Manual Pages  — IFCONFIG

The following options are available:

address
	For the DARPA-Internet family, the address is either a host name present in the host name data base, hosts(5), or a DARPA Internet address expressed in the Internet standard "dot notation". It is also possible to use the CIDR notation (also known as the slash notation) to include the netmask. That is, one can specify an address like 192.168.0.1/16. For the "inet6" family, it is also possible to specify the prefix length using the slash notation, like ::1/128. See the prefixlen parameter below for more information. The link-level ("link") address is specified as a series of colon-separated hex digits. This can be used to, for example, set a new MAC address on an Ethernet interface, though the mechanism used is not Ethernet specific. Use the ("random") keyword to set a randomly generated MAC address. A randomly-generated MAC address might be the same as one already in use in the network. Such duplications are extremely unlikely. If the interface is already up when this option is used, it will be briefly brought down and then brought back up again in order to ensure that the receive filter in the underlying Ethernet hardware is properly reprogrammed.
address_family
	Specify the address family which affects interpretation of the remaining parameters. Since an interface can receive transmissions in differing protocols with different naming schemes, specifying the address family is recommended. The address or protocol families currently supported are "inet", "inet6", and "link". The default if available is "inet" or otherwise "link". "ether" and "lladdr" are synonyms for "link". When using the -l flag, the "ether" address family has special meaning and is no longer synonymous with "link" or "lladdr". Specifying -l "ether" will list only Ethernet interfaces, excluding all other interface types, including the loopback interface.
dest_address
	Specify the address of the correspondent on the other end of a point to point link.
interface
	This parameter is a string of the form "name unit", for example, "ed0".
groupname
	List the interfaces in the given group.

The output format of ifconfig can be controlled using the -f flag or the IFCONFIG_FORMAT environment variable. The format is specified as a comma separated list of type:format pairs. The -f flag can be supplied multiple times. See the EXAMPLES section for more information. The types and their associated format strings are:

addr	Adjust the display of inet and inet6 addresses

default
	Display inet and inet6 addresses in the default format, numeric
fqdn	Display inet and inet6 addresses as fully qualified domain names (FQDN)
host	Display inet and inet6 addresses as unqualified hostnames
numeric
	Display inet and inet6 addresses in numeric format

ether	Adjust the display of link-level ethernet (MAC) addresses
colon	Separate address segments with a colon
dash	Separate address segments with a dash
default
	Display ethernet addresses in the default format, colon

inet	Adjust the display of inet address subnet masks:
cidr	Display subnet masks in CIDR notation, for example: 10.0.0.0/8 or 203.0.113.224/26
default
	Display subnet masks in the default format, hex
dotted	Display subnet masks in dotted quad notation, for example: 255.255.0.0 or 255.255.255.192
hex	Display subnet masks in hexadecimal, for example: 0xffff0000 or 0xffffffc0

inet6	Adjust the display of inet6 address prefixes (subnet masks):
cidr	Display subnet prefix in CIDR notation, for example: ::1/128 or fe80::1%lo0/64
default
	Display subnet prefix in the default format numeric
numeric
	Display subnet prefix in integer format, for example: prefixlen 64

The following parameters may be set with ifconfig:

add	Another name for the alias parameter. Introduced for compatibility with .Bsx .
alias	Establish an additional network address for this interface. This is sometimes useful when changing network numbers, and one wishes to accept packets addressed to the old interface. If the address is on the same subnet as the first network address for this interface, a non-conflicting netmask must be given. Usually 0xffffffff is most appropriate.
-alias
	Remove the network address specified. This would be used if you incorrectly specified an alias, or it was no longer needed. If you have incorrectly set an NS address having the side effect of specifying the host portion, removing all NS addresses will allow you to respecify the host portion.
anycast
	(Inet6 only.) Specify that the address configured is an anycast address. Based on the current specification, only routers may configure anycast addresses. Anycast address will not be used as source address of any of outgoing IPv6 packets.
arp	Enable the use of the Address Resolution Protocol (arp(4)) in mapping between network level addresses and link level addresses (default). This is currently implemented for mapping between DARPA Internet addresses and IEEE 802 48-bit MAC addresses (Ethernet, FDDI, and Token Ring addresses).
-arp
	Disable the use of the Address Resolution Protocol (arp(4)).
staticarp
	If the Address Resolution Protocol is enabled, the host will only reply to requests for its addresses, and will never send any requests.
-staticarp
	If the Address Resolution Protocol is enabled, the host will perform normally, sending out requests and listening for replies.
broadcast
	(Inet only.) Specify the address to use to represent broadcasts to the network. The default broadcast address is the address with a host part of all 1's.
debug	Enable driver dependent debugging code; usually, this turns on extra console error logging.
-debug
	Disable driver dependent debugging code.
promisc
	Put interface into permanently promiscuous mode.
-promisc
	Disable permanently promiscuous mode.
delete
	Another name for the -alias parameter.
description value , descr value
	Specify a description of the interface. This can be used to label interfaces in situations where they may otherwise be difficult to distinguish.
-description, -descr
	Clear the interface description.
down	Mark an interface "down". When an interface is marked "down", the system will not attempt to transmit messages through that interface. If possible, the interface will be reset to disable reception as well. This action does not automatically disable routes using the interface.
group groupname
	Assign the interface to a "group". Any interface can be in multiple groups. Cloned interfaces are members of their interface family group by default. For example, a VLAN interface such as vlan10 is a member of the VLAN interface family group, vlan.
-group groupname
	Remove the interface from the given "group".
eui64	(Inet6 only.) Fill interface index (lowermost 64bit of an IPv6 address) automatically.
fib fib_number
	Specify interface FIB. A FIB fib_number is assigned to all frames or packets received on that interface. The FIB is not inherited, e.g., vlans or other sub-interfaces will use the default FIB (0) irrespective of the parent interface's FIB. The kernel needs to be tuned to support more than the default FIB using the ROUTETABLES kernel configuration option, or the net.fibs tunable.
tunnelfib fib_number
	Specify tunnel FIB. A FIB fib_number is assigned to all packets encapsulated by tunnel interface, e.g., gif(4) and gre(4).
maclabel label
	If Mandatory Access Control support is enabled in the kernel, set the MAC label to label.
media type
	If the driver supports the media selection system, set the media type of the interface to type. Some interfaces support the mutually exclusive use of one of several different physical media connectors. For example, a 10Mbit/s Ethernet interface might support the use of either AUI or twisted pair connectors. Setting the media type to 10base5/AUI would change the currently active connector to the AUI port. Setting it to 10baseT/UTP would activate twisted pair. Refer to the interfaces' driver specific documentation or man page for a complete list of the available types.
mediaopt opts
	If the driver supports the media selection system, set the specified media options on the interface. The opts argument is a comma delimited list of options to apply to the interface. Refer to the interfaces' driver specific man page for a complete list of available options.
-mediaopt opts
	If the driver supports the media selection system, disable the specified media options on the interface.
mode mode
	If the driver supports the media selection system, set the specified operating mode on the interface to mode. For IEEE 802.11 wireless interfaces that support multiple operating modes this directive is used to select between 802.11a ( 11a), 802.11b ( 11b), and 802.11g ( 11g) operating modes.
txrtlmt
	Set if the driver supports TX rate limiting.
inst minst , instance minst
	Set the media instance to minst. This is useful for devices which have multiple physical layer interfaces (PHYs).
name name
	Set the interface name to name.
rxcsum, txcsum, rxcsum6, txcsum6
	If the driver supports user-configurable checksum offloading, enable receive (or transmit) checksum offloading on the interface. The feature can be turned on selectively per protocol family. Use rxcsum6, txcsum6 for ip6(4) or rxcsum, txcsum otherwise. Some drivers may not be able to enable these flags independently of each other, so setting one may also set the other. The driver will offload as much checksum work as it can reliably support, the exact level of offloading varies between drivers.
-rxcsum -, -txcsum -, -rxcsum6 -, -txcsum6
	If the driver supports user-configurable checksum offloading, disable receive (or transmit) checksum offloading on the interface. The feature can be turned off selectively per protocol family. Use -rxcsum6 -, -txcsum6 for ip6(4) or -rxcsum -, -txcsum otherwise. These settings may not always be independent of each other.
tso	If the driver supports tcp(4) segmentation offloading, enable TSO on the interface. Some drivers may not be able to support TSO for ip(4) and ip6(4) packets, so they may enable only one of them.
-tso
	If the driver supports tcp(4) segmentation offloading, disable TSO on the interface. It will always disable TSO for ip(4) and ip6(4).
tso6, tso4
	If the driver supports tcp(4) segmentation offloading for ip6(4) or ip(4) use one of these to selectively enabled it only for one protocol family.
-tso6 -, -tso4
	If the driver supports tcp(4) segmentation offloading for ip6(4) or ip(4) use one of these to selectively disable it only for one protocol family.
lro	If the driver supports tcp(4) large receive offloading, enable LRO on the interface.
-lro
	If the driver supports tcp(4) large receive offloading, disable LRO on the interface.
wol, wol_ucast, wol_mcast, wol_magic
	Enable Wake On Lan (WOL) support, if available. WOL is a facility whereby a machine in a low power state may be woken in response to a received packet. There are three types of packets that may wake a system: ucast (directed solely to the machine's mac address), mcast (directed to a broadcast or multicast address), or magic (unicast or multicast frames with a ``magic contents''). Not all devices support WOL, those that do indicate the mechanisms they support in their capabilities. wol is a synonym for enabling all available WOL mechanisms. To disable WOL use -wol.
vlanmtu, vlanhwtag, vlanhwfilter, vlanhwcsum, vlanhwtso
	If the driver offers user-configurable VLAN support, enable reception of extended frames, tag processing in hardware, frame filtering in hardware, checksum offloading, or TSO on VLAN, respectively. Note that this must be configured on a physical interface associated with vlan(4), not on a vlan(4) interface itself.
-vlanmtu -, -vlanhwtag -, -vlanhwfilter -, -vlanhwtso
	If the driver offers user-configurable VLAN support, disable reception of extended frames, tag processing in hardware, frame filtering in hardware, or TSO on VLAN, respectively.
vxlanhwcsum, vxlanhwtso
	If the driver offers user-configurable VXLAN support, enable inner checksum offloading (receive and transmit) or TSO on VXLAN, respectively. Note that this must be configured on a physical interface associated with vxlan(4), not on a vxlan(4) interface itself. The physical interface is either the interface specified as the vxlandev or the interface hosting the vxlanlocal address. The driver will offload as much checksum work and TSO as it can reliably support, the exact level of offloading may vary between drivers.
-vxlanhwcsum -, -vxlanhwtso
	If the driver offers user-configurable VXLAN support, disable checksum offloading (receive and transmit) or TSO on VXLAN, respectively.
vnet jail
	Move the interface to the jail(8), specified by name or JID. If the jail has a virtual network stack, the interface will disappear from the current environment and become visible to the jail.
-vnet jail
	Reclaim the interface from the jail(8), specified by name or JID. If the jail has a virtual network stack, the interface will disappear from the jail, and become visible to the current network environment.
polling
	Turn on polling(4) feature and disable interrupts on the interface, if driver supports this mode.
-polling
	Turn off polling(4) feature and enable interrupt mode on the interface.
create
	Create the specified network pseudo-device. If the interface is given without a unit number, try to create a new device with an arbitrary unit number. If creation of an arbitrary device is successful, the new device name is printed to standard output unless the interface is renamed or destroyed in the same ifconfig invocation.
destroy
	Destroy the specified network pseudo-device.
plumb	Another name for the create parameter. Included for Solaris compatibility.
unplumb
	Another name for the destroy parameter. Included for Solaris compatibility.
metric n
	Set the routing metric of the interface to n, default 0. The routing metric is used by the routing protocol (routed(8)). Higher metrics have the effect of making a route less favorable; metrics are counted as additional hops to the destination network or host.
mtu n	Set the maximum transmission unit of the interface to n, default is interface specific. The MTU is used to limit the size of packets that are transmitted on an interface. Not all interfaces support setting the MTU, and some interfaces have range restrictions.
netmask mask
	(Inet only.) Specify how much of the address to reserve for subdividing networks into sub-networks. The mask includes the network part of the local address and the subnet part, which is taken from the host field of the address. The mask can be specified as a single hexadecimal number with a leading ‘0x’, with a dot-notation Internet address, or with a pseudo-network name listed in the network table networks(5). The mask contains 1's for the bit positions in the 32-bit address which are to be used for the network and subnet parts, and 0's for the host part. The mask should contain at least the standard network portion, and the subnet field should be contiguous with the network portion. The netmask can also be specified in CIDR notation after the address. See the address option above for more information.
prefixlen len
	(Inet6 only.) Specify that len bits are reserved for subdividing networks into sub-networks. The len must be integer, and for syntactical reason it must be between 0 to 128. It is almost always 64 under the current IPv6 assignment rule. If the parameter is omitted, 64 is used. The prefix can also be specified using the slash notation after the address. See the address option above for more information.
remove
	Another name for the -alias parameter. Introduced for compatibility with .Bsx .
link [0-2]
	Enable special processing of the link level of the interface. These three options are interface specific in actual effect, however, they are in general used to select special modes of operation. An example of this is to enable SLIP compression, or to select the connector type for some Ethernet cards. Refer to the man page for the specific driver for more information.
-link [0-2]
	Disable special processing at the link level with the specified interface.
monitor
	Put the interface in monitor mode. No packets are transmitted, and received packets are discarded after bpf(4) processing.
-monitor
	Take the interface out of monitor mode.
up	Mark an interface "up". This may be used to enable an interface after an "Cm". It happens automatically when setting the first address on an interface. If the interface was reset when previously marked down, the hardware will be re-initialized.

The following parameters are for ICMPv6 Neighbor Discovery Protocol. Note that the address family keyword "inet6" is needed for them:

accept_rtadv
	Set a flag to enable accepting ICMPv6 Router Advertisement messages. The sysctl(8) variable net.inet6.ip6.accept_rtadv controls whether this flag is set by default or not.
-accept_rtadv
	Clear a flag accept_rtadv.
no_radr
	Set a flag to control whether routers from which the system accepts Router Advertisement messages will be added to the Default Router List or not. When the accept_rtadv flag is disabled, this flag has no effect. The sysctl(8) variable net.inet6.ip6.no_radr controls whether this flag is set by default or not.
-no_radr
	Clear a flag no_radr.
auto_linklocal
	Set a flag to perform automatic link-local address configuration when the interface becomes available. The sysctl(8) variable net.inet6.ip6.auto_linklocal controls whether this flag is set by default or not.
-auto_linklocal
	Clear a flag auto_linklocal.
defaultif
	Set the specified interface as the default route when there is no default router.
-defaultif
	Clear a flag defaultif.
ifdisabled
	Set a flag to disable all of IPv6 network communications on the specified interface. Note that if there are already configured IPv6 addresses on that interface, all of them are marked as "tentative" and DAD will be performed when this flag is cleared.
-ifdisabled
	Clear a flag ifdisabled. When this flag is cleared and auto_linklocal flag is enabled, automatic configuration of a link-local address is performed.
nud	Set a flag to enable Neighbor Unreachability Detection.
-nud	Clear a flag nud.
no_prefer_iface
	Set a flag to not honor rule 5 of source address selection in RFC 3484. In practice this means the address on the outgoing interface will not be preferred, effectively yielding the decision to the address selection policy table, configurable with ip6addrctl(8).
-no_prefer_iface
	Clear a flag no_prefer_iface.
no_dad
	Set a flag to disable Duplicate Address Detection.
-no_dad
	Clear a flag no_dad.

The following parameters are specific for IPv6 addresses. Note that the address family keyword "inet6" is needed for them:

autoconf
	Set the IPv6 autoconfigured address bit.
-autoconf
	Clear the IPv6 autoconfigured address bit.
deprecated
	Set the IPv6 deprecated address bit.
-deprecated
	Clear the IPv6 deprecated address bit.
pltime n
	Set preferred lifetime for the address.
prefer_source
	Set a flag to prefer address as a candidate of the source address for outgoing packets.
-prefer_source
	Clear a flag prefer_source.
vltime n
	Set valid lifetime for the address.

The following parameters are specific to cloning IEEE 802.11 wireless interfaces with the create request:

wlandev device
	Use device as the parent for the cloned device.
wlanmode mode
	Specify the operating mode for this cloned device. mode is one of sta, ahdemo (or adhoc-demo), ibss (or adhoc), ap (or hostap), wds, tdma, mesh, and monitor. The operating mode of a cloned interface cannot be changed. The tdma mode is actually implemented as an adhoc-demo interface with special properties.
wlanbssid bssid
	The 802.11 mac address to use for the bssid. This must be specified at create time for a legacy wds device.
wlanaddr address
	The local mac address. If this is not specified then a mac address will automatically be assigned to the cloned device. Typically this address is the same as the address of the parent device but if the bssid parameter is specified then the driver will craft a unique address for the device (if supported).
wdslegacy
	Mark a wds device as operating in ``legacy mode''. Legacy wds devices have a fixed peer relationship and do not, for example, roam if their peer stops communicating. For completeness a Dynamic WDS (DWDS) interface may marked as -wdslegacy.
bssid	Request a unique local mac address for the cloned device. This is only possible if the device supports multiple mac addresses. To force use of the parent's mac address use -bssid.
beacons
	Mark the cloned interface as depending on hardware support to track received beacons. To have beacons tracked in software use -beacons. For hostap mode -beacons can also be used to indicate no beacons should be transmitted; this can be useful when creating a WDS configuration but wds interfaces can only be created as companions to an access point.

The following parameters are specific to IEEE 802.11 wireless interfaces cloned with a create operation:

ampdu	Enable sending and receiving AMPDU frames when using 802.11n (default). The 802.11n specification states a compliant station must be capable of receiving AMPDU frames but transmission is optional. Use -ampdu to disable all use of AMPDU with 802.11n. For testing and/or to work around interoperability problems one can use ampdutx and ampdurx to control use of AMPDU in one direction.
ampdudensity density
	Set the AMPDU density parameter used when operating with 802.11n. This parameter controls the inter-packet gap for AMPDU frames. The sending device normally controls this setting but a receiving station may request wider gaps. Legal values for density are 0, .25, .5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 (microseconds). A value of - is treated the same as 0.
ampdulimit limit
	Set the limit on packet size for receiving AMPDU frames when operating with 802.11n. Legal values for limit are 8192, 16384, 32768, and 65536 but one can also specify just the unique prefix: 8, 16, 32, 64. Note the sender may limit the size of AMPDU frames to be less than the maximum specified by the receiving station.
amsdu	Enable sending and receiving AMSDU frames when using 802.11n. By default AMSDU is received but not transmitted. Use -amsdu to disable all use of AMSDU with 802.11n. For testing and/or to work around interoperability problems one can use amsdutx and amsdurx to control use of AMSDU in one direction.
amsdulimit limit
	Set the limit on packet size for sending and receiving AMSDU frames when operating with 802.11n. Legal values for limit are 7935 and 3839 (bytes). Note the sender may limit the size of AMSDU frames to be less than the maximum specified by the receiving station. Note also that devices are not required to support the 7935 limit, only 3839 is required by the specification and the larger value may require more memory to be dedicated to support functionality that is rarely used.
apbridge
	When operating as an access point, pass packets between wireless clients directly (default). To instead let them pass up through the system and be forwarded using some other mechanism, use -apbridge. Disabling the internal bridging is useful when traffic is to be processed with packet filtering.
authmode mode
	Set the desired authentication mode in infrastructure mode. Not all adapters support all modes. The set of valid modes is none, open, shared (shared key), 8021x (IEEE 802.1x), and wpa (IEEE WPA/WPA2/802.11i). The 8021x and wpa modes are only useful when using an authentication service (a supplicant for client operation or an authenticator when operating as an access point). Modes are case insensitive.
bgscan
	Enable background scanning when operating as a station. Background scanning is a technique whereby a station associated to an access point will temporarily leave the channel to scan for neighboring stations. This allows a station to maintain a cache of nearby access points so that roaming between access points can be done without a lengthy scan operation. Background scanning is done only when a station is not busy and any outbound traffic will cancel a scan operation. Background scanning should never cause packets to be lost though there may be some small latency if outbound traffic interrupts a scan operation. By default background scanning is enabled if the device is capable. To disable background scanning, use -bgscan. Background scanning is controlled by the bgscanidle and bgscanintvl parameters. Background scanning must be enabled for roaming; this is an artifact of the current implementation and may not be required in the future.
bgscanidle idletime
	Set the minimum time a station must be idle (not transmitting or receiving frames) before a background scan is initiated. The idletime parameter is specified in milliseconds. By default a station must be idle at least 250 milliseconds before a background scan is initiated. The idle time may not be set to less than 100 milliseconds.
bgscanintvl interval
	Set the interval at which background scanning is attempted. The interval parameter is specified in seconds. By default a background scan is considered every 300 seconds (5 minutes). The interval may not be set to less than 15 seconds.
bintval interval
	Set the interval at which beacon frames are sent when operating in ad-hoc or ap mode. The interval parameter is specified in TU's (1024 usecs). By default beacon frames are transmitted every 100 TU's.
bmissthreshold count
	Set the number of consecutive missed beacons at which the station will attempt to roam (i.e., search for a new access point). The count parameter must be in the range 1 to 255; though the upper bound may be reduced according to device capabilities. The default threshold is 7 consecutive missed beacons; but this may be overridden by the device driver. Another name for the bmissthreshold parameter is bmiss.
bssid address
	Specify the MAC address of the access point to use when operating as a station in a BSS network. This overrides any automatic selection done by the system. To disable a previously selected access point, supply any, none, or - for the address. This option is useful when more than one access point uses the same SSID. Another name for the bssid parameter is ap.
burst	Enable packet bursting. Packet bursting is a transmission technique whereby the wireless medium is acquired once to send multiple frames and the interframe spacing is reduced. This technique can significantly increase throughput by reducing transmission overhead. Packet bursting is supported by the 802.11e QoS specification and some devices that do not support QoS may still be capable. By default packet bursting is enabled if a device is capable of doing it. To disable packet bursting, use -burst.
chanlist channels
	Set the desired channels to use when scanning for access points, neighbors in an IBSS network, or looking for unoccupied channels when operating as an access point. The set of channels is specified as a comma-separated list with each element in the list representing either a single channel number or a range of the form "a-b". Channel numbers must be in the range 1 to 255 and be permissible according to the operating characteristics of the device.
channel number
	Set a single desired channel. Channels range from 1 to 255, but the exact selection available depends on the region your adaptor was manufactured for. Setting the channel to any, or - will clear any desired channel and, if the device is marked up, force a scan for a channel to operate on. Alternatively the frequency, in megahertz, may be specified instead of the channel number. When there are several ways to use a channel the channel number/frequency may be appended with attributes to clarify. For example, if a device is capable of operating on channel 6 with 802.11n and 802.11g then one can specify that g-only use should be used by specifying ``6:g''. Similarly the channel width can be specified by appending it with ``/''; e.g., ``6/40'' specifies a 40MHz wide channel, These attributes can be combined as in: ``6:ht/40''. The full set of flags specified following a ``:'' are: a (802.11a), b (802.11b), d (Atheros Dynamic Turbo mode), g (802.11g), h or n (802.11n aka HT), s (Atheros Static Turbo mode), and t (Atheros Dynamic Turbo mode, or appended to ``st'' and ``dt''). The full set of channel widths following a '/' are: 5 (5MHz aka quarter-rate channel), 10 (10MHz aka half-rate channel), 20 (20MHz mostly for use in specifying ht20), and 40 (40MHz mostly for use in specifying ht40). In addition, a 40MHz HT channel specification may include the location of the extension channel by appending ``+'' or ``-'' for above and below, respectively; e.g., ``2437:ht/40+'' specifies 40MHz wide HT operation with the center channel at frequency 2437 and the extension channel above.
country name
	Set the country code to use in calculating the regulatory constraints for operation. In particular the set of available channels, how the wireless device will operation on the channels, and the maximum transmit power that can be used on a channel are defined by this setting. Country/Region codes are specified as a 2-character abbreviation defined by ISO 3166 or using a longer, but possibly ambiguous, spelling; e.g., "ES" and "Spain". The set of country codes are taken from /etc/regdomain.xml and can also be viewed with the ``list countries'' request. Note that not all devices support changing the country code from a default setting; typically stored in EEPROM. See also regdomain, indoor, outdoor, and anywhere.
dfs	Enable Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) as specified in 802.11h. DFS embodies several facilities including detection of overlapping radar signals, dynamic transmit power control, and channel selection according to a least-congested criteria. DFS support is mandatory for some 5GHz frequencies in certain locales (e.g., ETSI). By default DFS is enabled according to the regulatory definitions specified in /etc/regdomain.xml and the current country code, regdomain, and channel. Note the underlying device (and driver) must support radar detection for full DFS support to work. To be fully compliant with the local regulatory agency frequencies that require DFS should not be used unless it is fully supported. Use -dfs to disable this functionality for testing.
dotd	Enable support for the 802.11d specification (default). When this support is enabled in station mode, beacon frames that advertise a country code different than the currently configured country code will cause an event to be dispatched to user applications. This event can be used by the station to adopt that country code and operate according to the associated regulatory constraints. When operating as an access point with 802.11d enabled the beacon and probe response frames transmitted will advertise the current regulatory domain settings. To disable 802.11d use -dotd.
doth	Enable 802.11h support including spectrum management. When 802.11h is enabled beacon and probe response frames will have the SpectrumMgt bit set in the capabilities field and country and power constraint information elements will be present. 802.11h support also includes handling Channel Switch Announcements (CSA) which are a mechanism to coordinate channel changes by an access point. By default 802.11h is enabled if the device is capable. To disable 802.11h use -doth.
deftxkey index
	Set the default key to use for transmission. Typically this is only set when using WEP encryption. Note that you must set a default transmit key for the system to know which key to use in encrypting outbound traffic. The weptxkey is an alias for this request; it is provided for backwards compatibility.
dtimperiod period
	Set the DTIM period for transmitting buffered multicast data frames when operating in ap mode. The period specifies the number of beacon intervals between DTIM and must be in the range 1 to 15. By default DTIM is 1 (i.e., DTIM occurs at each beacon).
quiet	Enable the use of quiet IE. Hostap will use this to silence other stations to reduce interference for radar detection when operating on 5GHz frequency and doth support is enabled. Use -quiet to disable this functionality.
quiet_period period
	Set the QUIET period to the number of beacon intervals between the start of regularly scheduled quiet intervals defined by Quiet element.
quiet_count count
	Set the QUIET count to the number of TBTTs until the beacon interval during which the next quiet interval shall start. A value of 1 indicates the quiet interval will start during the beacon interval starting at the next TBTT. A value 0 is reserved.
quiet_offset offset
	Set the QUIET offset to the offset of the start of the quiet interval from the TBTT specified by the Quiet count, expressed in TUs. The value of the offset shall be less than one beacon interval.
quiet_duration dur
	Set the QUIET dur to the duration of the Quiet interval, expressed in TUs. The value should be less than beacon interval.
dturbo
	Enable the use of Atheros Dynamic Turbo mode when communicating with another Dynamic Turbo-capable station. Dynamic Turbo mode is an Atheros-specific mechanism by which stations switch between normal 802.11 operation and a ``boosted'' mode in which a 40MHz wide channel is used for communication. Stations using Dynamic Turbo mode operate boosted only when the channel is free of non-dturbo stations; when a non-dturbo station is identified on the channel all stations will automatically drop back to normal operation. By default, Dynamic Turbo mode is not enabled, even if the device is capable. Note that turbo mode (dynamic or static) is only allowed on some channels depending on the regulatory constraints; use the list chan command to identify the channels where turbo mode may be used. To disable Dynamic Turbo mode use -dturbo.
dwds	Enable Dynamic WDS (DWDS) support. DWDS is a facility by which 4-address traffic can be carried between stations operating in infrastructure mode. A station first associates to an access point and authenticates using normal procedures (e.g., WPA). Then 4-address frames are passed to carry traffic for stations operating on either side of the wireless link. DWDS extends the normal WDS mechanism by leveraging existing security protocols and eliminating static binding. When DWDS is enabled on an access point 4-address frames received from an authorized station will generate a ``DWDS discovery'' event to user applications. This event should be used to create a WDS interface that is bound to the remote station (and usually plumbed into a bridge). Once the WDS interface is up and running 4-address traffic then logically flows through that interface. When DWDS is enabled on a station, traffic with a destination address different from the peer station are encapsulated in a 4-address frame and transmitted to the peer. All 4-address traffic uses the security information of the stations (e.g., cryptographic keys). A station is associated using 802.11n facilities may transport 4-address traffic using these same mechanisms; this depends on available resources and capabilities of the device. The DWDS implementation guards against layer 2 routing loops of multicast traffic.
ff	Enable the use of Atheros Fast Frames when communicating with another Fast Frames-capable station. Fast Frames are an encapsulation technique by which two 802.3 frames are transmitted in a single 802.11 frame. This can noticeably improve throughput but requires that the receiving station understand how to decapsulate the frame. Fast frame use is negotiated using the Atheros 802.11 vendor-specific protocol extension so enabling use is safe when communicating with non-Atheros devices. By default, use of fast frames is enabled if the device is capable. To explicitly disable fast frames, use -ff.
fragthreshold length
	Set the threshold for which transmitted frames are broken into fragments. The length argument is the frame size in bytes and must be in the range 256 to 2346. Setting length to 2346, any, or - disables transmit fragmentation. Not all adapters honor the fragmentation threshold.
hidessid
	When operating as an access point, do not broadcast the SSID in beacon frames or respond to probe request frames unless they are directed to the ap (i.e., they include the ap's SSID). By default, the SSID is included in beacon frames and undirected probe request frames are answered. To re-enable the broadcast of the SSID etc., use -hidessid.
ht	Enable use of High Throughput (HT) when using 802.11n (default). The 802.11n specification includes mechanisms for operation on 20MHz and 40MHz wide channels using different signalling mechanisms than specified in 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a. Stations negotiate use of these facilities, termed HT20 and HT40, when they associate. To disable all use of 802.11n use -ht. To disable use of HT20 (e.g., to force only HT40 use) use -ht20. To disable use of HT40 use -ht40. HT configuration is used to ``auto promote'' operation when several choices are available. For example, if a station associates to an 11n-capable access point it controls whether the station uses legacy operation, HT20, or HT40. When an 11n-capable device is setup as an access point and Auto Channel Selection is used to locate a channel to operate on, HT configuration controls whether legacy, HT20, or HT40 operation is setup on the selected channel. If a fixed channel is specified for a station then HT configuration can be given as part of the channel specification; e.g., 6:ht/20 to setup HT20 operation on channel 6.
htcompat
	Enable use of compatibility support for pre-802.11n devices (default). The 802.11n protocol specification went through several incompatible iterations. Some vendors implemented 11n support to older specifications that will not interoperate with a purely 11n-compliant station. In particular the information elements included in management frames for old devices are different. When compatibility support is enabled both standard and compatible data will be provided. Stations that associate using the compatibility mechanisms are flagged in ``list sta''. To disable compatibility support use -htcompat.
htprotmode technique
	For interfaces operating in 802.11n, use the specified technique for protecting HT frames in a mixed legacy/HT network. The set of valid techniques is off, and rts (RTS/CTS, default). Technique names are case insensitive.
inact	Enable inactivity processing for stations associated to an access point (default). When operating as an access point the 802.11 layer monitors the activity of each associated station. When a station is inactive for 5 minutes it will send several ``probe frames'' to see if the station is still present. If no response is received then the station is deauthenticated. Applications that prefer to handle this work can disable this facility by using -inact.
indoor
	Set the location to use in calculating regulatory constraints. The location is also advertised in beacon and probe response frames when 802.11d is enabled with dotd. See also outdoor, anywhere, country, and regdomain.
list active
	Display the list of channels available for use taking into account any restrictions set with the chanlist directive. See the description of list chan for more information.
list caps
	Display the adaptor's capabilities, including the operating modes supported.
list chan
	Display the list of channels available for use. Channels are shown with their IEEE channel number, equivalent frequency, and usage modes. Channels identified as ‘11g’ are also usable in ‘11b’ mode. Channels identified as ‘11a Turbo’ may be used only for Atheros' Static Turbo mode (specified with mediaopt turbo). Channels marked with a ‘*’ have a regulatory constraint that they be passively scanned. This means a station is not permitted to transmit on the channel until it identifies the channel is being used for 802.11 communication; typically by hearing a beacon frame from an access point operating on the channel. list freq is another way of requesting this information. By default a compacted list of channels is displayed; if the -v option is specified then all channels are shown.
list countries
	Display the set of country codes and regulatory domains that can be used in regulatory configuration.
list mac
	Display the current MAC Access Control List state. Each address is prefixed with a character that indicates the current policy applied to it: ‘+’ indicates the address is allowed access, ‘-’ indicates the address is denied access, ‘*’ indicates the address is present but the current policy open (so the ACL is not consulted).
list mesh
	Displays the mesh routing table, used for forwarding packets on a mesh network.
list regdomain
	Display the current regulatory settings including the available channels and transmit power caps.
list roam
	Display the parameters that govern roaming operation.
list txparam
	Display the parameters that govern transmit operation.
list txpower
	Display the transmit power caps for each channel.
list scan
	Display the access points and/or ad-hoc neighbors located in the vicinity. This information may be updated automatically by the adapter with a scan request or through background scanning. Depending on the capabilities of the stations the following flags (capability codes) can be included in the output:
A	Channel agility.
B	PBCC modulation.
C	Poll request capability.
D	DSSS/OFDM capability.
E	Extended Service Set (ESS). Indicates that the station is part of an infrastructure network rather than an IBSS/ad-hoc network.
I	Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS). Indicates that the station is part of an ad-hoc network rather than an ESS network.
P	Privacy capability. The station requires authentication and encryption for all data frames exchanged within the BSS using cryptographic means such as WEP, TKIP, or AES-CCMP.
R	Robust Secure Network (RSN).
S	Short Preamble. Indicates that the network is using short preambles, defined in 802.11b High Rate/DSSS PHY, and utilizes a 56 bit sync field rather than the 128 bit field used in long preamble mode. Short preambles are used to optionally improve throughput performance with 802.11g and 802.11b.
c	Pollable capability.
s	Short slot time capability. Indicates that the 802.11g network is using a short slot time because there are no legacy (802.11b) stations present.

By default interesting information elements captured from the neighboring stations are displayed at the end of each row. Possible elements include: WME (station supports WME), WPA (station supports WPA), WPS (station supports WPS), RSN (station supports 802.11i/RSN), HTCAP (station supports 802.11n/HT communication), ATH (station supports Atheros protocol extensions), VEN (station supports unknown vendor-specific extensions). If the -v flag is used all the information elements and their contents will be shown. Specifying the -v flag also enables display of long SSIDs. The list ap command is another way of requesting this information.

list sta
	When operating as an access point display the stations that are currently associated. When operating in ad-hoc mode display stations identified as neighbors in the IBSS. When operating in mesh mode display stations identified as neighbors in the MBSS. When operating in station mode display the access point. Capabilities advertised by the stations are described under the scan request. The following flags can be included in the output:
A	Authorized. Indicates that the station is permitted to send/receive data frames.
E	Extended Rate Phy (ERP). Indicates that the station is operating in an 802.11g network using extended transmit rates.
H	High Throughput (HT). Indicates that the station is using HT transmit rates. If a '+' follows immediately after then the station associated using deprecated mechanisms supported only when htcompat is enabled.
P	Power Save. Indicates that the station is operating in power save mode.
Q	Quality of Service (QoS). Indicates that the station is using QoS encapsulation for data frame. QoS encapsulation is enabled only when WME mode is enabled.
S	Short GI in HT 40MHz mode enabled. If a '+' follows immediately after then short GI in HT 20MHz mode is enabled as well.
T	Transitional Security Network (TSN). Indicates that the station associated using TSN; see also tsn below.
W	Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). Indicates that the station associated using WPS.
s	Short GI in HT 20MHz mode enabled.

By default information elements received from associated stations are displayed in a short form; the -v flag causes this information to be displayed symbolically.

list wme
	Display the current channel parameters to use when operating in WME mode. If the -v option is specified then both channel and BSS parameters are displayed for each AC (first channel, then BSS). When WME mode is enabled for an adaptor this information will be displayed with the regular status; this command is mostly useful for examining parameters when WME mode is disabled. See the description of the wme directive for information on the various parameters.
maxretry count
	Set the maximum number of tries to use in sending unicast frames. The default setting is 6 but drivers may override this with a value they choose.
mcastrate rate
	Set the rate for transmitting multicast/broadcast frames. Rates are specified as megabits/second in decimal; e.g.,amp; 5.5 for 5.5 Mb/s. This rate should be valid for the current operating conditions; if an invalid rate is specified drivers are free to chose an appropriate rate.
mgtrate rate
	Set the rate for transmitting management and/or control frames. Rates are specified as megabits/second in decimal; e.g.,amp; 5.5 for 5.5 Mb/s.
outdoor
	Set the location to use in calculating regulatory constraints. The location is also advertised in beacon and probe response frames when 802.11d is enabled with dotd. See also anywhere, country, indoor, and regdomain.
powersave
	Enable powersave operation. When operating as a client, the station will conserve power by periodically turning off the radio and listening for messages from the access point telling it there are packets waiting. The station must then retrieve the packets. Not all devices support power save operation as a client. The 802.11 specification requires that all access points support power save but some drivers do not. Use -powersave to disable powersave operation when operating as a client.
powersavesleep sleep
	Set the desired max powersave sleep time in TU's (1024 usecs). By default the max powersave sleep time is 100 TU's.
protmode technique
	For interfaces operating in 802.11g, use the specified technique for protecting OFDM frames in a mixed 11b/11g network. The set of valid techniques is off, cts (CTS to self), and rtscts (RTS/CTS). Technique names are case insensitive. Not all devices support cts as a protection technique.
pureg	When operating as an access point in 802.11g mode allow only 11g-capable stations to associate (11b-only stations are not permitted to associate). To allow both 11g and 11b-only stations to associate, use -pureg.
puren	When operating as an access point in 802.11n mode allow only HT-capable stations to associate (legacy stations are not permitted to associate). To allow both HT and legacy stations to associate, use -puren.
regdomain sku
	Set the regulatory domain to use in calculating the regulatory constraints for operation. In particular the set of available channels, how the wireless device will operation on the channels, and the maximum transmit power that can be used on a channel are defined by this setting. Regdomain codes (SKU's) are taken from /etc/regdomain.xml and can also be viewed with the ``list countries'' request. Note that not all devices support changing the regdomain from a default setting; typically stored in EEPROM. See also country, indoor, outdoor, and anywhere.
rifs	Enable use of Reduced InterFrame Spacing (RIFS) when operating in 802.11n on an HT channel. Note that RIFS must be supported by both the station and access point for it to be used. To disable RIFS use -rifs.
roam:rate rate
	Set the threshold for controlling roaming when operating in a BSS. The rate parameter specifies the transmit rate in megabits at which roaming should be considered. If the current transmit rate drops below this setting and background scanning is enabled, then the system will check if a more desirable access point is available and switch over to it. The current scan cache contents are used if they are considered valid according to the scanvalid parameter; otherwise a background scan operation is triggered before any selection occurs. Each channel type has a separate rate threshold; the default values are: 12 Mb/s (11a), 2 Mb/s (11b), 2 Mb/s (11g), MCS 1 (11na, 11ng).
roam:rssi rssi
	Set the threshold for controlling roaming when operating in a BSS. The rssi parameter specifies the receive signal strength in dBm units at which roaming should be considered. If the current rssi drops below this setting and background scanning is enabled, then the system will check if a more desirable access point is available and switch over to it. The current scan cache contents are used if they are considered valid according to the scanvalid parameter; otherwise a background scan operation is triggered before any selection occurs. Each channel type has a separate rssi threshold; the default values are all 7 dBm.
roaming mode
	When operating as a station, control how the system will behave when communication with the current access point is broken. The mode argument may be one of device (leave it to the hardware device to decide), auto (handle either in the device or the operating system[em]as appropriate), manual (do nothing until explicitly instructed). By default, the device is left to handle this if it is capable; otherwise, the operating system will automatically attempt to reestablish communication. Manual mode is used by applications such as wpa_supplicant(8) that want to control the selection of an access point.
rtsthreshold length
	Set the threshold for which transmitted frames are preceded by transmission of an RTS control frame. The length argument is the frame size in bytes and must be in the range 1 to 2346. Setting length to 2346, any, or - disables transmission of RTS frames. Not all adapters support setting the RTS threshold.
scan	Initiate a scan of neighboring stations, wait for it to complete, and display all stations found. Only the super-user can initiate a scan. See list scan for information on the display. By default a background scan is done; otherwise a foreground scan is done and the station may roam to a different access point. The list scan request can be used to show recent scan results without initiating a new scan.
scanvalid threshold
	Set the maximum time the scan cache contents are considered valid; i.e., will be used without first triggering a scan operation to refresh the data. The threshold parameter is specified in seconds and defaults to 60 seconds. The minimum setting for threshold is 10 seconds. One should take care setting this threshold; if it is set too low then attempts to roam to another access point may trigger unnecessary background scan operations.
shortgi
	Enable use of Short Guard Interval when operating in 802.11n on an HT channel. NB: this currently enables Short GI on both HT40 and HT20 channels. To disable Short GI use -shortgi.
smps	Enable use of Static Spatial Multiplexing Power Save (SMPS) when operating in 802.11n. A station operating with Static SMPS maintains only a single receive chain active (this can significantly reduce power consumption). To disable SMPS use -smps.
smpsdyn
	Enable use of Dynamic Spatial Multiplexing Power Save (SMPS) when operating in 802.11n. A station operating with Dynamic SMPS maintains only a single receive chain active but switches to multiple receive chains when it receives an RTS frame (this can significantly reduce power consumption). Note that stations cannot distinguish between RTS/CTS intended to enable multiple receive chains and those used for other purposes. To disable SMPS use -smps.
ssid ssid
	Set the desired Service Set Identifier (aka network name). The SSID is a string up to 32 characters in length and may be specified as either a normal string or in hexadecimal when preceded by ‘0x’. Additionally, the SSID may be cleared by setting it to ‘-’.
tdmaslot slot
	When operating with TDMA, use the specified slot configuration. The slot is a number between 0 and the maximum number of slots in the BSS. Note that a station configured as slot 0 is a master and will broadcast beacon frames advertising the BSS; stations configured to use other slots will always scan to locate a master before they ever transmit. By default tdmaslot is set to 1.
tdmaslotcnt cnt
	When operating with TDMA, setup a BSS with cnt slots. The slot count may be at most 8. The current implementation is only tested with two stations (i.e., point to point applications). This setting is only meaningful when a station is configured as slot 0; other stations adopt this setting from the BSS they join. By default tdmaslotcnt is set to 2.
tdmaslotlen len
	When operating with TDMA, setup a BSS such that each station has a slot len microseconds long. The slot length must be at least 150 microseconds (1/8 TU) and no more than 65 milliseconds. Note that setting too small a slot length may result in poor channel bandwidth utilization due to factors such as timer granularity and guard time. This setting is only meaningful when a station is configured as slot 0; other stations adopt this setting from the BSS they join. By default tdmaslotlen is set to 10 milliseconds.
tdmabintval intval
	When operating with TDMA, setup a BSS such that beacons are transmitted every intval superframes to synchronize the TDMA slot timing. A superframe is defined as the number of slots times the slot length; e.g., a BSS with two slots of 10 milliseconds has a 20 millisecond superframe. The beacon interval may not be zero. A lower setting of tdmabintval causes the timers to be resynchronized more often; this can be help if significant timer drift is observed. By default tdmabintval is set to 5.
tsn	When operating as an access point with WPA/802.11i allow legacy stations to associate using static key WEP and open authentication. To disallow legacy station use of WEP, use -tsn.
txpower power
	Set the power used to transmit frames. The power argument is specified in .5 dBm units. Out of range values are truncated. Typically only a few discreet power settings are available and the driver will use the setting closest to the specified value. Not all adapters support changing the transmit power.
ucastrate rate
	Set a fixed rate for transmitting unicast frames. Rates are specified as megabits/second in decimal; e.g.,amp; 5.5 for 5.5 Mb/s. This rate should be valid for the current operating conditions; if an invalid rate is specified drivers are free to chose an appropriate rate.
wepmode mode
	Set the desired WEP mode. Not all adapters support all modes. The set of valid modes is off, on, and mixed. The mixed mode explicitly tells the adaptor to allow association with access points which allow both encrypted and unencrypted traffic. On these adapters, on means that the access point must only allow encrypted connections. On other adapters, on is generally another name for mixed. Modes are case insensitive.
weptxkey index
	Set the WEP key to be used for transmission. This is the same as setting the default transmission key with deftxkey.
wepkey key|index :key
	Set the selected WEP key. If an index is not given, key 1 is set. A WEP key will be either 5 or 13 characters (40 or 104 bits) depending on the local network and the capabilities of the adaptor. It may be specified either as a plain string or as a string of hexadecimal digits preceded by ‘0x’. For maximum portability, hex keys are recommended; the mapping of text keys to WEP encryption is usually driver-specific. In particular, the Windows drivers do this mapping differently to FreeBSD . A key may be cleared by setting it to ‘-’. If WEP is supported then there are at least four keys. Some adapters support more than four keys. If that is the case, then the first four keys (1-4) will be the standard temporary keys and any others will be adaptor specific keys such as permanent keys stored in NVRAM. Note that you must set a default transmit key with deftxkey for the system to know which key to use in encrypting outbound traffic.
wme	Enable Wireless Multimedia Extensions (WME) support, if available, for the specified interface. WME is a subset of the IEEE 802.11e standard to support the efficient communication of realtime and multimedia data. To disable WME support, use -wme. Another name for this parameter is wmm. The following parameters are meaningful only when WME support is in use. Parameters are specified per-AC (Access Category) and split into those that are used by a station when acting as an access point and those for client stations in the BSS. The latter are received from the access point and may not be changed (at the station). The following Access Categories are recognized:
AC_BE	(or BE) best effort delivery,
AC_BK	(or BK) background traffic,
AC_VI	(or VI) video traffic,
AC_VO	(or VO) voice traffic.

AC parameters are case-insensitive. Traffic classification is done in the operating system using the vlan priority associated with data frames or the ToS (Type of Service) indication in IP-encapsulated frames. If neither information is present, traffic is assigned to the Best Effort (BE) category.

ack ac	Set the ACK policy for QoS transmissions by the local station; this controls whether or not data frames transmitted by a station require an ACK response from the receiving station. To disable waiting for an ACK use -ack. This parameter is applied only to the local station.
acm ac	Enable the Admission Control Mandatory (ACM) mechanism for transmissions by the local station. To disable the ACM use -acm. On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates the setting received from the access point. NB: ACM is not supported right now.
aifs ac count
	Set the Arbitration Inter Frame Spacing (AIFS) channel access parameter to use for transmissions by the local station. On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates the setting received from the access point.
cwmin ac count
	Set the CWmin channel access parameter to use for transmissions by the local station. On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates the setting received from the access point.
cwmax ac count
	Set the CWmax channel access parameter to use for transmissions by the local station. On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates the setting received from the access point.
txoplimit ac limit
	Set the Transmission Opportunity Limit channel access parameter to use for transmissions by the local station. This parameter defines an interval of time when a WME station has the right to initiate transmissions onto the wireless medium. On stations in a BSS this parameter is read-only and indicates the setting received from the access point.
bss:aifs ac count
	Set the AIFS channel access parameter to send to stations in a BSS. This parameter is meaningful only when operating in ap mode.
bss:cwmin ac count
	Set the CWmin channel access parameter to send to stations in a BSS. This parameter is meaningful only when operating in ap mode.
bss:cwmax ac count
	Set the CWmax channel access parameter to send to stations in a BSS. This parameter is meaningful only when operating in ap mode.
bss:txoplimit ac limit
	Set the TxOpLimit channel access parameter to send to stations in a BSS. This parameter is meaningful only when operating in ap mode.

wps	Enable Wireless Privacy Subscriber support. Note that WPS support requires a WPS-capable supplicant. To disable this function use -wps.