iwconfig: command not found

The iwconfig command is used to provide wireless NIC configurations, including settings like SSID, encryption information, etc. To connect to a wired network, we simply assign an IP address and subnet mask with the ifconfig utility. A wireless network connection requires the iwconfig and iwlist utilities.

Syntax

The syntax of the iwconfig command is:

# iwconfig [options] [interface]

iwconfig Command Options

The following table describes some common iwconfig command options:

Option Used To
nick {name} Set a nickname for the NIC.
mode {mode} Set the operating mode for the NIC that corresponds to the network topology.
freq {number} Set the Wi-Fi frequency used by the NIC
channel {number} Set the Wi-Fi channel used by the NIC.
retry {number} Set the maximum number of MAC retransmissions for the NIC.

If you encounter the below error while running the iwconfig command:

iwconfig: command not found

you may try installing the below package as per your choice of distribution:

OS Distribution Command
Debian apt-get install wireless-tools
Ubuntu apt-get install wireless-tools
Alpine apk add wireless-tools
Arch Linux pacman -S wireless_tools
Kali Linux apt-get install wireless-tools
Fedora dnf install wireless-tools-1
Raspbian apt-get install wireless-tools

iwconfig Command Examples

1. Show the parameters and statistics of all the interfaces:

# iwconfig

2. Show the parameters and statistics of the specified interface:

# iwconfig interface

3. Set the ESSID (network name) of the specified interface (e.g. eth0 or wlp2s0):

# iwconfig interface new_network_name

4. Set the operating mode of the specified interface:

# iwconfig interface mode ad hoc|Managed|Master|Repeater|Secondary|Monitor|Auto

5. To configure Eth1 to operate in monitor mode, type this:

# iwconfig eth1 mode monitor
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