Install/Network

   Note

This is a template that is used as part of the Installation instructions, to describe the process of configuring the network. Templates are being used to allow multiple variant install guides that use most of the same re-usable parts.

Configuring your network

It's important to ensure that you will be able to connect to your local-area network after you reboot into Funtoo Linux. There are three approaches you can use for configuring your network: NetworkManager, dhcpcd, and the Funtoo Linux Networking scripts. Here's how to choose which one to use based on the type of network you want to set up.

Wi-Fi

Using NetworkManager

For laptop/mobile systems where you will be using Wi-Fi and connecting to various networks, NetworkManager is strongly recommended. The Funtoo version of NetworkManager is fully functional even from the command-line, so you can use it even without X or without the Network Manager applet. Here are the steps involved in setting up NetworkManager:

(chroot) # emerge linux-firmware
(chroot) # emerge networkmanager
(chroot) # rc-update add NetworkManager default

Above, we installed linux-firmware which contains a complete collection of available firmware for many hardware devices including Wi-Fi adapters, plus NetworkManager to manage our network connection. Then we added NetworkManager to the default runlevel so it will start when Funtoo Linux boots.

After you reboot into Funtoo Linux, you will be able to add a Wi-Fi connection this way:

root # addwifi -S wpa -K 'wifipassword' mywifinetwork

The addwifi command is used to configure and connect to a WPA/WPA2 Wi-Fi network named mywifinetwork with the password wifipassword. This network configuration entry is stored in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections so that it will be remembered in the future. You should only need to enter this command once for each Wi-Fi network you connect to.

Using wpa_supplicant

If for some reason you don't want to use a tool such as NetworkManager or wicd, you can use wpa_supplicant for wireless network connections.

First, emerge wpa_supplicant:

(chroot) # emerge -a wpa_supplicant

Now, edit the wpa_supplicant configuration file, located at /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf. The syntax is very easy:

network={
ssid="MyWifiName"
psk="lol42-wifi"
}

network={
ssid="Other Network"
psk="6d96270004515a0486bb7f76196a72b40c55a47f"
}

You will need to add both wpa_supplicant and dhcpcd to the default runlevel. wpa_supplicant will connect to your access point, and dhcpcd will acquire an IP address via DHCP:

(chroot) # rc-update add dhcpcd default
(chroot) # rc-update add wpa_supplicant default

Desktop (Wired Ethernet)

For a home desktop or workstation with wired Ethernet that will use DHCP, the simplest and most effective option to enable network connectivity is to simply add dhcpcd to the default runlevel:

(chroot) # rc-update add dhcpcd default

When you reboot, dhcpcd will run in the background and manage all network interfaces and use DHCP to acquire network addresses from a DHCP server.

Server (Static IP)

For servers, the Funtoo Linux Networking scripts are recommended. They are optimized for static configurations and things like virtual ethernet bridging for virtualization setups. See Funtoo Linux Networking for information on how to use Funtoo Linux's template-based network configuration system.