This tutorial will help us to understand what Network Manager is and how its tool, the nm-connection editor works.
How to use nm-connection-editor in ubuntu
To understand how the nm-connection-editor works we will run the commands in the terminal and try to explain in detail. First we will update and upgrade the Ubuntu repository as
For upgradation:
Now we will open the nm-connection-editor by running the command:
A dialogue box will appear. It will show the connections if you already have for example in our case we have an ethernet connection to the machine so it will show us that.
if we click on the “Wired connection 1” which is our ethernet connection then it will give details of our ethernet connection:
Now we will discuss in detail all the options, for this we first click on the “General” and look at the options we have. It is showing us the connection name of our ethernet which is “Wired connection 1”. Then we have an option on which we checked is “Connect automatically with priority” means the network will give priority to this connection as well as connect to it automatically. The next option which we have checked is “All users may connect to this network” means all types of users can connect to this network. Next option which is unmarked is about VPN if you require it then you can connect to it similarly case is with metered connection. If you want to make some modifications, do it and then click on the save button to save all the changes:
Next we click on the “Ethernet” tab, it will show the details about the device network interface name. Then it will show other details as well such as speed of the internet, what is the wake on LAN option and whether it is duplex or not.
Next option is 802.1X Security, as we have no wireless connections so we have all the options hidden. 802.1X works with the 802.11 wireless networks as it is a security protocol so it decides whether or not the users can connect with the network wirelessly.
DCB is the next option which is Data Centre Bridging so if you are using this setting then check the icon and configure it according to your requirement:
Proxy settings can also be done according to the requirement of the user:
IPv4 Settings will display all the settings of the wired connection, in our case we have chosen the automatic option so it is not showing anything but if you select manual settings then you have to configure it manually and it will then display all the settings.
IPv6 Settings are similarly configured as the IPv4 settings.
Now we click on the cancel option present on dialogue box in red colour. We will again come to the main dialogue box. Here we see a sign (+), by clicking on it, a dialogue box will appear asking you the choice of connection.
If you click on the dropdown arrow, the menu will be open with the options through which we can add some other hardware, virtual or VPN connections.
Now for understanding how to make a connection we will make a Wi-Fi connection. For this purpose click on Wi-Fi, a dialogue box will appear with the Wi-Fi settings choose the create option.
A settings dialogue box will appear, enter the SSID of the wireless network, in our case it is “TSEP Limited” and click on the save button below.
Now choose the next settings of Wi-Fi security, choose the type of security in our case it is “WPA2 Personal” after this enter the security key of the Wi-Fi and save the settings by clicking on the Save button. It should be noted down that if your Wi-Fi has no security settings then just choose the None and save it.
Once these settings are done close the dialogue box and the network connection is created.
Now choose the (-) option in the below to delete the connection. Let’s say we delete the newly created W-Fi connection, click on the connection you wanted to delete and choose (-) , a confirmation dialogue box will appear, click on the Delete button and the connection has been deleted.
Conclusion
Sometimes we have to add connections or make some modifications in the settings of the connections so we can accomplish such tasks by using the nm-connection-editor. This tutorial helps us in understanding what is the Network Manager and its tools. We have discussed its one tool that is nm-connection-editor in detail and learned that it is for the addition, deletion or modification of the networks. Then we learned how to open the nm-connection-editor and it has different options. We have discussed those options too like Wired, VPN and Network Proxy settings. Aimed this tutorial will help aid you in understanding what nm-connection-editor is and how it works.
