NetworkManager

The Network Manager is an application for managing network connections for Linux and other unix like systems. It aims to facilitate the handling of computer networks, especially wireless networks, but also now supports wired network access.

Features

The Network Manager provides access through different technologies, if possible automatically a network connection. It supports

  • Wired Ethernet devices (IEEE 802.3)
  • Wireless Ethernet devices (IEEE 802.11) both unencrypted and encrypted with WEP, WPA Personal or WPA Enterprise
  • Virtual Private Networks ( VPN) via OpenVPN or VPNC
  • Dial-up (PPP ) such as telephone modem or ISDN

As part of a promotion program was developed in the summer of 2008, also an assistant for connecting via mobile devices, which allows connections through technologies like GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, CDMA set.

Function

Unless otherwise prescribed, provide the Network Manager automatically creates a possible network connection. He moves to after an opportunistic approach by attempting to use the best available connection when interruptions occur or the user moves around between different wireless networks. This wired connections ( Ethernet) over ever used wireless networks are preferred which are in turn preferred networks to which the user has never connected. If necessary, the user is prompted for WEP or WPA keys.

Technology

The Network Manager consists of two components: managed a daemon, network connections and provides information on changes. A user can selectively intervene in the graphical user interface via a desktop applet or via the command line in the configuration and the current behavior. As one of the first major components of the Linux desktop when NetworkManager extensive use of D-Bus and the hardware abstraction layer ( HAL ) of the freedesktop.org project is done. The applet uses the System Tray Protocol from freedesktop.org and works with all desktop environments that adhere to this. Among GNOME, K Desktop Environment / plasma and Xfce. Both the Network Manager itself, as well as its user interfaces should be largely portable. Since the components communicate via D-Bus, other applications with information about the online status can be supplied or the original applet be completely replaced, as in the KDE frontend KNetworkManager that Novell has developed for openSUSE.

History

The project was founded in 2004 by Red Hat launched. Beyond Linux Network Manager in the absence of a suitable hardware abstraction layer on many operating systems not available.

User interface

  • KNetworkManager: developed by Novell KDE frontend
  • Nm-applet: is the GNOME applet for NetworkManager.
  • Cnetworkmanager: user interface for the command line.
  • Nmcli: user interface for the command line.
Wired Equivalent Privacy Wi-Fi Protected Access Point-to-Point Protocol Integrated Services Digital Network Avahi (Software) Daemon (computing) Opportunism Widget engine
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