On Sat, Oct 01, 2022 at 12:46:24AM +0000, Charles Lohr via networkmanager-list 
wrote:
> In our application, we need to maintain connection to an AP and it needs to 
> stay low latency for a variety of reasons.  Whenever networks are scanned, 
> for us they create an unacceptable level of latency (>50ms in many cases) on 
> the connection.
> 
> Sometimes we stop NetworkManager from running with `pkill -STOP 
> NetworkManager` and `pkill -CONT NetworkManager` but, for a variety of 
> reasons this is disadvantageous.
> 
> I've seen references to people online saying you can prevent scanning once 
> connected by specifying a BSSID, but I don't see how that can be done with 
> libnm.
> 
> Currently we use the following, where path can be gotten from either a scan 
> or `nm_connection_get_path`
> 
> ```
> nm_client_activate_connection_async ( m_pClient, conn, (NMDevice*)m_pDevice, 
> sAccessPointPath.c_str(), nullptr, []( GObject* pObj, GAsyncResult* res, 
> gpointer pContext ) {...} );
> ```
> 
> What mechanism can we use to specify that a given path should lock it's BSSID 
> when using NetworkManager via libnm?

Hi,

to disable scanning, you can set the property
NM_SETTING_WIRELESS_BSSID of the setting NMSettingWireless to the AP's
BSSID when the connection profile is created. To get the AP's BSSID
use nm_access_point_get_bssid().

References:
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/-/blob/1.40.0/examples/C/glib/add-connection-libnm.c#L44
https://networkmanager.dev/docs/api/latest/nm-settings-dbus.html#id-1.2.9.4.48 
("bssid property")
https://networkmanager.dev/docs/libnm/latest/NMAccessPoint.html#nm-access-point-get-bssid
https://fedoramagazine.org/using-python-and-networkmanager-to-control-the-network/

> Second question:  Are there any mechanisms we can use to lock out other apps 
> from requesting scans from NetworkManager?  This solution would be preferred 
> for our application because scans have such a significant impact on the 
> system.  Or is there a way to just outright disable all scanning via 
> NetworkManger for a period of time?

If the feature is enabled at build time, NM can use polkit to
authorize D-Bus requests. In particular, there is a "Wi-Fi scan"
permission that grants access to scans. I think you can use polkit
rules to restrict the access to a certain user or process; however,
note that any process running as root bypasses polkit checks and is
always authorized.

References:
https://networkmanager.dev/docs/libnm/latest/libnm-nm-dbus-interface.html#NMClientPermission
https://networkmanager.dev/docs/api/latest/nmcli.html (nmcli general 
permissions)

Beniamino

Attachment: signature.asc
Description: PGP signature

_______________________________________________
networkmanager-list mailing list
networkmanager-list@gnome.org
https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/networkmanager-list

Reply via email to