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HOSTAPD(8)	       DragonFly System Manager's Manual	    HOSTAPD(8)


NAME

     hostapd -- authenticator for IEEE 802.11 networks


SYNOPSIS

     hostapd [-BdhKtv] [-P pidfile] config-file ...


DESCRIPTION

     The hostapd utility is an authenticator for IEEE 802.11 networks.	It
     provides full support for WPA/IEEE 802.11i and can also act as an IEEE
     802.1X Authenticator with a suitable backend Authentication Server (typi-
     cally FreeRADIUS).  The hostapd utility implements the authentication
     protocols that piggyback on top of the normal IEEE 802.11 protocol mecha-
     nisms.  To use hostapd as an authenticator, the underlying device must
     support some basic functionality such as the ability to set security
     information in the 802.11 management frames.  Beware that not all devices
     have this support.

     The hostapd utility is designed to be a ``daemon'' program that runs in
     the background and acts as the backend component controlling the wireless
     connection.  It supports separate frontend programs such as the text-
     based frontend, hostapd_cli(8).

     The following arguments must be specified on the command line:

     config-file
	     Use the settings in the specified configuration file; the name of
	     the specified wireless interface is contained in this file.  See
	     hostapd.conf(5) for a description of the configuration file syn-
	     tax.

	     Changes to the configuration file can be reloaded by sending a
	     SIGHUP to the hostapd processor or with the hostapd_cli(8) util-
	     ity, using ``hostapd_cli reconfigure''.


OPTIONS

     The options are as follows:

     -d      Enable debugging messages.  If this option is supplied twice,
	     more verbose messages are displayed.

     -h      Show help text.

     -t      Include timestamps in debugging output.

     -v      Display version information on the terminal and exit.

     -B      Detach from the controlling terminal and run as a daemon process
	     in the background.

     -K      Include key information in debugging output.

     -P pidfile
	     Store PID in pidfile.


SEE ALSO

     ath(4), iwi(4), ral(4), rum(4), run(4), wi(4), hostapd.conf(5),
     hostapd_cli(8), ifconfig(8)


HISTORY

     The hostapd utility first appeared in FreeBSD 6.0.


AUTHORS

     The hostapd utility was written by Jouni Malinen <j@w1.fi>.  This manual
     page is derived from the README file included in the hostapd distribu-
     tion.

DragonFly 4.3		       October 26, 2007 		 DragonFly 4.3

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