. A special value of * can be used for interface-independent connections. The ifname argument is mandatory for all connection types except bond, team, bridge and vlan. Note: use quotes around * to suppress shell expansion.

    con-name
        connection name (when not provided a default name is generated: <type>[-<ifname>][-<num>]).

    autoconnect
        whether the connection profile can be automatically activated (default: yes).

    save
        whether the connection should be persistent, i.e. NetworkManager should store it on disk (default: yes).

    master
        master interface name, or connection UUID or ID of master connection profile. The value can be prefixed with ifname/, uuid/ or id/ to disambiguate it.

    slave-type
        type of master connection. Only required when it can not be inferred (i.e. the master connection does not exist yet).

    type
        connection type; see below for allowed values. Note that types bond-slave, team-slave and bridge-slave create ethernet connection profiles. Their use is discouraged in favor of using a specific type with master option.

    type ethernet [mac addr] [cloned-mac addr] [mtu mtu]

        mac
            MAC address of the device this connection is locked to.

        cloned-mac
            cloned MAC.

        mtu
            MTU.

    type wifi ssid SSID [mac addr] [cloned-mac addr] [mode {infrastructure | ap | adhoc}] [mtu mtu]

        ssid
            SSID.

        mac
            MAC address of the device this connection is locked to.

        cloned-mac
            cloned MAC.

        mode
            Wi-Fi network mode. If blank, infrastructure is assumed.

        mtu
            MTU.

    type wimax [mac addr] [nsp nsp]

        mac
            MAC address of the device this connection is locked to.

        nsp
            Network Service Provider name.

    type pppoe username user [password passwd] [service name] [mtu mtu] [mac addr]

        username
            PPPoE username.

        password
            Password for the PPPoE username.

        service
            PPPoE service name (if required by concentrator).

        mtu
            MTU.

        mac
            MAC address of the device this connection is locked to.

    type gsm [apn APN] [username user] [password passwd]

        apn
            APN - GSM Access Point Name.

        user
            user name.

        password
            password.

    type cdma [username user] [password passwd]

        user
            user name.

        password
            password.

    type infiniband [mac addr] [mtu mtu] [transport-mode {datagram | connected}] [parent device] [p-key key]

        mac
            MAC address of the device this connection is locked to (InfiniBand MAC is 20 bytes).

        mtu
            MTU.

        transport-mode
            InfiniBand transport mode.

        parent
            the interface name of the parent device (if any).

        p-key
            the InfiniBand P_Key (16-bit unsigned integer).

    type bluetooth [addr addr] [bt-type {panu | dun-gsm | dun-cdma}]

        addr
            Bluetooth device address (MAC).

        bt-type
            Bluetooth connection type.

    type vlan dev device id id [flags flags] [ingress mapping] [egress mapping] [mtu mtu]

        dev
            parent device this VLAN is on.

        id
            VLAN ID in range 0-4095.

        flags
            flags.

        ingress
            VLAN ingress priority mapping.

        egress
            VLAN egress priority mapping.

        mtu
            MTU.

    type bond [mode {active-backup | balance-xor | broadcast | 802.3ad | balance-tlb | balance-alb | num}] [primary ifname] [miimon num] [downdelay num] [updelay num] [arp-interval num] [arp-ip-target num]

        mode
            bonding mode (default: balance-rr).

        primary
            primary interface name (for active-backup mode).

        miimon
            miimon (default: 100).

        downdelay
            downdelay (default: 0).

        updelay
            updelay (default: 0).

        arp-interval
            ARP interval (default: 0).

        arp-ip-target
            ARP IP target.

    type bond-slave [master master]

        master
            master bond interface name, or connection UUID or ID of bond master connection profile. The value can be prefixed with ifname/, uuid/ or id/ to disambiguate it.

    type team [config {file | JSON}]

        config
            JSON configuration for team.

    type team-slave [config JSON]

        master
            master team interface name, or connection UUID or ID of team master connection profile. The value can be prefixed with ifname/, uuid/ or id/to disambiguate it.

        config
            JSON configuration for team.

    type bridge [stp {yes | no}] [priority num] [forward-delay 2-30] [hello-time 1-10] [max-age 6-42] [ageing-time 0-1000000] [multicast-snooping {yes | no}] [mac addr]

        stp
            controls whether Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is enabled for this bridge (default: yes).

        priority
            sets STP priority (default: 128).

        forward-delay
            STP forwarding delay, in seconds (default: 15).

        hello-time
            STP hello time, in seconds (default: 2).

        max-age
            STP maximum message age, in seconds (default: 20).

        ageing-time
            the Ethernet MAC address aging time, in seconds (default: 300).

        multicast-snooping
            controls whether IGMP snooping is enabled (default: yes).

        mac
            MAC address of the bridge (note: this requires a recent kernel feature, originally introduced in 3.15 upstream kernel).

    type bridge-slave [master master] [priority num] [path-cost 1-65535] [hairpin {yes | no}]

        master
            master bridge interface name, or connection UUID or ID of bridge master connection profile. The value can be prefixed with ifname/, uuid/ or id/ to disambiguate it.

        priority
            STP priority of this slave (default: 32).

        path-cost
            STP port cost for destinations via this slave (default: 100).

        hairpin
            'hairpin mode' for the slave, which allows frames to be sent back out through the slave the frame was received on (default: yes).

    type vpn [type type] [user username]

        vpn-type
            VPN type.

        user
            VPN username.

    type olpc-mesh ssid SSID [channel 1-13] [dhcp-anycast MAC]

        ssid
            SSID.

        channel
            channel to use for the network.

        dhcp-anycast
            anycast DHCP MAC address used when requesting an IP address via DHCP.

    type adsl username username protocol {pppoa | pppoe | ipoatm} [password passwd] [encapsulation {vcmux | llc}]

        username
            ADSL user name.

        protocol
            ADSL protocol.

        password
            ADSL password.

        encapsulation
            ADSL encapsulation.

    type tun mode {tun | tap} [owner UID] [group GID] [pi {yes | no}] [vnet-hdr {yes | no}] [multi-queue {yes | no}]

        mode
            Mode for the device.

        owner
            UID of the owner.

        group
            GID of the group.

        pi
            include packet information (~IFF_NO_PI flag).

        vnet-hdr
            send and receive large (i.e. GSO) packets and packets with partial checksums (IFF_VNET_HDR flag).

        multi-queue
            multi-queue support for tun/tap device (IFF_MULTI_QUEUE flag).

    type ip-tunnel mode {ipip | gre | sit | isatap | vti | ip6ip6 | ipip6 | ip6gre | vti6 | tun} remote addr [local addr] [dev device]

        mode
            tunnel mode.

        remote
            IPv4 or IPv6 address of the remote tunnel endpoint.

        local
            IPv4 or IPv6 address of the local tunnel endpoint.

        dev
            device to use for tunnel endpoint communication.

    type macvlan dev device mode {vepa | bridge | private | passthru | source} [tap {yes | no}]

        dev
            parent device this MACVLAN is on.

        mode
            MACVLAN mode, which specifies the communication mechanism between multiple MACVLANs on the same lower device.

        tap
            controls the device type. If set to 'yes' a MACVTAP will be created (default: no).

    type vxlan id id remote addr [dev parent device (ifname or connection UUID)] [local addr] [source-port-min 0-65535] [source-port-max 0-65535] [destination-port 0-65535]

        id
            VXLAN Network Identifer to use.

        remote
            unicast destination IP address or multicast IP address to join.

        dev
            device to use for tunnel endpoint communication.

        local
            source IP address.

        source-port-min
            minimum UDP source port to communicate to the remote VXLAN tunnel endpoint.

        source-port-max
            maximum UDP source port to communicate to the remote VXLAN tunnel endpoint.

        destination-port
            UDP destination port to communicate to the remote VXLAN tunnel endpoint.

    ip4, gw4
        IPv4 addresses.

    ip6, gw6
        IPv6 addresses.

    --
        If a -- argument is encountered, the rest of command line is interpreted as property list in the same format as connection modify command accepts. This makes it possible to adjust the connection properties before it's added.

edit {[id | uuid | path] ID... | [type type] [con-name name] }
    Edit an existing connection or add a new one, using an interactive editor.

    The existing connection is identified by its name, UUID or D-Bus path. If ID is ambiguous, a keyword id, uuid, or path can be used. See connection show above for the description of the ID-specifying keywords. Not providing an ID means that a new connection will be added.

    The interactive editor will guide you through the connection editing and allow you to change connection parameters according to your needs by means of a simple menu-driven interface. The editor indicates what settings and properties can be modified and provides in-line help.

    Available options:

    type
        type of the new connection; valid types are the same as for connection add command.

    con-name
        name for the new connection. It can be changed later in the editor.

    See also nm-settings(5) for all NetworkManager settings and property names, and their descriptions; and nmcli-examples(7) for sample editor sessions.

modify [--temporary] [id | uuid | path] ID [+|-]setting.property value...
    Modify one or more properties in the connection profile.

    The connection is identified by its name, UUID or D-Bus path. If ID is ambiguous, a keyword id, uuid or path can be used. See nm-settings(5) for setting and property names, their descriptions and default values. This command supports abbreviations for setting and property provided they are unique. Empty value ("") removes the property value (sets the property to the default value). The provided value overwrites the existing property value.

    If you want to append an item to the existing value, use + prefix for the property name. If you want to remove just one item from container-type property, use - prefix for the property name and specify a value or an zero-based index of the item to remove (or option name for properties with named options) as value. Of course, + and - only have a real effect for multi-value (container) properties like ipv4.dns, ipv4.addresses, bond.options, etc.

clone [--temporary] [id | uuid | path] ID... new name
    Clone a connection. The connection to be cloned is identified by its name, UUID or D-Bus path. If ID is ambiguous, a keyword id, uuid or path can be used. See connection show above for the description of the ID-specifying keywords. name is the name of the new cloned connection. The new connection will be the exact copy except the connection.id (name) and connection.uuid (generated) properties.

    The new connection profile will be saved as persistent unless --temporary option is specified, in which case the new profile won't exist after NetworkManager restart.

delete [id | uuid | path] ID...
    Delete a configured connection. The connection to be deleted is identified by its name, UUID or D-Bus path. If ID is ambiguous, a keyword id, uuid or path can be used. See connection show above for the description of the ID-specifying keywords.

    If --wait option is not specified, the default timeout will be 10 seconds.

monitor [id | uuid | path] ID...
    Monitor connection profile activity. This command prints a line whenever the specified connection changes. The connection to be monitored is identified by its name, UUID or D-Bus path. If ID is ambiguous, a keyword id, uuid or path can be used. See connection show above for the description of the ID-specifying keywords.

    Monitors all connection profiles in case none is specified. The command terminates when all monitored connections disappear. If you want to monitor connection creation consider using the global monitor with nmcli monitor command.

reload
    Reload all connection files from disk. NetworkManager does not monitor changes to connection files by default. So you need to use this command in order to tell NetworkManager to re-read the connection profiles from disk when a change was made to them. However, the auto-loading feature can be enabled and then NetworkManager will reload connection files any time they change (monitor-connection-files=true in NetworkManager.conf(5)).

load filename...
    Load/reload one or more connection files from disk. Use this after manually editing a connection file to ensure that NetworkManager is aware of its latest state.

import [--temporary] [type type] [file file]
    Import an external/foreign configuration as a NetworkManager connection profile. The type of the input file is specified by type option.

    Only VPN configurations are supported at the moment. The configuration is imported by NetworkManager VPN plugins. type values are the same as for vpn-type option in nmcli connection add. VPN configurations are imported by VPN plugins. Therefore the proper VPN plugin has to be installed so that nmcli could import the data.

    The imported connection profile will be saved as persistent unless --temporary option is specified, in which case the new profile won't exist after NetworkManager restart.

export [id | uuid | path] ID [file]
    Export a connection.

    Only VPN connections are supported at the moment. A proper VPN plugin has to be installed so that nmcli could export a connection. If no file is provided, the VPN configuration data will be printed to standard output.

DEVICE MANAGEMENT COMMANDS

nmcli device {status | show | set | connect | reapply | disconnect | delete | monitor | wifi | lldp} [ARGUMENTS...]

Show and manage network interfaces.

status
    Print status of devices.

    This is the default action if no command is specified to nmcli device.

show [ifname]
    Show detailed information about devices. Without an argument, all devices are examined. To get information for a specific device, the interface name has to be provided.

set [ifname] ifname [autoconnect {yes | no}] [managed {yes | no}]
    Set device properties.

connect [ifname]
    Connect the device. NetworkManager will try to find a suitable connection that will be activated. It will also consider connections that are not set to auto connect.

    If --wait option is not specified, the default timeout will be 90 seconds.

reapply [ifname]
    Attempt to update device with changes to the currently active connection made since it was last applied.

disconnect [ifname...]
    Disconnect a device and prevent the device from automatically activating further connections without user/manual intervention. Note that disconnecting software devices may mean that the devices will disappear.

    If --wait option is not specified, the default timeout will be 10 seconds.

delete [ifname...]
    Delete a device. The command removes the interface from the system. Note that this only works for software devices like bonds, bridges, teams, etc. Hardware devices (like Ethernet) cannot be deleted by the command.

    If --wait option is not specified, the default timeout will be 10 seconds.

monitor [ifname...]
    Monitor device activity. This command prints a line whenever the specified devices change state.

    Monitors all devices in case no interface is specified. The monitor terminates when all specified devices disappear. If you want to monitor device addition consider using the global monitor with nmcli monitor command.

wifi [list [ifname ifname] [bssid BSSID]]
    List available Wi-Fi access points. The ifname and bssid options can be used to list APs for a particular interface or with a specific BSSID, respectively.

wifi connect (B)SSID [password password] [wep-key-type {key | phrase}] [ifname ifname] [bssid BSSID] [name name] [private {yes | no}] [hidden {yes | no}]
    Connect to a Wi-Fi network specified by SSID or BSSID. The command creates a new connection and then activates it on a device. This is a command-line counterpart of clicking an SSID in a GUI client. The command always creates a new connection and thus it is mainly useful for connecting to new Wi-Fi networks. If a connection for the network already exists, it is better to bring up (activate) the existing connection as follows: nmcli con up id name. Note that only open, WEP and WPA-PSK networks are supported at the moment. It is also supposed that IP configuration is obtained via DHCP.

    If --wait option is not specified, the default timeout will be 90 seconds.

    Available options are:

    password
        password for secured networks (WEP or WPA).

    wep-key-type
        type of WEP secret, either key for ASCII/HEX key or phrase for passphrase.

    ifname
        interface that will be used for activation.

    bssid
        if specified, the created connection will be restricted just for the BSSID.

    name
        if specified, the connection will use the name (else NM creates a name itself).

    private
        if set to yes, the connection will only be visible to the user who created it. Otherwise the connection is system-wide, which is the default.

    hidden
        set to yes when connecting for the first time to an AP not broadcasting its SSID. Otherwise the SSID would not be found and the connection attempt would fail.

wifi hotspot [ifname ifname] [con-name name] [ssid SSID] [band {a | bg}] [channel channel] [password password]
    Create a Wi-Fi hotspot. The command creates a hotspot connection profile according to Wi-Fi device capabilities and activates it on the device. The hotspot is secured with WPA if device/driver supports that, otherwise WEP is used. Use connection down or device disconnect to stop the hotspot.

    Parameters of the hotspot can be influenced by the optional parameters:

    ifname
        what Wi-Fi device is used.

    con-name
        name of the created hotspot connection profile.

    ssid
        SSID of the hotspot.

    band
        Wi-Fi band to use.

    channel
        Wi-Fi channel to use.

    password
        password to use for the created hotspot. If not provided, nmcli will generate a password. The password is either WPA pre-shared key or WEP key.

        Note that --show-secrets global option can be used to print the hotspot password. It is useful especially when the password was generated.

wifi rescan [ifname ifname] [ssid SSID...]
    Request that NetworkManager immediately re-scan for available access points. NetworkManager scans Wi-Fi networks periodically, but in some cases it can be useful to start scanning manually (e.g. after resuming the computer). By using ssid, it is possible to scan for a specific SSID, which is useful for APs with hidden SSIDs. You can provide multiple ssid parameters in order to scan more SSIDs.

    This command does not show the APs, use nmcli device wifi list for that.

lldp [list [ifname ifname]]
    Display information about neighboring devices learned through the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP). The ifname option can be used to list neighbors only for a given interface. The protocol must be enabled in the connection settings.

SECRET AGENT

nmcli agent {secret | polkit | all}

Run nmcli as a NetworkManager secret agent, or polkit agent.

secret
    Register nmcli as a NetworkManager secret agent and listen for secret requests. You do usually not need this command, because nmcli can handle secrets when connecting to networks. However, you may find the command useful when you use another tool for activating connections and you do not have a secret agent available (like nm-applet).

polkit
    Register nmcli as a polkit agent for the user session and listen for authorization requests. You do not usually need this command, because nmcli can handle polkit actions related to NetworkManager operations (when run with --ask). However, you may find the command useful when you want to run a simple text based polkit agent and you do not have an agent of a desktop environment. Note that running this command makes nmcli handle all polkit requests, not only NetworkManager related ones, because only one polkit agent can run for the session.

all
    Runs nmcli as both NetworkManager secret and a polkit agent.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

nmcli's behavior is affected by the following environment variables.

LC_ALL
    If set to a non-empty string value, it overrides the values of all the other internationalization variables.

LC_MESSAGES
    Determines the locale to be used for internationalized messages.

LANG
    Provides a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or null.

INTERNATIONALIZATION NOTES

Be aware that nmcli is localized and that is why the output depends on your environment. This is important to realize especially when you parse the output.

Call nmcli as LC_ALL=C nmcli to be sure the locale is set to C while executing in a script.

LC_ALL, LC_MESSAGES, LANG variables specify the LC_MESSAGES locale category (in that order), which determines the language that nmcli uses for messages. The C locale is used if none of these variables are set, and this locale uses English messages.

EXIT STATUS

nmcli exits with status 0 if it succeeds, a value greater than 0 is returned if an error occurs.

0
    Success – indicates the operation succeeded.

1
    Unknown or unspecified error.

2
    Invalid user input, wrong nmcli invocation.

3
    Timeout expired (see --wait option).

4
    Connection activation failed.

5
    Connection deactivation failed.

6
    Disconnecting device failed.

7
    Connection deletion failed.

8
    NetworkManager is not running.

9
    nmcli and NetworkManager versions mismatch.

10
    Connection, device, or access point does not exist.

EXAMPLES

This section presents various examples of nmcli usage. If you want even more, please refer to nmcli-examples(7) manual page.

nmcli -t -f RUNNING general
    tells you whether NetworkManager is running or not.

nmcli -t -f STATE general
    shows the overall status of NetworkManager.

nmcli radio wifi off
    switches Wi-Fi off.

nmcli connection show
    lists all connections NetworkManager has.

nmcli -p -m multiline -f all con show
    shows all configured connections in multi-line mode.

nmcli connection show --active
    lists all currently active connections.

nmcli -f name,autoconnect c s
    shows all connection profile names and their auto-connect property.

nmcli -p connection show "My default em1"
    shows details for "My default em1" connection profile.

nmcli --show-secrets connection show "My Home WiFi"
    shows details for "My Home WiFi" connection profile with all passwords. Without --show-secrets option, secrets would not be displayed.

nmcli -f active connection show "My default em1"
    shows details for "My default em1" active connection, like IP, DHCP information, etc.

nmcli -f profile con s "My wired connection"
    shows static configuration details of the connection profile with "My wired connection" name.

nmcli -p con up "My wired connection" ifname eth0
    activates the connection profile with name "My wired connection" on interface eth0. The -p option makes nmcli show progress of the activation.

nmcli con up 6b028a27-6dc9-4411-9886-e9ad1dd43761 ap 00:3A:98:7C:42:D3
    connects the Wi-Fi connection with UUID 6b028a27-6dc9-4411-9886-e9ad1dd43761 to the AP with BSSID 00:3A:98:7C:42:D3.

nmcli device status
    shows the status for all devices.

nmcli dev disconnect em2
    disconnects a connection on interface em2 and marks the device as unavailable for auto-connecting. As a result, no connection will automatically be activated on the device until the device's 'autoconnect' is set to TRUE or the user manually activates a connection.

nmcli -f GENERAL,WIFI-PROPERTIES dev show wlan0
    shows details for wlan0 interface; only GENERAL and WIFI-PROPERTIES sections will be shown.

nmcli -f CONNECTIONS device show wlp3s0
    shows all available connection profiles for your Wi-Fi interface wlp3s0.

nmcli dev wifi
    lists available Wi-Fi access points known to NetworkManager.

nmcli dev wifi con "Cafe Hotspot 1" password caffeine name "My cafe"
    creates a new connection named "My cafe" and then connects it to "Cafe Hotspot 1" SSID using password "caffeine". This is mainly useful when connecting to "Cafe Hotspot 1" for the first time. Next time, it is better to use nmcli con up id "My cafe" so that the existing connection profile can be used and no additional is created.

nmcli -s dev wifi hotspot con-name QuickHotspot
    creates a hotspot profile and connects it. Prints the hotspot password the user should use to connect to the hotspot from other devices.

nmcli connection add type ethernet autoconnect no ifname eth0
    non-interactively adds an Ethernet connection tied to eth0 interface with automatic IP configuration (DHCP), and disables the connection's autoconnect flag.

nmcli c a ifname Maxipes-fik type vlan dev eth0 id 55
    non-interactively adds a VLAN connection with ID 55. The connection will use eth0 and the VLAN interface will be named Maxipes-fik.

nmcli c a ifname eth0 type ethernet -- ipv4.method disabled ipv6.method link-local
    non-interactively adds a connection that will use eth0 Ethernet interface and only have an IPv6 link-local address configured.

nmcli connection edit ethernet-em1-2
    edits existing "ethernet-em1-2" connection in the interactive editor.

nmcli connection edit type ethernet con-name "yet another Ethernet connection"
    adds a new Ethernet connection in the interactive editor.

nmcli con mod ethernet-2 connection.autoconnect no
    modifies 'autoconnect' property in the 'connection' setting of 'ethernet-2' connection.

nmcli con mod "Home Wi-Fi" wifi.mtu 1350
    modifies 'mtu' property in the 'wifi' setting of 'Home Wi-Fi' connection.

nmcli con mod em1-1 ipv4.method manual ipv4.addr "192.168.1.23/24 192.168.1.1, 10.10.1.5/8, 10.0.0.11"
    sets manual addressing and the addresses in em1-1 profile.

nmcli con modify ABC +ipv4.dns 8.8.8.8
    appends a Google public DNS server to DNS servers in ABC profile.

nmcli con modify ABC -ipv4.addresses "192.168.100.25/24 192.168.1.1"
    removes the specified IP address from (static) profile ABC.

nmcli con import type openvpn file ~/Downloads/frootvpn.ovpn
    imports an OpenVPN configuration to NetworkManager.

nmcli con export corp-vpnc /home/joe/corpvpn.conf
    exports NetworkManager VPN profile corp-vpnc as standard Cisco (vpnc) configuration.

NOTES

nmcli accepts abbreviations, as long as they are a unique prefix in the set of possible options. As new options get added, these abbreviations are not guaranteed to stay unique. For scripting and long term compatibility it is therefore strongly advised to spell out the full option names.

BUGS

There are probably some bugs. If you find a bug, please report it to https://bugzilla.gnome.org/ — product NetworkManager.

SEE ALSO

nmcli-examples(7), nm-online(1), NetworkManager(8), NetworkManager.conf(5), nm-settings(5), nm-applet(1), nm-connection-editor(1).