Convert WiFi access point flags to connection profile security settings

[Adrien Cossa]

Hello,

I am writing a web API for NetworkManager, to get something like
`nm-applet`, but in the browser. And I am struggling to implement the
listing of access points, because I lack knowledge about NetworkManager
and wireless security.

Retrieving the data via DBus etc. is OK (I use the great sdbus library
for python [1]), but I don't know what to do with the access point's
`Flags` [2], `WpaFlags` and `RsnFlags` [3]. I am trying to convert those
flags combinations to `auth-alg` and `key-mgmt`, as described in [4]...
because I assume that it will be needed to create a new connection
profile with the right parameters. I found a useful code example [5] to
start with, but there's still a lot to do (and I wonder if this example
is up-to-date).

1) Do I really need to build this mapping from the flags that I receive
from DBus to `auth-alg` and `key-mgmt`? Or is there a better way than
creating + activating a new connection profile to tell NetworkManager
"please connect me to that access point" (via DBus)?

2) If adding the profile and activating it is the way to go, do you know
where I could find the correspondence between the access point's flags
to the wireless security settings `auth-alg` and `key-mgmt`? A table
with the basic mapping for the most used access point configuration
would already be great (a bit like [5] but more detailed, and using
`auth-alg` and `key-mgmt` terminology).

3) Is `WpaFlags` used for the first version of WPA only, and `RsnFlags`
used for WPA2 + WPA3?

Many thanks,

Adrien


[1] https://github.com/python-sdbus/python-sdbus-networkmanager

[2]
https://networkmanager.dev/docs/api/latest/nm-dbus-types.html#NM80211ApFlags

[3]
https://networkmanager.dev/docs/api/latest/nm-dbus-types.html#NM80211ApSecurityFlags

[4]
https://networkmanager.dev/docs/api/latest/nm-settings-dbus.html#id-1.2.9.4.49

[5]
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/-/blob/main/examples/python/gi/show-wifi-networks.py

Adrien Cossa
Senior Software Developer
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