| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Documentation Part III. Internet / Chapter 13. Managing Network Connections | ||||
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 | Part III. Internet | 13.2. KInternet |  | |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Documentation Part III. Internet / Chapter 13. Managing Network Connections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part III. Internet | 13.2. KInternet | | |
To surf the Internet or send and receive e-mail messages, you must have configured an Internet connection with YaST. Depending on your environment, in YaST select whether to use NetworkManager. In KDE, you can then establish Internet connections with NetworkManager or KInternet.
For a list of criteria that help you decide whether to use NetworkManager, refer to Section “Managing Network Connections with NetworkManager” (Chapter 30, Basic Networking, ↑Deployment Guide) and Section “Integration in Changing Operating Environments” (Chapter 25, Mobile Computing with Linux, ↑Deployment Guide).
The NetworkManager applet should start automatically with the desktop environment. The applet is then shown as an icon in the system tray. Using the applet, choose a network to use explicitly at any time. Such a choice takes precedence over automatically selected networks. The chosen network is used as long as it is available. If it becomes unaccessible, NetworkManager automatically tries to connect to another available network.
If KNetworkManager is not running, start it with the command knetworkmanager. When it is running, an icon indicating the current network status is shown in the system tray. Depending on the state of the network connection, the panel icon changes appearance:
A wired connection has been established.
Currently there is no connection to the Internet.
A wireless connection has been established. Blue bars show the strength of the signal. More blue bars means better signal strength.
A connection is being established or terminated.
Right-clicking the icon opens the KNetworkManager menu with various options for managing network connections. See Figure 13.1, “Available Networks in the KNetworkManager Applet”. The menu contains available network connections for both wired and wireless devices. If you hold the mouse cursor over them, details about the connection are displayed. The currently used connection is checked in the menu.
The signal strength of wireless networks is shown in the menu. Encrypted wireless networks are marked with a lock icon. To connect to an encrypted network, choose it from the menu. In the dialog that opens, choose the type of the network uses and enter the appropriate or .
![[Tip]](admon/tip.png) | Hidden Networks |
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To connect to a network that does not broadcast its ESSID (Service Set Identifier) and therefore cannot be detected automatically, choose . In the dialog that opens, enter the ESSID and set encryption parameters if necessary. | |
To see all trusted and untrusted networks, click +.
To access dial-up connections, choose . When dial-up connections have already been defined, start the connection by clicking the connection to use. opens YaST, where you can define a new dial-up connection. See Section “Modem” (Chapter 30, Basic Networking, ↑Deployment Guide) for details.
NetworkManager supports several VPN technologies. To use them, first install NetworkManager support for your VPN technology. You can select from:
NovellVPN
OpenVPN
vpnc (Cisco)
VPN support is included in the packages
NetworkManager-novellvpn,
NetworkManager-openvpn,
and NetworkManager-vpnc.
To configure a new VPN connection with KNetworkManager, left-click the KNetworkManager applet and follow these steps:
Choose +.
Press and to start a configuration wizard.
In the next dialog, choose the type of VPN connection to create.
Name your configuration in .
Insert all required information for your type of connection. For example, for an OpenVPN connection enter and choose the way to authenticate from . Complete the other required options depending on the connection chosen.
Alternatively, load settings from a saved configuration file by pressing and choosing your saved configuration file in a standard file dialog.
Press .
After the VPN is configured, you can select it from . To close a VPN connection, click .
NetworkManager distinguishes two types of wireless connections, trusted and untrusted. A trusted connection is any network that you explicitly selected in the past. All others are untrusted. Trusted connections are identified by the name and MAC address of the access point. Using the MAC address ensures that you cannot use a different access point with the name of your trusted connection.
If no wired connection is available, NetworkManager scans for available wireless networks. If multiple trusted networks are found, the most recently used is automatically selected. If all are untrusted, NetworkManager waits for your selection.
If the encryption setting changes but the name and MAC address remain the same, NetworkManager attempts to connect, but it first asks you to confirm the new encryption settings and provide any updates, such as a new key.
In a system with a wireless connection only, NetworkManager does not automatically start the connection during boot. You must log in first to establish a connection. To make a wireless connection accessible without login, configure the trusted connection with YaST (see Section “Configuration with YaST” (Chapter 29, Wireless Communication, ↑Deployment Guide) for instructions). Only wireless connections configured with YaST are sufficiently credible for NetworkManager to use them during boot.
If you switch to offline mode from using a wireless connection, NetworkManager blanks the ESSID. This ensures that the card is really unassociated.
If you are on an airplane or in any other environment where wireless networking is not allowed, you can switch it off easily using the KNetworkManager applet. You can also switch off all network connections, both wired and wireless.
To switch off wireless networking in the KDE desktop, right-click the KNetworkManager applet then select +. To switch wireless networking on again, right-click the KNetworkManager applet then select +.
To switch off all networking in the KDE desktop, right-click the KNetworkManager applet then select +. To switch all networking on again, right-click the KNetworkManager applet then select +.
