NetworkManager 1.38.0 has already been released and these are its news

Availability has just been announcede the new stable version of the interface to simplify network configuration: Network Manager 1.38.0.

For those who are unfamiliar with NetworkManager should know that this is a software utility for simplify the use of networks of computers on linux and other Unix-based operating systems. This utility takes an opportunistic approach to network selection, trying to use the best available connection when outages occur, or when the user moves between wireless networks.

You prefer Ethernet connections over "known" wireless networks. The user is prompted for WEP or WPA keys, as required.

Main new features of NetworkManager 1.38

In this new version that is presented, it is highlighted that redesigned the logic to choose the source address when there are multiple IP addresses on the network interface. The precedence rules for IPv6 addresses have been aligned with the rules previously used for IPv4.

For example, if there are multiple addresses on the network interface that have the same metrics, the address specified first will receive higher priority (previously, the last address was chosen for IPv6). Statically assigned addresses always take precedence over automatically configured addresses.

Another change that stands out is when configuring Wi-Fi, stopped the use of frequencies that are not allowed in the user's country (previously, all frequencies supported by the equipment were listed, but attempts to use unlicensed frequencies were blocked at the kernel level).

In the implementation of access point, a random selection of the frequency band is provided (channel number) to reduce the probability of collisions. Removed the ability to enable Unsupported SAE Mode (WPA3 Personal).

In addition, it is noted that they have expanded the capabilities of the “nmcli radio” command, which is used to disable the transmitters (transfer to «flight» mode). When run with no arguments, the command lists radios on the system, such as wireless modems or Wi-Fi adapters. In the new version, displaying the rfkill configuration provides an explicit indication of the absence of physical wireless equipment.

On the other hand, we can also find that added a warning to nmcli about using the WEP algorithm, which has security issues and is disabled by some distributions in the wpa_supplicant package. Compiling wpa_supplicant without WEP support emits the corresponding diagnostic information.

Has improved reliability of network connection status check and ensured correct handling of the situation when multiple addresses are returned when resolving the verified host name.

Of the other changes that stand out in this new version:

• Added an empty "null" cryptobackend that does nothing when processing certificates for 802.1x profiles.
• To manage virtual ethernet (Veth) adapters, udev rules are involved, which allowed setting network management in LXD containers.
• Host names obtained via DHCP are now truncated at the first point of the name, and names that are too long are truncated at 64 characters.

Finally, if you are interested in knowing more about it about this new release of Networkmanager you can check the details from the link below.

How to get NetworkManager 1.38?

For those who are interested in being able to obtain this new version you should know that at the moment there are no packages built for Ubuntu or derivatives. So if you want to get this version they must build from their source code.

The link is this.

Although it is a matter of a few days for it to be incorporated into the official Ubuntu repositories for its prompt update.

So if you want, is to wait for the new update to be made available within the official Ubuntu channels, you can check if the update is already available in this link.

As soon as that happens, you can update your list of packages and repos on your system with the help of the following command:

sudo apt update

And to install the new version of NetworkManager 1.32 on your system, just run any of the following commands.

Update and install all available packages

sudo apt upgrade -y

Update and install only networkmanager:

sudo apt install network-manager -y