From Poggs' Wiki

Contents 1 What is WPA Supplicant? 1.1 Configuration examples 1.1.1 WPA Pre-Shared Key 1.1.1.1 Using TKIP 1.1.1.2 Using TKIP + CCMP 1.1.2 WEP 1.1.2.1 128-bit 1.1.2.2 64-bit

What is WPA Supplicant?

wpasupplicant provides the necessary key generation and exchange to allow a wireless card to connect to an SSID protected with WPA. It can also do plain WEP.

Since this article was written, Gnome's [[NetworkManager][1]] has soared above wpasupplicant in terms of functionality and ease-of-use. I recommend you take a look.

Configuration examples

These are the most basic examples to get you started.

WPA Pre-Shared Key

Using TKIP

network={
        ssid="$SSID$"
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        proto=WPA
        pairwise=TKIP
        group=TKIP
        psk="$PSK$" 
}

Using TKIP + CCMP

network={
        ssid="$SSID$"
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        proto=WPA
        pairwise=CCMP TKIP
        group=CCMP TKIP
        psk="$PSK$"
}

WEP

128-bit

network={
        ssid="$SSID$"
        key_mgmt=NONE
        wep_key0="$26_HEX_CHARACTERS$"
        wep_tx_keyidx=0
}

64-bit

network={
       ssid="$SSID$"
       key_mgmt=NONE
       wep_key0="$13_HEX_CHARACTERS"
       wep_tx_keyidx=0
}