I'm on Ubuntu 18.04 and I'm able to setup a wifi hotspot in the UI (as described for example here) which works perfectly. I now want to change the SSID and the password of the hotspot. I tried doing this using the UI which you get when running nm-connection-editor. Changing the password works, but somehow the SSID is reverted to the default name (librem) after starting the hotspot again.

I confirmed this by looking at the file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/Hotspot. I manually changed the ssid in that file to myawesomehotspot. I then rebooted the whole machine to make sure the default name isn't cached anywhere. And then I enabled the hotspot in the wifi settings screen again. Upon checking, the ssid in the file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/Hotspot was changed/overwritten with the default name librem again (the file datetime also showed that it was rewritten).

Why does opening the hotspot overwrite the ssid? Where does this name come from? And how can I permanently rename the hotspot? All tips are welcome!

[EDIT]

The outputs as asked by @Marmayogi in the comments:

$ nmcli device
DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION
wlp1s0 wifi connected Hotspot
br-63805314ad4c bridge connected br-63805314ad4c
docker0 bridge connected docker0
lo loopback unmanaged --
$ networkctl status
WARNING: systemd-networkd is not running, output will be incomplete.
● State: n/a Address: 10.42.0.1 on wlp1s0 172.18.0.1 on br-63805314ad4c 172.17.0.1 on docker0 fe80::fa30:17ec:448:579a on wlp1s0
$ sudo lshw -short -class network
H/W path Device Class Description
====================================================================
/0/100/1c/0 wlp1s0 network AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter
/1 docker0 network Ethernet interface
/2 br-63805314ad4c network Ethernet interface
$ ls -l /etc/resolv.conf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Mar 11 2018 /etc/resolv.conf -> ../run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf

6

2 Answers

Note: this workaround does not answer the actual question Why does changing the hotspot SSID not work?

Observations:

1. When the hot spot is turned on via GUI, it automatically takes the input from Device name

2. If i change my Device name, the same name will be generated when the hot spot is turned on via GUI.

Thoughts:

as you mentioned that you have edited the file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/Hotspot, I have tried to change its permissions in several ways but it always overwritten.

Workaround:

1. Delete the Connection named Hotspot with the command nmcli connection delete Hotspot which was generated when Hotspot is turned on via GUI.

Example:

pratap@i7-6550u:~$ nmcli connection show
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
Sri Nilayam cd93d019-2bbb-4b6f-aa80-b4536a563aa0 wifi wlp2s0
Hotspot 480fdd31-fe20-4b3d-8698-f25ec7678c1b wifi --
pratap@i7-6550u:~$ nmcli connection delete Hotspot
Connection 'Hotspot' (480fdd31-fe20-4b3d-8698-f25ec7678c1b) successfully deleted.
pratap@i7-6550u:~$ 

2. create Hotspot with the below command, you can explore various options from man nmcli command in a new terminal. Put your preffered values for ssid and password.

nmcli device wifi hotspot ssid myawesomehotspot password 12345678

3. Never use GUI for turning on and off the Hotspot. If you use GUI to turn on, it again takes the name from system Device name. To turn on and off, use below commands.

Commands:

nmcli connection up Hotspot
nmcli connection down Hotspot

As long as you dont use GUI way for Hotspot, it persists..

3

Another workaround: run nm-applet from console (or nm-applet & so that you can continue using that console for other commands). Then the good old wifi icon from Unity appears in your top bar, and if you activate the hotspot from there, it doesn't change the SSID.

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