nm-connection-editor

nm-connection-editor

The `nm-connection-editor` command provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for managing network connections using NetworkManager. It allows users to create, modify, and delete network connections, configuring various parameters such as Wi-Fi settings, Ethernet configurations, VPN connections, and mobile broadband connections. The tool provides a user-friendly way to interact with NetworkManager's connection profiles, simplifying network setup and management for desktop users. It is a graphical frontend to the NetworkManager daemon, meaning it doesn't manage connections directly, but rather interacts with NetworkManager to make changes. The changes performed with it are saved in `/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/` for system-wide available connections, and usually `$HOME/.nm-connection-editor/` for user connections.

Requires a graphical environment (X11 or Wayland) to run. May not function properly in environments without a display server. Changes to system-wide connections typically require root privileges.

The editor allows creating different types of network connections, including Ethernet, Wi-Fi, VPN (various protocols), Mobile Broadband (3G/4G/5G), and others. Each connection type has its own specific settings that can be configured through the GUI.

The user interface is generally intuitive, providing a list of existing connections and options to add new connections. Properties of each connection can be modified through tabbed dialogs, providing access to IP addressing, security settings, and other parameters.

Note: The precise look and feel may vary depending on the desktop environment (GNOME, KDE, etc.) and the specific version of the tool.

NetworkManager and its graphical tools like `nm-connection-editor` were developed to simplify network configuration, especially for mobile users dealing with various network environments. Early Linux network configuration was often complex, involving manual editing of configuration files. NetworkManager provided a more dynamic and user-friendly approach, and `nm-connection-editor` provided the GUI to interact with it, first appearing in the mid-2000s as part of the NetworkManager project.

nmcli(1), NetworkManager(8), nmtui(1)