Enabling Advanced Logging for Wireless in Mac OS X

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Overview

Mac OS X has several integrated logging features that can be enabled to provide important diagnostic information.

Airport and/or Wi-Fi Logging

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Type: sudo su -
  3. Type: cd /
  4. Type: System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport debug +AllUserLand
  5. Exit
  6. Close Terminal.
  7. Restart the Computer.

The wifi logs will be in Console (/Applications/Utilities) in the /var/log/ subtree as wifi.log

Enabling eapolclient Logging (Authentication)

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Type: sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.eapolclient LogFlags -int -1
  3. Exit
  4. Close Terminal.
  5. Restart the Computer.

The eapolclient is the 802.1X supplicant on Mac OS X. This setting will have it dump copious logs to /var/log/eapolclient.<interface>.log. Where the interface is something like en1, or whatever the particular network adaptor, wired or wireless, you're trying to use. You can also find them in Console.log

Note: To disable the logging you just set the integer back to 0

  • Type: sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.eapolclient LogFlags -int 0

Using the Wi-Fi Utility in 10.7

A "hidden" feature of Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) is the Wi-Fi Diagnostics utility. To find it, navigate to: /System/Library/CoreServices/. From this utility you can:

  1. Monitor Performance: view signal strength and noise levels as well as see which the BSSID you are associated with.
  2. Record Events: Look for disconnects, roams, etc.
  3. Capture Raw Frames
  4. Turn on Debug Logs
Retrieved from "http://prowiki.isc.upenn.edu/wiki/Enabling_Advanced_Logging_for_Wireless_in_Mac_OS_X"
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