wpa_supplicant documentation

[decuser]

I’m not sure I followed the docs correctly, but it seems like there might be an issue with the WiFi setup doc. I printed out the handbook (seemingly unnecessarily convoluted, but possible) and was reading it while working through it. When I got to network config, I succeeded in using net-setup to configure my WiFi, yay! But being curious, I then decided to try to manually configure it. Well, as it turns out, I have WPA on my router, so the Install doc refers to a separate networking/WiFi doc. After hunting this up (clicked the link) and printing it out - convoluted, but possible , I did as directed - prefer wpa_supplicant, create wpa_supplicant.conf, that was where the issue seems to be. I was left with a configured wpa_supplicant, but no idea what to do next to fire up WiFi. Some googling later, I figured out that I needed to run wpa_supplicant -B -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -i wpls03, followed by dhcpcd wpls03, then voila! It worked!

So, did I miss some directive along the way (handbook install section or WiFi section), or do you think the doc needs a tweak?

[NeddySeagoon]

decuser,

You are not supposed to use wpa_supplicant by hand at any time. Its useful for debug though.
net-setup is good enough for the live media and gets you on the network.

There are three or four ways to configure WiFi and they don't all use wpa_supplicant, so when you set up wifi for real, depending on your choices, you may not need wpa_supplicant.

You are supposed to use net-setup until you choose a tool to manage networking.
Take a slap on the wrist for jumping ahead and a pat the back for doing it the hard way and making it work :)

The handbook has (or used to have) an option to view it as a single page.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[Hu]

I see no way to get exactly one page, but I see a way to get close. The links on https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Handbook:AMD64/Full point to 4 separate pages, each of which is a single-page view of a major document. The first one may be sufficient for someone who wants to print the entire installation document. Personally, that seems like a lot of paper to spend on something you will only need once.

[grknight]