FAQ

General

What is nmrs?

nmrs is a Rust library for managing network connections on Linux via NetworkManager's D-Bus interface. It provides a safe, async API for Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, and VPN management.

Is nmrs production-ready?

Yes. nmrs is at version 2.2.0 with a stable API. All public types are also #[non_exhaustive] to allow backward-compatible additions.

What Linux distributions are supported?

Any distribution that runs NetworkManager. This includes Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch Linux, Debian, openSUSE, NixOS, and many others.

Does nmrs work on macOS or Windows?

No. nmrs is Linux-specific since it communicates with NetworkManager over D-Bus, which is a Linux service.

Library

Which async runtime should I use?

nmrs works with any async runtime (Tokio, async-std, smol, GLib). Tokio is recommended and used in all examples. See Async Runtime Support.

Can I use nmrs without an async runtime?

No. D-Bus communication is inherently async. You can use block_on() from smol or tokio::runtime::Runtime::block_on() if you need a synchronous wrapper.

Is NetworkManager the only way to manage Wi-Fi on Linux?

No, but it's the most widely used network management daemon. Other options include iwd, connman, and wpa_supplicant (direct). nmrs specifically targets NetworkManager.

Usually no. NetworkManager uses PolicyKit for authorization, and most desktop Linux setups grant network management permissions to the logged-in user. If you're running in a headless environment, you may need to configure PolicyKit rules. See Requirements.

Can I connect to multiple networks simultaneously?

A device can only have one active connection at a time. However, you can have different connections on different devices (e.g., Wi-Fi on wlan0 and Ethernet on eth0 simultaneously).

Can I make concurrent connection calls?

No. Concurrent connection operations (calling connect() from multiple tasks) are not supported. Use is_connecting() to check before starting a new connection.

How do I handle saved connections?

When nmrs connects to a network, NetworkManager saves the profile. On subsequent connections, the saved profile is reused automatically. You don't need to provide credentials again. Use forget() to delete a saved profile.

VPN

Which VPN protocols are supported?

Currently only WireGuard. OpenVPN support is planned and actively being developed.

Do I need the WireGuard kernel module?

Yes. WireGuard is built into the Linux kernel since version 5.6. On older kernels, install the wireguard module. NetworkManager's WireGuard support requires NM 1.16+.

Can I import a `.conf` WireGuard file?

Not directly. You need to extract the values from the config file and pass them to VpnCredentials. Direct .conf file import is not yet implemented.