How to setup of Raspberry Pi 3 B+ onboard WiFi for Ubuntu Server 18.04? In particular, with netplan?
Existing answers, such as "How to use onboard wifi on Raspberry Pi 3 with Ubuntu Server 16.04?", no longer seem to apply since /etc/network/interfaces states that netplan has replaced ifupdown.
# ifupdown has been replaced by netplan(5) on this system. See # /etc/netplan for current configuration. This is a clean install of the Ubuntu Server image for Raspberry Pi 3.
##### release ########################### Distributor ID: Ubuntu Description: Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS Release: 18.04 Codename: bionic ##### kernel ############################ Linux 4.15.0-1034-raspi2 #36-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT Fri Apr 5 06:21:41 UTC 2019 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux According to Ubuntu Wiki RaspberryPI the needed packages should already be in place.
Since 18.04.2 the linux-firmware and linux-firmware-raspi2 packages now contain the necessary files for the built-in WiFi on the Pi 3B and 3B+.
sudo lshw -C network
*-network:0 DISABLED description: Wireless interface physical id: 2 logical name: wlan0 serial: b8:27:eb:69:f2:3b capabilities: ethernet physical wireless configuration: broadcast=yes driver=brcmfmac driverversion=7.45.18 firmware=01-6a2c8ad4 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11 *-network:1 description: Ethernet interface physical id: 3 logical name: eth0 serial: b8:27:eb:3c:a7:6e size: 1Gbit/s capacity: 1Gbit/s capabilities: ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=lan78xx driverversion=1.0.6 duplex=full ip=172.16.76.7 link=yes multicast=yes port=MII speed=1Gbit/s Netplan.io provides some general Netplan configuration examples.
To configure netplan, save configuration files under
/etc/netplan/with a.yamlextension (e.g./etc/netplan/config.yaml), then runsudo netplan apply.
... yet, no guideance specific to a RaspberryPi. ...in particular, with respect to the existing /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml file on the RaspberryPi Ubuntu Server install.
##### Netplan config #################### [/etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml] # This file is generated from information provided by # the datasource. Changes to it will not persist across an instance. # To disable cloud-init's network configuration capabilities, write a file # /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-disable-network-config.cfg with the following: # network: {config: disabled} network: version: 2 ethernets: eth0: dhcp4: true match: macaddress: <MAC 'eth0' [IF1]> set-name: eth0 So, given the use of netplan and default generated .yaml file. How should one add a WiFi network SSID and password? And leave the existing wired ethernet in place?
3 Answers
The steps below were found to provide a persistent WiFi setup using netplan with Ubuntu Server 18.04 ubuntu-18.04.2-preinstalled-server-arm64+raspi3.img.xz image on a Raspberry Pi 3 B+.
Update system:
sudo apt update sudo apt full-upgrade sudo reboot Determine interface names:
ip link show # 1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> … # 2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> … state UP … # 3: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> … state DOWN Determine your-cloud-init.yaml and open for editing.
cd /etc/netplan/ ls -l # -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 666 May 15 22:00 50-cloud-init.yaml ### note your *cloud-init.yaml file name ### backup *cloud-init.yaml file cp 50-cloud-init.yaml 50-cloud-init.yaml.bak ### restrict read access sudo chmod 640 /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml ### edit *cloud-init.yaml sudo nano 50-cloud-init.yaml Add WiFi access information to your-cloud-init.yaml file.
# This file is generated from information provided by # the datasource. Changes to it will not persist across an instance. # To disable cloud-init's network configuration capabilities, write a file # /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.d/99-disable-network-config.cfg with the following: # network: {config: disabled} network: version: 2 ethernets: eth0: optional: true dhcp4: true # add wifi setup information here ... wifis: wlan0: optional: true access-points: "YOUR-SSID-NAME": password: "YOUR-NETWORK-PASSWORD" dhcp4: true Test, generate and apply the changed your-cloud-init.yaml config:
- Testing:
sudo netplan --debug try(continue even if successful) - Generate:
sudo netplan --debug generate(provides more details in case of issues with the previous command) - Apply:
sudo netplan --debug apply(if no issues during the previous commands)
Confirmation Test:
sudo reboot ### wait, then without the wired ethernet connected ... ssh ubuntu@wifi-ip-address The above sequence was distilled from the "Raspberry Pi 3B/B+ Wireless Bridge using Ubuntu Server 18.04 ARM Image and Netplan" gist link mentioned by Larnu. The gist goes well beyond just enabling WiFi since its turns the Pi into a Bridge.
Some additional useful WiFi setup steps.
Set hostname.
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname my-server-name sudo nano /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost # add host name 127.0.0.1 my-server-name sudo nano /etc/cloud/cloud.cfg
# Set preserve_hostname to true for persistance after reboot preserve_hostname: true Verify from local Raspberry Pi commandline.
hostnamectl # Static hostname: my-server-name # Icon name: computer # Machine ID: … # Boot ID: … # Operating System: Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS # Kernel: Linux 4.15.0-1036-raspi2 # Architecture: arm64 Enable mDNS.
If desired, enable Multicast DNS by installing Avahi. Avahi supports the mDNS/DNS-SD/RFC 3927/Zeroconf/Bonjour specification.
sudo apt install avahi-daemon Remotely check mDNS resolution from another computer.
ping my-server-name.local ssh Currently Ubuntu 20.04.1 needs reboot even though the issue is supposed to be fixed. Cable internet connects immediately. Ubuntu 20.10 connects to wifi even without reboot for now.
The drivers in the current Ubuntu 20.04 LTS lack the clm_blob if you have a Broadcom 43430 Wifi chipset. I lost the WiFi in an update. The only way to solve this problem was to switch to Alpine and install the firmware-cypress APK. I hope Ubuntu fixes this soon!
