2008-06-10 06:31:25 -04:00
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mac80211_hwsim - software simulator of 802.11 radio(s) for mac80211
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Copyright (c) 2008, Jouni Malinen <j@w1.fi>
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This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
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published by the Free Software Foundation.
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Introduction
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mac80211_hwsim is a Linux kernel module that can be used to simulate
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arbitrary number of IEEE 802.11 radios for mac80211 on a single
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device. It can be used to test most of the mac80211 functionality and
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user space tools (e.g., hostapd and wpa_supplicant) in a way that
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matches very closely with the normal case of using real WLAN
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hardware. From the mac80211 view point, mac80211_hwsim is yet another
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hardware driver, i.e., no changes to mac80211 are needed to use this
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testing tool.
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The main goal for mac80211_hwsim is to make it easier for developers
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to test their code and work with new features to mac80211, hostapd,
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and wpa_supplicant. The simulated radios do not have the limitations
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of real hardware, so it is easy to generate an arbitrary test setup
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and always reproduce the same setup for future tests. In addition,
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since all radio operation is simulated, any channel can be used in
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tests regardless of regulatory rules.
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mac80211_hwsim kernel module has a parameter 'radios' that can be used
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to select how many radios are simulates (default 2). This allows
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configuration of both very simply setups (e.g., just a single access
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point and a station) or large scale tests (multiple access points with
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hundreds of stations).
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mac80211_hwsim works by tracking the current channel of each virtual
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radio and copying all transmitted frames to all other radios that are
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currently enabled and on the same channel as the transmitting
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radio. Software encryption in mac80211 is used so that the frames are
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actually encrypted over the virtual air interface to allow more
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complete testing of encryption.
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2008-06-10 11:10:40 -04:00
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A global monitoring netdev, hwsim#, is created independent of
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mac80211. This interface can be used to monitor all transmitted frames
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regardless of channel.
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2008-06-10 06:31:25 -04:00
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Simple example
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This example shows how to use mac80211_hwsim to simulate two radios:
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one to act as an access point and the other as a station that
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associates with the AP. hostapd and wpa_supplicant are used to take
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care of WPA2-PSK authentication. In addition, hostapd is also
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processing access point side of association.
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2009-07-23 17:16:55 -04:00
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# Load the module (needs to be built into your kernel)
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modprobe mac80211_hwsim
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2008-06-10 06:31:25 -04:00
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# Run hostapd (AP) for wlan0
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hostapd hostapd.conf
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# Run wpa_supplicant (station) for wlan1
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wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan1 -c wpa_supplicant.conf
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