ifconfig, wifi, and DHCP

[Alphons "Fonz" van Werven]

knowtree at aloha.com wrote:

> ifconfig_wi0="dhcp ssid Oz"
[snip]
> Can I use this quoted phrase when I invoke ifconfig manually? I see ssid
> documented on the man page for ifconfig, but not dhcp.

It's not ifconfig that calls DHCP, it's the network startup script
/etc/rc.d/netif. It's also this script that reads rc.conf,  not ifconfig.

You can either call that script (which will call ifconfig AND DHCP for you)
or call BOTH ifconfig and DHCP manually.

In the former case:
# /etc/rc.d/netif start
should bring up the network.

In the latter case:
# ifconfig wi0 up
should bring up the network,
# ifconfig wi0 ssid Oz (plus any additional arguments)
should get you associated to the network and then
# dhclient wi0
should get you an IP address.

The ifconfig invokations can usually be combined into one, but if you don't
call the netif script you'll have to invoke DHCP manually.

Hth,

Alphons

-- 
All right, that does it Bill [Donahue]. I'm pretty sure that killing Jesus
is not very Christian.
                              -- pope Benedict XVI, South Park episode #158