PiWiFiSetup

PiWiFiSetup is a program to headlessly configure a Raspberry Pi's WiFi connection using any other WiFi-enabled device (much like the way a Chromecast or similar device can be configured).

It was tested on Raspberry Pi 3B+ with debian buster

It is based on the wonderful work of Jason Burgett https://github.com/jasbur/RaspiWiFi

However there are some key differences:

• It is intended to work as a standalone app launching any dependencies like hostpad and dnsmasq as sub-processes and stopping them on finish.

• It doesn't restart the device, just setups the WiFi and exits.

• It doesn't regenerate wpa_supplicant.conf on every run but instead just edit the first instance of a network={} block and leave every other setting intact.

• There is no installation script and the decision on when to run the app depends entirely on the user/integrator

• When you connect to the AP it would act as a captive portal and take you to the configuration page without the need to open a specific address

PACKAGING

To build a .deb package that you can install directly you can run:

dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -b

The package would then be in the parent directory

INSTALLATION

If you have build a package all you need to do is install it:

apt install ./pi-wifi-setup_*_all.deb

Or you can install only the required packages. On debian buster to satisfy the dependencies you need to run:

apt install python3-flask dnsmasq-base hostapd

In the package are included .service and .timer systemd control files. The service would only start if there isn't any connection in state UP. The timer would run only once after boot. You can override those defaults using:

systemctl edit pi-wifi-setup.service
systemctl edit pi-wifi-setup.timer

CONFIGURATION

The configuration file the app uses is /etc/PiWiFiSetup/PiWiFiSetup.conf. The file can be missing in which case the defaults are as follows:

ssid_prefix="Pi $id Wifi Setup"
wpa_enabled=1
wpa_key="1234567890"
interface=""
driver="nl80211"
channel="1"

The $id is replaced with the serial-number of the device In case you save the file via the web interface it would be update or created if missing.