NetworkManager-1.20.0

Config Files

/etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

Configuration Information

For NetworkManager to work, at least a minimal configuration file must be present. Such file is not installed with make install. Issue the following command as the root user to create minimal NetworkManager.conf file:

cat >> /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf << "EOF"
[main]
plugins=keyfile
EOF

This file should not be modified directly by users of the system. Instead, system specific changes should be made using configuration files in the /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d direcotry.

To allow polkit to manage authorizations, add the following configuration file:

cat > /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/polkit.conf << "EOF"
[main]
auth-polkit=true
EOF

To use something other than the built-in dhcp client (recommended if using only nmcli), use the following configuration (valid values are dhclient, dhcpcd, and internal):

cat > /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/dhcp.conf << "EOF"
[main]
dhcp=dhclient
EOF

To prevent NetworkManager from updating the /etc/resolv.conf file, add the following configuration file:

cat > /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/no-dns-update.conf << "EOF"
[main]
dns=none
EOF

For additional configuation options, see man 5 NetworkManager.conf.

To allow regular users permission to configure network connections, you should add them to the netdev group, and create a polkit rule that grants access. Run the following commands as the root user:

groupadd -fg 86 netdev &&
/usr/sbin/usermod -a -G netdev <username>

cat > /usr/share/polkit-1/rules.d/org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.rules << "EOF"
polkit.addRule(function(action, subject) {
    if (action.id.indexOf("org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.") == 0 && subject.isInGroup("netdev")) {
        return polkit.Result.YES;
    }
});
EOF

Systemd Unit

To start the NetworkManager daemon at boot, enable the previously installed systemd unit by running the following command as the root user:

systemctl enable NetworkManager

NetworkManager also ships a systemd unit called NetworkManager-wait-online.service which can be used to prevent services that require network connectivity from starting until NetworkManager has established the connection. To enable it, run the following command as the root user:

systemctl enable NetworkManager-wait-online