command line: how to connect to wifi and choosing ssid

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Level 1

8 points

command line: how to connect to wifi and choosing ssid

hi,

does anybody know how to connect to wifi and a specified ssid using the command line? There used to be a command ">airport -A --associate", but it does not seem to work anymore...is there any other way such as an applescript that can do it?

thks

MacBookPro4,1, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Mar 7, 2010 6:00 AM

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Answer 1

BobHarris

Level 9

53,075 points

Mar 7, 2010 8:52 AM in response to stpauli

If you know in advance the network you will be associating with (like you switch between Home, Work, Panera, Starbucks, etc...), you can setup System Preferences -> Network -> Locations, then use the scselect command. For example:


scselect "Home Location Name"
scselect "Work Location Name"
scselect "Panera Location Name"
# etc...

Each location can has its own preferred networks, as well as proxy settings, fixed vs DHCP IP address assignment, DNS servers, etc...

I would experiment with the Airport command, but I'm in a Panara on a 10.5.8 Leopard system at the moment. My 10.6.2 Snow Leopard system is at work 🙂

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Answer 2

stpauli Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 7, 2010 2:35 PM in response to BobHarris

Hi Bob,

good point. I tried that before. However, it does not really seem to work for me...So let me explain, hope you understand my probleme: If I create more than location for example
-Automatic
- Test
- Home

and I change the networkname for Airport for the Test location to "wlan1" it will change all the networkname also in the Automatic and Home location to "wlan1"...that is not want I really want....

Any other choice...?

Thanks & cheers

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Answer 3

BobHarris

Level 9

53,075 points

Mar 7, 2010 4:10 PM in response to stpauli

I do not know if this helps, but apparently the airport program has another mode of operation. Try issuing the following command:


airport help

NOT --help, but just help

I don't know if this will be useful, but it is more than we knew before.

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Answer 4

Mar 7, 2010 4:16 PM in response to stpauli

Have you tried that command with sudo?

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Answer 5

BobHarris

Level 9

53,075 points

Mar 7, 2010 4:42 PM in response to doug pennington

Have you tried that command with sudo?

I have, and I get the longer Usage message I mentioned above (this is on Snow Leopard).

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Answer 6

Mar 7, 2010 4:50 PM in response to BobHarris

So in Snow Leopard it won't come up as it does in Leopard as such:


doug-penningtons-power-mac-g4:~ dougp$ sudo airport -A --associate
Network Name (SSID):

?
(password had already been supplied above within last 5 minutes)

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Answer 7

BobHarris

Level 9

53,075 points

Mar 7, 2010 6:09 PM in response to doug pennington

So in Snow Leopard it won't come up as it does in Leopard as such:
doug-penningtons-power-mac-g4:~ dougp$ sudo airport -A --associate
Network Name (SSID):

No. It does not. It generates a long Usage message when you try to use -A and or -A --associate.


sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -A --associate
airport: invalid option -- A
airport: unrecognized option `--associate'
Usage: airport <interface> <verb> <options>
 <interface>
 If an interface is not specified, airport will use the first AirPort interface on the system.
 <verb is one of the following:
 prefs If specified with no key value pairs, displays a subset of AirPort preferences for
 the specified interface.
 Preferences may be configured using key=value syntax. Keys and possible values are specified below.
 Boolean settings may be configured using 'YES' and 'NO'.
 DisconnectOnLogout (Boolean)
 JoinMode (String)
 Automatic
 Preferred
 Ranked
 Recent
 Strongest
 JoinModeFallback (String)
 Prompt
 JoinOpen
 KeepLooking
 DoNothing
 RememberRecentNetworks (Boolean)
 RequireAdmin (Boolean)
 RequireAdminIBSS (Boolean)
 RequireAdminNetworkChange (Boolean)
 RequireAdminPowerToggle (Boolean)
 WoWEnabled (Boolean)
 logger Monitor the driver's logging facility.
 sniff If a channel number is specified, airportd will attempt to configure the interface
 to use that channel before it begins sniffing 802.11 frames. Captures files are saved to /tmp.
 Requires super user privileges.
 debug Enable debug logging. A debug log setting may be enabled by prefixing it with a '+', and disabled
 by prefixing it with a '-'.
 AirPort Userland Debug Flags
 DriverDiscovery
 DriverEvent
 Info
 SystemConfiguration
 UserEvent
 PreferredNetworks
 AutoJoin
 IPC
 Scan
 802.1x
 Assoc
 Keychain
 RSNAuth
 WoW
 AllUserland - Enable/Disable all userland debug flags
 AirPort Driver Common Flags
 DriverInfo
 DriverError
 DriverWPA
 DriverScan
 AllDriver - Enable/Disable all driver debug flags
 AirPort Driver Vendor Flags
 VendorAssoc
 VendorConnection
 AllVendor - Enable/Disable all vendor debug flags
 AirPort Global Flags
 LogFile - Save all AirPort logs to /var/log/airport.log
<options> is one of the following:
 No options currently defined.
Examples:
Configuring preferences (requires admin privileges)
 sudo airport en1 prefs JoinMode=Preferred RememberRecentNetworks=NO RequireAdmin=YES
Sniffing on channel 1:
 airport en1 sniff 1
LEGACY COMMANDS:
Supported arguments:
 -c[<arg>] --channel=[<arg>] Set arbitrary channel on the card
 -z --disassociate Disassociate from any network
 -I --getinfo Print current wireless status, e.g. signal info, BSSID, port type etc.
 -s[<arg>] --scan=[<arg>] Perform a wireless broadcast scan.
 Will perform a directed scan if the optional <arg> is provided
 -x --xml Print info as XML
 -P --psk Create PSK from specified pass phrase and SSID.
 The following additional arguments must be specified with this command:
 --password=<arg> Specify a WPA password
 --ssid=<arg> Specify SSID when creating a PSK
 -h --help Show this help

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Answer 8

Mar 7, 2010 7:14 PM in response to BobHarris

Thanks Bob. I wanted to see that usage info. Looks like your original answer might be the way, regardless of what op runs into.

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Answer 9

stpauli Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 8, 2010 2:39 AM in response to stpauli

Doug, sorry, but as stated above Bob´s original answer is not a solution at least not that I see it. Maybe I am doing something wrong here.

Strange that it is not possible to tie a certain SSID as default to a specific location network profile.

Strange that in Snow Leopard the airport help lists legacy arguments for the airport command but just neglects the argument "associate" that existed in previous releases. Just a strange way to support compatbility...that´s frustrating.

Anybody else with a solution that might help?

Appreciate it. Thanks

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Answer 10

foilpan

Level 4

1,385 points

Mar 8, 2010 5:59 AM in response to stpauli

try using networksetup instead:

example:


/usr/sbin/networksetup -setairportnetwork AirPort openwifi

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Answer 11

BobHarris

Level 9

53,075 points

Mar 8, 2010 6:30 AM in response to doug pennington

Thanks Bob. I wanted to see that usage info. Looks like your original answer might be the way, regardless of what op runs into.

Then why not ask for a copy of the Usage, instead of questioning my reports that -A --associate does not work in Snow Leopard?

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Answer 12

Mar 8, 2010 8:14 AM in response to BobHarris

Excuse me if I lead you to blow this way out of context.

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Answer 13

stpauli Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 8, 2010 3:58 PM in response to foilpan

Thanks foilpan...that will do it !!

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