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1 | mac80211_hwsim - software simulator of 802.11 radio(s) for mac80211 | ||
2 | Copyright (c) 2008, Jouni Malinen <j@w1.fi> | ||
3 | |||
4 | This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify | ||
5 | it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as | ||
6 | published by the Free Software Foundation. | ||
7 | |||
8 | |||
9 | Introduction | ||
10 | |||
11 | mac80211_hwsim is a Linux kernel module that can be used to simulate | ||
12 | arbitrary number of IEEE 802.11 radios for mac80211. It can be used to | ||
13 | test most of the mac80211 functionality and user space tools (e.g., | ||
14 | hostapd and wpa_supplicant) in a way that matches very closely with | ||
15 | the normal case of using real WLAN hardware. From the mac80211 view | ||
16 | point, mac80211_hwsim is yet another hardware driver, i.e., no changes | ||
17 | to mac80211 are needed to use this testing tool. | ||
18 | |||
19 | The main goal for mac80211_hwsim is to make it easier for developers | ||
20 | to test their code and work with new features to mac80211, hostapd, | ||
21 | and wpa_supplicant. The simulated radios do not have the limitations | ||
22 | of real hardware, so it is easy to generate an arbitrary test setup | ||
23 | and always reproduce the same setup for future tests. In addition, | ||
24 | since all radio operation is simulated, any channel can be used in | ||
25 | tests regardless of regulatory rules. | ||
26 | |||
27 | mac80211_hwsim kernel module has a parameter 'radios' that can be used | ||
28 | to select how many radios are simulated (default 2). This allows | ||
29 | configuration of both very simply setups (e.g., just a single access | ||
30 | point and a station) or large scale tests (multiple access points with | ||
31 | hundreds of stations). | ||
32 | |||
33 | mac80211_hwsim works by tracking the current channel of each virtual | ||
34 | radio and copying all transmitted frames to all other radios that are | ||
35 | currently enabled and on the same channel as the transmitting | ||
36 | radio. Software encryption in mac80211 is used so that the frames are | ||
37 | actually encrypted over the virtual air interface to allow more | ||
38 | complete testing of encryption. | ||
39 | |||
40 | A global monitoring netdev, hwsim#, is created independent of | ||
41 | mac80211. This interface can be used to monitor all transmitted frames | ||
42 | regardless of channel. | ||
43 | |||
44 | |||
45 | Simple example | ||
46 | |||
47 | This example shows how to use mac80211_hwsim to simulate two radios: | ||
48 | one to act as an access point and the other as a station that | ||
49 | associates with the AP. hostapd and wpa_supplicant are used to take | ||
50 | care of WPA2-PSK authentication. In addition, hostapd is also | ||
51 | processing access point side of association. | ||
52 | |||
53 | Please note that the current Linux kernel does not enable AP mode, so a | ||
54 | simple patch is needed to enable AP mode selection: | ||
55 | http://johannes.sipsolutions.net/patches/kernel/all/LATEST/006-allow-ap-vlan-modes.patch | ||
56 | |||
57 | |||
58 | # Build mac80211_hwsim as part of kernel configuration | ||
59 | |||
60 | # Load the module | ||
61 | modprobe mac80211_hwsim | ||
62 | |||
63 | # Run hostapd (AP) for wlan0 | ||
64 | hostapd hostapd.conf | ||
65 | |||
66 | # Run wpa_supplicant (station) for wlan1 | ||
67 | wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan1 -c wpa_supplicant.conf | ||