Editing Network Settings

== Setting a static IP (xterm) ==
Groovix network settings can be configured using the "Network Configuration" option in the ctrl-alt-g menu, or from the command line using the command <font class="code">nano /etc/network/interfaces</font> and editing the following text:

<div class="dashed-box">
auto lo<br />
iface lo inet loopback<br />
iface eth0 inet static<br />
address ''x.x.x.x''<br />
netmask ''x.x.x.x''<br />
gateway ''x.x.x.x''<br />
auto eth0
</div>
<div style="clear: left"></div>

''Use the proper IP addresses in place of each x.''


Log out and back in again before trying a test search on google.com in Firefox; if a timeout occurs, double check the settings and try again. On some hardware (especially wireless) it may be necessary to reboot after changing network parameters. Once the workstation can browse web pages in Firefox, choose "Reboot the machine" from the [[Groovix Menu]] so your machine can be configured by the [[Groovix NetCustomization]] System.

== Setting Wireless Network Parameters == 
To set wireless parameters, use the "Network Configuration" option in the ctrl-alt-g menu, or from a command line type <font class="code">nano /etc/network/interfaces</font>.<br /> 

Add a section after the interface you want to use wirelessly and add the line <font class="code">wireless-essid [SSID]</font> where [SSID] is the name of your wireless network. Next, include the line <font class="code">wireless-key1 [PASSWORD]</font> where [PASSWORD] is the password you use for your wireless network; if your wireless network does not have a password, do not include the wireless-key1 line.<br />


Below is an example of a /etc/network/interfaces file with the wireless settings added to interface wlan0.

<div class="dashed-box">
auto lo<br />
iface lo inet loopback<br />

auto eth0<br />
iface eth0 inet dhcp<br />

auto wlan0<br />
iface wlan0 inet dhcp<br />
wireless-essid [SSID]<br />
wireless-key1 [PASSWORD]<br />
</div>

== Setting Wireless Network Parameters using WPA2 == 
To set wireless parameters use the "Network Configuration" option in the ctrl-alt-g menu, or from the command line type <font class="code">nano /etc/network/interfaces</font>.<br /> 

Add a section after the interface you want to use wirelessly and add the line <font class="code">wpa-ssid [SSID]</font> where [SSID] is the name of your wireless network. Next, include the line <font class="code">wpa-psk [HEX KEY]</font> where [HEX KEY] is the password you use for your wireless network.<br />

To find your [HEX KEY] given your ascii [PASSPHRASE] you can use this command line utility:
wpa_passphrase [SSID] [PASSPHRASE]

Below is an example of a /etc/network/interfaces file with the wireless settings added to interface wlan0.

<div class="dashed-box">
auto lo<br />
iface lo inet loopback<br />

auto eth0<br />
iface eth0 inet dhcp<br />

auto wlan0<br />

iface wlan0 inet dhcp<br />
wpa-ssid myssid<br />
wpa-psk a77bc927b63116a0ab208abc9934b6db418c1ac83839eb2891891868163b6114<br />
</div>

== Troubleshooting ==
Running the following commands in a terminal window [[Terminal Guide]] can assist you in troubleshooting network issues by restarting your network devices or giving you information about the current values applied to your network interfaces.<br /><br />

<font class="code">/etc/init.d/networking restart</font> - this restarts the networking and is usually sufficient to make changes take effect but sometimes a reboot is required.<br /><br />

<font class="code">ifconfig</font> - shows all networking information, you are usually just interested in eth0 (usually wired) and wifi0 or ath0 or eth1 or ? (usually wireless) , lo is the loopback device, you can ignore it<br /><br />

<font class="code">iwconfig</font> - shows wireless specific information including signal strength (usually called Link Quality, sometimes out of 5, sometimes out of 70, etc.)<br /><br />

<font class="code">ping ''[IP Address/web address]''</font> - sends out test signals to a network address and reports back if they were received or dropped. Useful in troubleshooting communications between devices.