NWAM Phase 1.0 - Information and Instructions for Early Access Users
This page provides guidelines and special instructions for Early Access users of NWAM, Phase 1.0. This feature will be integrated in an upcoming OpenSolaris dev release.
NWAM Phase 1.0 Enhancements
NWAM 1.0 provides the following enhancements:
- Improved graphical user interface (GUI) that enables you to create and manage network profiles, as well as improved interaction with the NWAM processes and desktop notifications for network events. Note that this version of NWAM GUI also includes detailed online help documentation.
- Command-line utilities that can be used to create and manage network profiles.
- Flexible network interface configuration, including the ability to connect to more than one network interface at a time.
- Improved functionality of the network profiles mechanism that was introduced in the Opensolaris 2008.05 release.
- Auto-detection of hot-plug events.
More detailed information about NWAM 1.0 can be found on this project page.
See the NWAM draft man pages for information about the NWAM CLI man pages: nwamcfg(1M), nwamadm(1M), nwamd(1M), and netcfgd(1M). The draft man pages for the NWAM GUI, nwam-manager(1M), and nwam-manager-properties(1M), are also described here.
See also the beta NWAM-CLI-Documentation.
The beta NWAM-GUI-Documentation can be found on pages 19-45. For more detailed instructions, see the GUI online help.
Requirements for Use
Start with the latest update from the opensolaris-dev repository. For information about how to update your system, refer to the following:
General repository information
Installation Instructions for Early Access Users
NOTE: The following instructions apply to the x86 platform only.
To install the ON NWAM bits, which include the SMF service updates, libnwam, the nwam daemon, and CLI tools, you will need to update your system to the packages that are available from the NWAM early access repository.
Installation of the ON NWAM bits for External Users
Download the IPS repo: nwam1-RC6
Extract the files and begin publishing them:
$ gzip -cd nwam-rc6-ips-20091120.x86.tar.gz | tar xvf - $ /usr/lib/pkg.depotd -d nwam1-RC6 -p 5000
Add your new publisher as the preferred publisher for your system:
$ pfexec pkg set-publisher -P -O http://localhost:5000 nwam1-RC6
Then perform an image-update:
$ pfexec pkg image-update
Installation of the ON NWAM bits for Sun-internal Users
Add publishers for the NWAM repo, making the primary publisher preferred:
$ pfexec pkg set-publisher -P -O http://muskogee.sfbay:15000 nwam1-RC6
Then perform an image-update:
$ pfexec pkg image-update
Installation of the GUI bits for all Users
After booting into the updated BE, you'll probably also want to install the GUI bits. To do this, download the zip file for the x86 platform: nwam-mgr-rc6-x86
Then extract the files and install:
$ gzip -cd nwam-manager-20091119-rc6.x86.tar.gz | tar xvf - $ cd nwam-manager-rc6.x86 $ pfexec sh ./update_nwam_manager.sh
After installing the GUI bits, log out and back in to the Gnome Desktop. This step is very important, as you will get unexpected, confusing GUI behavior if the updated bits aren't properly restarted.
Differences Between the NWAM CLI and the NWAM GUI
Take note of the following minor differences when using the NWAM CLI and GUI progamming interfaces:
- How you obtain information regarding the status of your network varies slightly between the CLI and the GUI . If you are using the GUI, you can check your network connections by looking at the Network Status notification icon that is displayed in the panel notification area of the desktop at all times, or by clicking it. As changes in your network occur, notifications are displayed on the desktop. If you are working from the command line, use the nwamadm show-events command to monitor NWAM activity and the nwamadm list command to display the status of network connections and profiles.
- You can only export a profile configuration by using the NWAM CLI. To export a profile configuration, use the nwamcfg command with the export subcommand.
- ENMs are referred to in the NWAM GUI as VPN applications and are added and managed by using the VPN Applications dialog. Note that you can add an ENM for any external application or service that creates or modifies network configuration by using the same dialog.
- You can create, modify, and destroy a User NCP if you are using the NWAM CLI. However, if you are using the NWAM GUI, you can only modify the User network profile. You cannot create it or destroy it. In the NWAM GUI, if the User network profile does not already exist, it is created "on-the-fly" by the system the first time you attempt to access it. This dynamically-created User profile will be a copy of the Automatic profile.
NWAM 1.0 Beta Documentation
The first DRAFT of the NWAM-CLI-Documentation and the NWAM-GUI-Documentation is available for review.
Where to Send Feedback and Comments
Send feedback, questions, and comments on NWAM phase 1.0 to the NWAM discuss alias
How to File a Bug
Bugs should be filed at OpenSolaris Defect Tracking
Use the Development classification, Product nwam.