nm-applet

nm-applet

The nm-applet is a graphical application that provides a status icon in your system tray, allowing you to easily manage network connections using NetworkManager. It allows users to view available wireless networks, create and configure wired and wireless connections, enable or disable networking, and connect to VPNs. nm-applet interacts with the NetworkManager daemon to handle network connections, making it a user-friendly interface for complex networking tasks. It primarily simplifies network configuration, connection management, and monitoring for desktop users. Think of it as a visual front-end for the backend NetworkManager service.

nm-applet relies on the NetworkManager service being properly configured and running. If NetworkManager is not running or is misconfigured, nm-applet will not function correctly. Also, its functionalities depend on the desktop environment. Some features or the appearance of the applet may vary across different environments (e.g., GNOME, KDE, XFCE).

Usually, nm-applet is launched automatically when your desktop environment starts. If it isn't, you can manually start it by running nm-applet in a terminal. Once running, it appears as a network icon in your system tray, typically in the top-right or bottom-right corner of your screen.
Double-clicking the applet icon will reveal a list of available networks, configured connections, and other networking settings.

nm-applet depends on several libraries, including GTK+ for its graphical interface and libnm for interacting with the NetworkManager daemon. It might require some NetworkManager plugins based on the used connections (e.g., openvpn, etc.). Make sure these dependencies are installed to avoid issues.

nm-applet evolved alongside the NetworkManager project. It was created to provide a user-friendly GUI for managing network connections, particularly in desktop environments where command-line tools like nmcli are less accessible to the average user. Its development has been ongoing, with updates to support new networking technologies, address security vulnerabilities, and improve the user experience.

nmcli(1), NetworkManager(8)