Using wicd on Fedora 10
wicd is available for Fedora 10. The software can be installed automagically using Yum and it configures itself, minus a little tweak.
Note: you shouldn't really restart your system until you have finished the instructions. If you do, you'll have the software installed by not configured, and the system will still work how it used to (probably with NetworkManager) so the process will be pointless!
(Pretty Easy) Installation
To install wicd using Yum, the Fedora software manager, there are a few simple steps. If you are used to installing software, they should be rather familliar. You just need to add a software repository and use Yum to download and install the packages:
Add this repository.
- Use the Add/Remove Software program to add wicd. Use the Search box (for now) and install the package.
- If you are comfortable using the command line, type:
sudo yum install wicd* -y
You will probably need to install the 'urwid' package with it. Yum will do this for you if you say it is okay to download the dependencies and trust the package signatures.
- If you used the command line, the -y bit of the command tells Yum to answer 'Yes' to any questions it may have: this is pretty safe, as it will just ask if you want to download it (which, of course, you do) and if you trust the source (which you do, as it's official).
SELinux (You Love It Or You Hate It)
If you try and run wicd now, it will fail because of a system-wide protection mechanism included with Fedora called SELinux. This is basically checks running programs are doing things safely ad correctly but is pretty heavy handed when they aren't. While wicd doesn't do anything it shouldn't, the RPMs are not configured to allow SELinux's support automatically. Thankfully, the fix is quick:
- Use a super-user command line (Root Terminal) to issue the following commands:
restorecon -v '/etc/wicd/manager-settings.conf' restorecon -v '/etc/wicd/wireless-settings.conf' restorecon -v '/etc/wicd/wired-settings.conf'
These commands restore some incorrect settings. Don't ask me how or why, it just does what needs to be done!
System Start-Up
There is just one more thing that needs to be done. It might not even need doing, but it's worth making sure. We want wicd to start-up with when you power on the computer. If you don't start it as a service, you will need to type the 'root' (super-user) password everytime you want to connect to anything. This is a pain but - thankfully - has a very easy fix.
- Use a super-user command line (Root Terminal) to type the following:
chkconfig | grep wicd
- It should read like this:
wicd 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off
- If it says '5: off', the service won't run when you start the computer. To change that, just type the following command so set it up properly:
chkconfig -l 2345 wicd on
NetworkManager should also be disabled if you have that installed. One quick command should be fine:
chkconfig -l 2345 NetworkManager off
Now you can restart your computer and start using wicd!