nmtui

Here’s the truth about Linux networking in 2026: you rarely configure interfaces by hand any more – a daemon does it, and you just tell the daemon what you want. On most desktops that daemon is NetworkManager, and nmtui is the friendliest way to talk to it from a terminal.

What it is, in plain words

nmtui (NetworkManager Text User Interface) is a small menu-driven program, with boxes and buttons you drive using arrow keys, Tab and Enter. It gives you three jobs:

Edit a connection – Wi-Fi, Ethernet, VPN, bridges, static IPs, DNS.
Activate a connection – join a Wi-Fi network, bring a link up or down.
Set system hostname.

Everything it does is also possible with its scriptable sibling nmcli, and with GUI applets. nmtui is the middle ground: no mouse needed, no flags to remember.

Why it matters

You will meet a machine with no desktop and no network – a fresh install, a server console, a laptop where the Wi-Fi applet crashed. Typing a WPA passphrase into a menu beats remembering wpa_supplicant configuration syntax at 2 a.m. And because nmtui writes the same connection profiles as every other NetworkManager tool, whatever you set up survives reboots and shows up in the GUI later.

An everyday analogy: a hotel concierge

You could find your own taxi, call the restaurant and book the theatre. Or you could tell the concierge “dinner at eight, then a show” and let them handle it. NetworkManager is the concierge; nmtui is the polite form you fill in at the desk. You state the outcome, the daemon handles DHCP, DNS, routes and roaming.

flowchart LR
  U[You] --> T[nmtui / nmcli / applet]
  T -- D-Bus --> N[NetworkManager daemon]
  N --> W[wpa_supplicant / iwd]
  N --> D[DHCP, routes, DNS]
  N --> P["/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/"]

A hands-on example

Install and enable it. On Void Linux (runit), which is what Vikix uses:

sudo xbps-install -S NetworkManager
# make sure no other network manager is running (dhcpcd, wpa_supplicant services)
sudo rm -f /var/service/dhcpcd /var/service/wpa_supplicant
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/dbus /var/service/
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/NetworkManager /var/service/

On systemd distros it’s sudo systemctl enable --now NetworkManager. Your user typically needs to be in the network group (Void) or have polkit rules to change connections without sudo.

Join Wi-Fi:

nmtui
# → Activate a connection → pick your SSID → enter password → Activate

Or jump straight in:

nmtui connect          # straight to the activate screen
nmtui edit             # straight to the editor

Give an Ethernet connection a static address: nmtui edit → select the wired profile → IPv4 CONFIGURATION → change Automatic to Manual → Show → add 192.168.1.50/24, gateway 192.168.1.1, DNS 1.1.1.1 → OK → then deactivate and reactivate it.

The same thing with nmcli

Once you know what you want, the scripting tool is quicker and fits in your dotfiles:

nmcli device wifi list
nmcli device wifi connect "MyNetwork" --ask
nmcli connection show
nmcli connection modify "Wired connection 1" \
  ipv4.method manual ipv4.addresses 192.168.1.50/24 \
  ipv4.gateway 192.168.1.1 ipv4.dns 1.1.1.1
nmcli connection up "Wired connection 1"

A nice StumpWM touch: bind a key to open nmtui in a floating terminal, e.g. (define-key *root-map* (kbd "N") "exec st -e nmtui").

Where the settings live

Profiles are saved as keyfiles in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/, readable only by root because they contain passwords. They are plain INI text, so you can back them up or copy them to another machine.

When it won’t connect

A short checklist that solves most problems:

nmcli general status – is the daemon running, is networking enabled?
nmcli radio wifi – is Wi-Fi switched off (or blocked)? rfkill list will show a hardware or soft block; rfkill unblock wifi clears the soft one.
nmcli device – does your card show up at all? If not, it’s a driver or firmware problem, not a NetworkManager one (dmesg | grep -i firmware).
Logs: journalctl -u NetworkManager on systemd, or /var/log/socklog/ / svlogtail on Void with socklog enabled.

Common misconceptions

“nmtui is a separate network stack.” It is just a client. If the NetworkManager daemon isn’t running, nmtui can’t do anything.
“I can run NetworkManager alongside dhcpcd or systemd-networkd.” Two managers fighting over one interface is the classic cause of “it connects, then drops”. Pick one.
“Editing a connection applies it.” Changes apply when the connection is next activated. Deactivate and activate again.
“nmtui is only for Wi-Fi.” It handles bonds, bridges, VLANs, VPNs (via plugins) and IP tunnels too.
“It’s deprecated.” Still actively shipped with NetworkManager 1.5x in 2026.

Connections

Networking – what DHCP, routes and DNS actually do.
systemd – how services like NetworkManager get started on systemd distros.
Simple Linux Configuration – other small config jobs on a fresh box.
Linux Tools – more terminal utilities worth knowing.

How to use nmtui