nm-settings

describes the properties available for NetworkManager connections

TLDR

View connection settings

$ nmcli connection show [connection_name]

Open the interactive editor (type describe ipv4.method there for property help)

$ nmcli connection edit [conn]

Set IPv4 address

$ nmcli connection modify [conn] ipv4.addresses "[192.168.1.10/24]"

Set DNS servers

$ nmcli connection modify [conn] ipv4.dns "[8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4]"

Set gateway

$ nmcli connection modify [conn] ipv4.gateway "[192.168.1.1]"

Set to static IP

$ nmcli connection modify [conn] ipv4.method manual

Ignore DHCP-provided DNS and use only your own

$ nmcli connection modify [conn] ipv4.ignore-auto-dns yes

Append a value to a list property

$ nmcli connection modify [conn] +ipv4.dns "[1.1.1.1]"

Reload after editing keyfiles by hand

$ nmcli connection reload

SYNOPSIS

man 5 nm-settings-nmcli | nm-settings-dbus | nm-settings-keyfile

nm-settings describes the properties available for NetworkManager connection profiles. These settings are configured via nmcli, nm-connection-editor, or directly in keyfiles.Settings are organized by category (connection, ipv4, ipv6, 802-11-wireless, vpn, wireguard, etc.) and referenced as setting.property. Not every setting applies to every connection type.Since NetworkManager 1.26 this reference is split into three pages: nm-settings-nmcli(5) (property names and value formats as nmcli expects them), nm-settings-dbus(5) (the D-Bus API format, formerly nm-settings(5)) and nm-settings-keyfile(5) (the on-disk keyfile format).

PARAMETERS

connection.id (alias con-name)

Connection name.

connection.type

Connection type (ethernet, wifi, vpn, bridge, bond, wireguard, ...).

connection.interface-name (alias ifname)

Restrict the profile to one interface.

connection.autoconnect (alias autoconnect)

Activate automatically when possible.

connection.autoconnect-priority

Higher values are preferred when several profiles can autoconnect.

ipv4.method

auto, manual, link-local, shared, disabled (IPv6 also: ignore, dhcp).

ipv4.addresses (alias ip4)

Static IP addresses in address/prefix form.

ipv4.gateway (alias gw4)

Default gateway.

ipv4.dns, ipv4.dns-search

DNS servers and search domains.

ipv4.never-default

Never use this connection for the default route.

802-11-wireless.ssid (alias ssid, or wifi.ssid)

WiFi network name.

802-11-wireless-security.psk (or wifi-sec.psk)

WPA pre-shared key.

COMMON SETTINGS

$ connection.autoconnect=yes
ipv4.method=auto|manual
ipv4.addresses=192.168.1.10/24
ipv4.gateway=192.168.1.1
ipv4.dns=8.8.8.8
802-11-wireless.ssid=MyNetwork

KEYFILE FORMAT

$ # /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/MyConn.nmconnection
[connection]
id=MyConn
type=ethernet

[ipv4]
method=manual
address1=192.168.1.10/24
gateway=192.168.1.1
dns=8.8.8.8;

CAVEATS

Setting names vary by connection type. Some settings require specific types. Keyfile format differs from D-Bus and nmcli names: list properties such as addresses and routes become address1, address2, route1, ...Keyfiles must be owned by root and not readable by other users (mode 600), or NetworkManager ignores them. Hand edits take effect only after nmcli connection reload (or load) and reactivating the connection.

RESOURCES

Source code · Homepage · Documentation