Connection Manager (ConnMan) – Managing internet connections in Linux

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The ConnMan project provides a daemon for managing internet connections within embedded devices running the Linux operating system. The Connection Manager is designed to be slim and to use as few resources as possible, so it can be easily integrated. It is a fully modular system that can be extended, through plug-ins, to support all kinds of wired or wireless technologies. Also, configuration methods, like DHCP and domain name resolving, are implemented using plug-ins. The plug-in approach allows for easy adaption and modification for various use cases.

Provided Components:

* connman The core Connection Manager daemon (connmand) and plug-ins for Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, DHCP, DNS proxy, VPNs (Openconnect and OpenVPN) and PolicyKit.
* meego-panel-networks The MeeGo GTK+-based ConnMan user interface. You can get it here .

ConnMan uses modern infrastructure, like D-Bus, udev and netlink, to provide a native integration into the operating system. While netlink is used on the system level to communicate with networking devices, the whole separation, between system daemon and user interface, is done through D-Bus.
Required external components:

* wpa_supplicant (with D-Bus extensions) for WiFi access
* BlueZ for Bluetooth PAN support
* oFono for 3G data support
* PolicyKit for security policies (optional)

Install connman in ubuntu 10.10

indicator-network and connman are now included in Maverick Meerkat, so there is no need to install any PPAs.

1. Install indicator-network (which will also install connman):

sudo apt-get install indicator-network

2. Disable NetworkManager from starting during boot:

sudo mv /etc/init/network-manager.conf /etc/init/network-manager.conf-disabled
sudo mv /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop.disabled

3. Reboot computer.

4. Use NetworkMenu by clicking network indicator icon.

Note :- note that network-manager is still installed, but not running. Also the nm-applet is removed from the panel.

Install connman in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

Installation instructions for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, applies both to Desktop and UNE:

1. Install Indicator Network PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:indicator-network-developers/ppa
sudo apt-get update

2. Install indicator-network (which will also install connman):

sudo apt-get install indicator-network

3. Disable NetworkManager from starting during boot:

sudo mv /etc/init/network-manager.conf /etc/init/network-manager.conf-disabled
sudo mv /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop.disabled

4. Reboot computer.

5. Use NetworkMenu by clicking network indicator icon.

Removing network-manager

If you are using lucid or maveric, want to continue using ConnMan and remove network-manager:

1. Remove network-manager

sudo apt-get remove network-manager-gnome network-manager

2. Also remove the files the we renamed above so that we don't leave them lingering for ever:

sudo rm /etc/init/network-manager.conf-disabled /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop.disabled

With natty network-manager is automatically removed and there's no need to remove it manually.

Reverting back to network-manager

To revert back to network-manager and remove all connman related packages with lucid and maverick:

1. In case you renamed the autostart files, rename them back to enable network-manager-gnome to start automatically:

sudo mv /etc/init/network-manager.conf-disabled /etc/init/network-manager.conf
sudo mv /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop.disabled /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop

2. Remove all connman related packages:

sudo apt-get remove indicator-network connman

3. Reboot computer.

Using Connman

ConnMan can be used in two different ways, either with Network Menu found from the panel or via a command-line tool called cmcc , both are in indicator-network package.

Current usage options:

* Wired: plug in cable and network will be automatically enabled
* Wi-Fi: click indicator icon and choose network
* Wi-Fi security: a dialog asks passphrase from user during connection establishment
* Command-line tool cmcc for debugging and editing connections. For usage run:

cmcc help

3G modems

For 3G modems a separate package ofono is needed. Also it's a good idea to install use-modeswitch also.

1. Install ofono:

sudo apt-get install ofono

2. Install usb-modeswitch:

sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch

3. Plug in the modem and wait for the initialisation to finish

4. Check that cellular network is found:

cmcc list

5. Edit APN for the connection (usually it's "internet", but depends on the operator):

cmcc edit apn

6. Start connection normally using the NetworkMenu

Screenshot

Via Ubuntu wiki

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