Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot using command line on Ubuntu 18.04

Question

Is there any way to enable a pre-configured Wi-Fi hotspot from a shell script/command line without going to Settings > Wi-Fi > (settings icon) > Turn On Wi-Fi Hotspot... > Turn On?

This answer has a script which does something very similar: It creates the AP interface and shows how to bring it up and down. Bringing an existing interface up and down should be as easy as ip link set INTERFACE up/down. — dessert, Aug 10 '19 at 10:06

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 12 '19 at 15:19

7

Based on @PRATAP's answer:

nmcli connection up <SSID>

Where <SSID> is likely Hotspot (can check this by running nm-connection-editor or going to Settings > Wi-Fi > (settings icon) > Connect to Hidden Wi-Fi Network... > Connection).

nmcli connection up/down also works for normal (non-hotspot) networks.

answered Aug 12 '19 at 15:19

casper.dcl

271

3

Hotspot is not the device's SSID but the network's profile name. – Justech Apr 06 '21 at 08:43
Where can I setup hotspot config without using GUI? nm-connection-editor requires GUI – gkucmierz Oct 23 '23 at 06:50
1

@gkucmierz nmcli connection show – Alexey Burdin Dec 13 '23 at 00:05
Thanks @AlexeyBurdin and nmcli connection show shows a network with "Hotspot" in NAME column. Then thanks @Justech nmcli connection up Hotspot succeed. nmcli connection up <SsidOfTheHotspot> failed with unknown connection error. – Weekend Jun 07 '24 at 03:22

Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot using command line on Ubuntu 18.04

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