WPA3 networks not getting saved in wpa_supplicant.conf file using wpa_cli

Question

I am using WPA_Supplicant version 2.9

Following commands are used to connect with WPA3 networks using wpa_cli.

1. add_network
2. set_network 1 ssid "abc"
3. set_network 1 key_mgmt SAE
4. set_network 1 sae_password "password"
5. set_network 1 ieee80211w 2
6. save_config
7. enable_network 1

After running above commands, network is getting connected.

==>status
bssid=5e:33:db:70:89:3f
freq=2442
ssid=abc
id=1
mode=station
pairwise_cipher=CCMP
group_cipher=CCMP
key_mgmt=SAE
pmf=2
mgmt_group_cipher=BIP
sae_group=19
wpa_state=COMPLETED
ip_address=192.168.101.111
address=00:04:f3:95:be:25
uuid=281b08c3-ffe2-5ea8-85e7-dea3c26f7170

I am getting response as OK for save_config command, but network block is not getting added in the wpa_supplicant.conf file. Configuration of CONFIG_SAE=y and CONFIG_IEEE80211W=y are also enabled.

wpa_supplicant.conf file configuration:

WPA SUPPLICANT DATA
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=0
update_config=1

If I manually add network block in /var/persist/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file, after reboot, auto connection to the network is successful. Is there any other settings/configuration involved for saving network block in wpa_supplicant.conf ?

Answer 1

I had a similar issue with v2.9. I solved it by changing the keyword to save the password of the network. For example in your case, by using:

set_network 1 sae_psk "password"

instead of:

set_network 1 sae_password "password"

After that the network was successfully saved in the configuration file.

Answer 2

This issue got resolved after upgrading wpa supplicant library to version 2.10