1NMCLI(1) General Commands Manual NMCLI(1)
2
6 nmcli - command-line tool for controlling NetworkManager
7
9 nmcli [ OPTIONS ] OBJECT { COMMAND | help }
10 OBJECT := { nm | con | dev }
13 OPTIONS := {
16 -t[erse]
17 -p[retty]
18 -m[mode] tabular | multiline
19 -f[ields] <field1,field2,...> | all | common
20 -e[scape] yes | no
21 -v[ersion]
22 -h[elp]
23 }
24
27 nmcli is a command-line tool for controlling NetworkManager and getting
28 its status. It is not meant as a replacement of nm-applet or other
29 similar clients. Rather it's a complementary utility to these pro‐
30 grams. The main nmcli's usage is on servers, headless machines or just
31 for power users who prefer the command line.
32 The use cases comprise:
34 — Initscripts: ifup/ifdown can utilize NetworkManager via nmcli
36 instead of having to manage connections itself and possible inter‐
37 fere with NetworkManager.
38 — Servers, headless machines: No GUI is available; then nmcli is used
40 to talk directly to NetworkManager and control only system-wide
41 connections.
42 — User sessions: For this case, nmcli can talk to nm-applet to find
44 user connections. It can still talk directly to NetworkManager for
45 manipulating these connections. As nmcli doesn't have direct
46 access to user configuration data in GConf, nm-applet handles that
47 itself. That may, for example, cause the applet to pop up keyring
48 dialogs when secrets are needed.
49 OPTIONS
51 -t, --terse
52 Output is terse. This mode is designed and suitable for com‐
53 puter (script) processing.
54 -p, --pretty
56 Output is pretty. This causes nmcli to produce easy readable
57 outputs for humans, i.e. values are aligned, headers are
58 printed, etc.
59 -m, --mode tabular | multiline
61 Switch between tabular and multiline output. If omitted,
62 default is tabular for most commands. For the commands produc‐
63 ing more structured information, that cannot be displayed on a
64 single line, default is multiline. Currenly, they are:
65 'nmcli con list id|uuid <name>'
66 'nmcli dev list'
67 tabular - Output is a table where each line describes a single
68 entry. Columns define particular properties of the entry.
69 multiline - Each entry comprises more lines, each property on
70 its own line. The values are prefixed with the property name.
71 -f, --fields <field1,field2,...> | all | common
73 This option is used to specify what fields (column names) should
74 be printed. Valid field names differ for specific commands.
75 List available fields by providing an invalid value to the
76 --fields option.
77 all is used to print all valid field values of the command.
78 common is used to print common field values of the command. If
79 omitted, default is common. The option is mandatory when
80 --terse is used. In this case, generic values all and common
81 cannot be used. (This is to maintain compatibility when new
82 fields are added in the future).
83 -e, --escape yes | no
85 Whether to escape ':' and '\' characters in terse tabular mode.
86 The escape character is '\'. If omitted, default is yes.
87 -v, --version
89 Show nmcli version.
90 -h, --help
92 Print help information.
93 OBJECT
95 nm NetworkManager
96 Use this object to inquire and change state of NetworkManager.
97 COMMAND := { status | sleep | wakeup | wifi | wwan }
100 status
103 Show overall status of NetworkManager. This is the
104 default action, when no command is provided to nm object.
105 Reference to D-Bus:
106 No simple reference.
107 sleep
109 Put NetworkManager to sleeping mode. Thus all interfaces
110 that NetworkManager manages are deactivated.
111 Reference to D-Bus:
112 interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
113 method: Sleep
114 arguments: TRUE
115 wakeup
117 Awake NetworkManager from sleep. When NetworkManager is
118 awaken, devices are available to be activated.
119 Reference to D-Bus:
120 interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
121 method: Sleep
122 arguments: FALSE
123 wifi [on|off]
125 Inquire or set status of WiFi in NetworkManager. Without
126 any further argument, WiFi status is printed; on enables
127 WiFi; off disables WiFi.
128 Reference to D-Bus:
129 No simple reference.
130 wwan [on|off]
132 Inquire or set status of WWAN in NetworkManager. Without
133 any further argument, WWAN status is printed; on enables
134 WWAN; off disables WWAN.
135 Reference to D-Bus:
136 No simple reference.
137 con Connections
140 Get information about NetworkManager's connections.
141 COMMAND := { list | status | up | down }
144 list [id <id> | uuid <id> | system | user]
147 List configured connections. Without a parameter, con‐
148 figured connection from both system and user settings
149 services are listed. system argument filters only sys‐
150 tem-wide connections, user prints user connections only.
151 In order to get connection details, id with connection's
152 name or uuid with connection's UUID shall be specified.
153 When no command is given to con object, the default
154 action is 'nmcli con list'.
155 Reference to D-Bus:
156 No simple reference.
157 status
159 Print status of active connections.
160 Reference to D-Bus:
161 No simple reference.
162 up id <id> | uuid <id> [iface <iface>] [ap <hwaddr>] [--nowait]
164 [--timeout <timeout>]
165 Activate a connection. The connection is identified by
166 its name using id or UUID using uuid. For requiring par‐
167 ticular device to activate the connection on, iface
168 option with interface name should be given. ap option
169 can further concretize what AP should be used in case of
170 WiFi connection. --nowait option causes nmcli to exit
171 immediately and not to wait for command completion.
172 --timeout option provides a means to specify how long to
173 wait for operation completion.
174 Reference to D-Bus:
175 interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
176 method: ActivateConnection
177 arguments: according to arguments
178 down id <id> | uuid <id>
180 Deactivate a connection. The connection is identified by
181 its name using id or UUID using uuid.
182 Reference to D-Bus:
183 interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
184 method: DeactivateConnection
185 arguments: according to arguments
186 dev Devices
189 Get information about devices.
190 COMMAND := { status | list | disconnect | wifi }
193 status
196 Print status of devices. This is the default action,
197 when no command is specified to dev object.
198 Reference to D-Bus:
199 No simple reference.
200 list [iface <iface>]
202 Get detailed information about devices. Without an argu‐
203 ment, all devices are examined. To get information for a
204 specific device, iface argument with the interface name
205 should be provided.
206 Reference to D-Bus:
207 No simple reference.
208 disconnect iface <iface> [--nowait] [--timeout <timeout>]
210 Disconnect a device and prevent the device from automati‐
211 cally activating further connections without user/manual
212 intervention. --nowait option causes nmcli to exit imme‐
213 diately and not to wait for command completion. --time‐
214 out option provides a means to specify how long to wait
215 for operation completion.
216 Reference to D-Bus:
217 interface: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Device
218 method: Disconnect
219 arguments: none
220 wifi [list [iface <iface>] [hwaddr <hwaddr>]]
222 List available WiFi access points. iface and hwaddr
223 options can be used to get just APs for particular inter‐
224 face or specific AP, respectively.
225 Reference to D-Bus:
226 No simple reference.
227
230 There are probably some. If you find a bug, please report to
231 https://bugzilla.gnome.org/ - product NetworkManager.
232
235 nm-tool(1), NetworkManager(8).
236 14 April 2010 NMCLI(1)