nm-online

Find out whether the network is connected and print the result

$ nm-online

$ nm-online --timeout [n]

nm-online [options]

nm-online checks whether NetworkManager reports the network as connected. It waits for a network connection to become available, making it useful in scripts that need to ensure connectivity before proceeding.
The command blocks until either a connection is established or the timeout is reached. Exit status indicates the result: 0 means connected, non-zero means no connection within the timeout period.
This is commonly used in systemd service files or init scripts that depend on network availability, providing a reliable way to wait for NetworkManager to establish connectivity.

-t, --timeout _seconds_

Time to wait for a connection (default: 30 seconds)

Don't print anything, only set exit status

Wait for NetworkManager to start if not running

Exit immediately if NetworkManager is not running

Depends on NetworkManager being the network management daemon. Returns success when NetworkManager reports connectivity, which may not mean full internet access (e.g., captive portals). The default 30-second timeout may be too long or short depending on the use case.

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