### Index ###

! What is it?
Wireless related commands for the beginner, or the forgetful.                                                                                                                             
This is not a complete list and is not intended as a subsitute for the manual ('''man man''') nor the time tested method of 'experimentation'. 
It is instead, a list of useful command line entries (or observations) that will help to kickstart the puzzled newbie into using wireless on [Linux] effectively.

If you're after more then the (http://www.icon.co.za/~psheer/book/index.html Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition) is one of many resources for an introduction to [Linux].
> Feel free to add to it...
! CLI
!! man
* '''man man''' - review what the man help system does
!! apropos
* '''apropos <query>''' - search the manual descriptions for <query>
** '''apropos route''' - return manuals that consider route to be in their "domain"
!! info
* '''info''' - review what the info help system does
** '''pinfo''' - a "colorful viewer"
!! pcmcia_cs                                                                                                                             
PCMCIA '''C'''ard '''S'''ervices - generally starts on system boot up or may be 
manually started using  ''/etc/init.d/pcmcia'' and displayed arguments
(RedHat, Fedora, Debian and others)                                                                                                                             
If it's not running on start up the '''chkconfig''' or '''setup''' can be used under RedHat, Fedora to check the start configuration. (What is it under [Debian]?) 
!! cardctl
* '''cardctl eject''' -- ejects all cards
** '''cardctl eject 0''' - ejects first card
** '''cardctl eject 1''' - ejects secondcard
*                                                                                                                             '''cardctl ident''' - '''ident'''ify a card. Useful when changing the default driver, by editing ''/etc/pcmcia/config, /etc/pcmcia/config-2.4 or /etc/pcmcia/host_cs.conf'' and changing the module the '''manfid''' '''bind'''s to.                                                                                                                             
If problems are experienced in ejecting a card, the interface may need to be brought down first. programs such as '''dhclient''' may be blocking the card and preventing a clean exit.
!! if up if-down
* '''ifdown wlan0''' - shutdown the wlan0 interface 
* '''ifup wlan0''' - start the wlan0 interface 
* also see '''ifconfig'''
!! ifconfig
* '''ifconfig''' - return configuration of ethernet devices
** '''ifconfig eth0''' - eth0 values only
* '''ifconfig eth0 up''' - start the eth0 interface
* '''ifconfig eth0 down''' - shutdown the eth0 interface
!! wireless-tools                                                                                                                             
* '''iwconfig''' - displays all interfaces (the '''ifconfig''' of wireless cards)
** '''iwconfig wlan1''' - displays wlan1 only
** '''iwconfig''' <if#> '''txpower''' <#/#mW> - for cards that support, changes transmit power (NB: If using mW, don't forget the suffix)
* '''iwlist scan''' -- scans from all supported cards and reports stats on accesspoints or client found
** '''iwlist wlan0 scan'''  - scans for nodes (only from wlan0)
!! ip
supplied by the iproute or iproute2 package. A (minimum) 2.4 kernel is usually required and the package may need to be manually installed.
* No manual page, use ''' ip help''' instead
* '''ip a''' display address's
** '''ip a help''' - further help for address's
* '''ip r''' display routes (also review the '''route command''')
** '''ip r help''' further route help
* '''ip a a 10.10.146.58/30 dev eth0 label eth0:0''' - add a virtual interface to dev eth0
* '''ip l s eth0 mtu 1200''' - change the mtu to 1200
!! route
* '''route -n''' - display routes without resolving names (no names = quicker)
!! <Alt>
'''<Alt> F1''', '''<Alt> F2''' etc will change consoles. Usually up to 7 consoles are preconfigured, the number can be changed in ''/etc/inittab''. Reduce the number for a headless, low memory machine.
!! <Shift> <page_up>
Use scroll back on current console. The scroll back on the current terminal (console) will be lost when changing to another console.
Unsurprisingly '''<Shift> <page_down>''' has a similar effect
!! dmesg
display the kernel messages. Useful immediately after boot up or at any time that the OS messages may need reviewing.
!! enable forwarding
Routers must have this set, firewalls will often set it within their scripts.
The scripts or whatever will all write either '''0''' (false) or '''1''' (true) to  ''/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward''. To read it then...
* '''cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward'''
to write to it (and enable forwarding)
* '''echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward''' and check with the previous '''cat''' command
!! /proc
Directory of running processess and their configuration variables
* '''cat  /proc/interrupts''' - show irq's in use (and thus check, resolve clashes)
* '''cat /proc/pci''' - show results found for pci bus (slots). ie: detected values for pci cards such as ethernet, video, cradles
* ''' cat /proc <TAB><TAB> - use command completion to display all files in proc directory, pick one and '''cat''' it
!! ps
show running processes
options - too many to list - review the manual.
* '''ps -adelf''' - a fairly complete ''long listing''. Needs wordwrap to review effectively . Try redirecting
* '''ps axf''' - a threaded listing
!! redirect
redirect output to another place
* eg '''ps -adelf > /tmp/dump'''%%%
'''less /tmp/dump''' - line wrapping (from the above command) is now viewable.
!! /var/log
When something goes wrong, and no messages are returned - '''look here'''
Look here anyway and become familar with the layout and what is captured. 
* ''/var/log'' tells all (that it knows about anyway).

! GUI
Is there a point in listing GUI applications? I can't picture describing the mouse shortcuts, but the section is here if there's a need.