Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot using command line on Ubuntu 18.04

Question

Is there any way to enable a pre-configured Wi-Fi hotspot from a shell script/command line without going to Settings > Wi-Fi > (settings icon) > Turn On Wi-Fi Hotspot... > Turn On?

This answer has a script which does something very similar: It creates the AP interface and shows how to bring it up and down. Bringing an existing interface up and down should be as easy as ip link set INTERFACE up/down. — dessert, Aug 10 '19 at 10:06

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 12 '19 at 15:19

6

Based on @PRATAP's answer:

nmcli connection up <SSID>

Where <SSID> is likely Hotspot (can check this by running nm-connection-editor or going to Settings > Wi-Fi > (settings icon) > Connect to Hidden Wi-Fi Network... > Connection).

nmcli connection up/down also works for normal (non-hotspot) networks.

answered Aug 12 '19 at 15:19

casper.dcl

231

2

Hotspot is not the device's SSID but the network's profile name. – Justech Apr 06 '21 at 08:43
Where can I setup hotspot config without using GUI? nm-connection-editor requires GUI – gkucmierz Oct 23 '23 at 06:50
@gkucmierz nmcli connection show – Alexey Burdin Dec 13 '23 at 00:05

Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot using command line on Ubuntu 18.04

1 Answers1