Network Manager is a tool that allows users to monitor as well as manage their network connections on Linux Mint. It displays the status, speed, signal strength, IP address, and other information of the wired and wireless interfaces. It assists users in connecting, disconnecting, or switching between different networks.

This guide will explain the comprehensive guide on the Network Manager and its functionalities on Linux Mint.

• How to Install Network Manager on Linux Mint 21?
• How to Use Network Manager on Linux Mint 21?
• Bonus Tip: Alternative Tools for Network Managers

How to Install Network Manager on Linux Mint 21?

The Network Manager is by default installed on the Linux Mint system. It displays information such as the network interface, IP address, connection status, signal strength, speed, and data usage. If there is any issue regarding package conflict or anything else.

To install Network Manager on Linux Mint depending on preference, here are some possible methods:

• Method 1: Install Network Manager on Linux Mint 21 Using the Software Manager
• Method 2: Install Network Manager on Linux Mint 21 Using the Synaptic Package Manager
• Method 3: Install Network Manager on Linux Mint 21 Using the Terminal

Method 1: Install Network Manager on Linux Mint 21 Using the Software Manager

This is the simplest way to install Network Manager on Linux Mint. To do so, search the “network-manager-gnome” package in Software Manager and hit the “Install” button. Let’s follow the step-by-step instructions for installation:

Step 1: Open Software Manager

First, access the “Software Manager” from the menu or by typing “mintinstall’ in the terminal:

 

Step 2: Search Network Manager

Then, search for “network-manager” in the interface of “Software Manager” and choose the “Network-manager-gnome” as highlighted in below figure:

Step 3: Install Network Manager

Finally, hit the “Install” button to install the Network Manager. Users need to hit the “Continue” button to confirm the installation of dependent packages:

Step 4: Launch Network Manager

After the installation is complete, users can launch “Network Manager” from the menu or by typing “nm-connection-editor” in the terminal:

In this way, users can launch the “Network Manager” to perform network configuration.

Optional: Remove/Uninstall Network Manager

TO remove/uninstall Network Manager on Software Manager, search the “network-manager” and hit the “Remove” button. Then, press the “Continue” button to remove all dependent packages:

It completely removes the Network Manager along with dependent packages from Linux Mint.

Method 2: Install Network Manager on Linux Mint 21 Using the Synaptic Package Manager

This is another graphical way to install Network Manager on Linux Mint. It assists users in configuring wired, wireless, mobile broadband, VPN, and other types of network settings.

Follow the step-by-step instructions to install using the Synaptic Package Manager.

Step 1: Launch Synaptic Package Manager

Users can launch the Package Manager by typing “synaptic” in the terminal or from the menu:

Step 2: Search Network Manager

Then, search for the “network-manager” package in the pop-up interface and mark it for installation. After that, press the “Apply” button in the “Network Manager” interface:

Step 3: Install Network Manager

Users may also need to mark some additional packages that are required or recommended by the “Network Manager”. Then, again click on the “Apply” button and confirm the installation:

Step 4: Launch Network Manager

After the installation is complete, search for “network” in the application menu and launch the “Advanced Network Configuration” application by pressing it:

In this way, users can launch the “Network Manager” to perform network configuration.

Optional: Remove/Uninstall Network Manager

To remove/uninstall Network Manager using Synaptic Package Manager, search the “network-manager-gnome”. After that, right-click on the specific package and pick the “Mark for Removal” option. Then, press the “Apply” button to remove all dependent packages:

It removes the Network Manager along with the dependencies from Linux Mint.

Method 3: Install Network Manager on Linux Mint 21 Using the Terminal

Another interesting way to install Network Manager Monitor on Linux Mint is to use the terminal. This is a more advanced way to install Network Manager on Linux Mint, but it gives you more control and flexibility. To do this, follow the below instructions:

Step 1: Update Package List

First of all, the user is required to update the package list before installing any package. It updates the package list and is ready to install any new package:

sudo apt update

Step 2: Install Network Manager

To install Network Manager on Linux Mint, use the “network-manager-gnome” utility/package with the “apt” command:

sudo apt install network-manager-gnome

It confirms that the Network Manager is installed on Linux Mint. For this, users need to enter the root login password and confirm the installation.

Step 3: Check Network Manager Version

To check the version of Network Manager on Linux Mint, use the “version” utility with the “NetworkManager” package name:

NetworkManager --version

It confirms that the “Network Manager” has a “1.36.6” version on Linux Mint.

Optional: Check Network Manager Services

Alternatively, users can check the “Network Manager” services by executing the “systemctl” command with the “status” utility as below:

 sudo systemctl status NetworkManager

It confirms that “Network Manager” is currently in an active state.

Step 4: Launch Network Manager

After the installation is complete, launch Network Manager by typing “nm-connection-editor” in the terminal:

nm-connection-editor

Bonus Tip: Users can also launch “Network Manager” from the “System Tray” icon. For this, look for the “Network Manager” icon in your system tray (usually near the clock). Right-click it and select “Network Settings” or “Network Connections” to manage the network settings:

Optional: Remove/Uninstall Network Manager

To remove Network Manager using a Linux Mint terminal, use the “remove” utility with the “network-manager-gnome” package name as below:

sudo apt remove network-manager-gnome

It removes the Network Manager from Linux Mint. Users can also utilize the “autoremove” utility to completely remove from Linux Mint.

How to Use Network Manager on Linux Mint 21?

To use Network Manager, users need to press the “network” icon (bottom-right corner) on the panel and select “Network Settings” or “Network Connections” options. Alternatively, use the “nmcli” and “nmtui” utilities to manage/configure the network settings.

• Method 1: Using Network Manager Icon (GUI)
• Method 2: Using nmcli Command
• Method 3: Using nmtui Utility (Text-based Interface)

Method 1: Using Network Manager Icon (GUI)

On Linux Mint, Network Manager manages as well as monitors the network connections easily and efficiently. It can also assist users to troubleshoot network problems, configure network settings, and switch between different network profiles.

 

These are some of the possible examples of using Network Manager on Linux Mint:

Check Network Status on Linux Mint

To check the network status, users press the “network” icon on the system panel. It opens the menu showing the available network connections and their status:

Users can also display the connection type “Wired”, speed “1000Mb/s”, and IP address of the current connection.

Add/Remove/Edit Network Connection

To configure the network settings, hit the “Network Connections” option by pressing the “Network” icon on the panel. Then, users can press the “Add” button to create a new connection, or the “Delete” button to remove an existing connection:

Users can also access more settings and options by clicking on the “Gear” icon at the bottom of the menu.

View or Modify/Edit Network Properties

The “Gear” icon allows users to edit, add, or delete network profiles, configure VPNs, enable, or disable airplane mode, and more. So, select any connection such as “Wired connection 1” and view or modify its properties, such as the connection name, type, security, IPv4 and IPv6 settings, etc.:

After performing the network configuration, hit the “Save” button.

Bonus: Monitor Network Activity on Linux Mint (Using System Monitor)

To monitor network activity on Linux, use the “System Monitor” application (pre-installed on Linux Mint). Then, launch it by searching for it in the menu or typing “gnome-system-monitor” in the terminal. Finally, switch to the “Resources” tab and click on the “Network” sessions in the System Monitor window:

This visualizes the current and past network traffic for each network interface, as well as the total amount of data sent and received “5.1 MiB” and “1.3GiB”, respectively.

Note: Users can also hover the mouse over the graph to see more details, such as the exact speed and data usage at a specific point in time.

Method 2: Using nmcli Command

To monitor network traffic and statistics on Linux Mint, “nmcli” (command-line tool) is one of the best choices. It allows users to view and edit network connections, as well as to configure wired, wireless, mobile broadband, VPN, and other types of network interfaces.

Launch nmcli (Command-Line Tool)

To use “nmcli” for network management, open a Linux Mint terminal and type the “nmcli” command:

nmcli

It displays the current status and usage of the network interface.

Available Network Devices and Status

To list all the network devices on your system and their status, use the “nmcli” command with the “device” utility. It shows information about the network devices on the system, such as their type, state, IP address, speed, and connection:

nmcli device

This output shows that there are two network devices: “ens33” (wired) and “lo” (loopback). The “STATE” column indicates that the network device is connected, disconnected, unavailable/unmanaged. The “CONNECTION” column shows the name of the active connection profile (e.g., “Wired connection 1”) for each device.

Available Specific Device Status

Users can also utilize the “nmcli device show <device_name>” syntax to see more details about a specific device, such as its MAC address, driver, MTU, and statistics. Here, the “ens33” is the device name:

nmcli device show ens33

It enlists the packets transmitted, received, number of bytes and, as well as the errors and drops.

Connect and Disconnect Network Devices

To connect a network device to a specific connection profile, use the “nmcli device connect <device_name>” syntax. For instance, connect the “ens33” device as below:

nmcli device connect ens33

The network device has established the connection successfully. To disconnect network devices, use the “disconnect” utility by specifying the device name.

Activate and Deactivate Network Profiles

To activate a network profile, execute the “nmcli con up <connection_name>” syntax and specify the connection name or UUID of the profile:

nmcli con up “Wired connection 1”

It activates the specific connection. To deactivate a network profile, use the “nmcli con down <connection_name>” syntax and specify the name or UUID of the profile.

Note: Users can utilize the “con” or “connection” interchangeably to create/remove connections.

List All Network Profiles

To list all the network profiles on the current working system and their details, use the “show” utility with the “nmcli” command:

nmcli connection show

It enlists all available network profiles with the relevant information.

Other nmcli Commands

Commands

 

Description

 

nmcli connection add <connection_name/UUID>

 

Create a new network profile

 

nmcli connection delete <connection_name/UUID>

 

Remove a network profile permanently

 

nmcli connection modify <connection_name/UUID>

 

Modify an existing network profile

 

nmcli connection show

 

List available network connections

 

nmcli connection show <connection-name>

 

See details of a particular connection

 

nmcli device status

 

View overall status of active connections

 

nmcli device show <device-name>

 

Show current traffic statistics

 

nmcli connection monitor <connection-name>

 

Monitor traffic for a specific connection

 

nmcli device show <device-name>

 

Detailed device information

 

journalctl -u NetworkManager

 

Check network logs for errors

To explore more options of the “nmcli” command, use the “–help” option. It gets information about the syntax and usage of the “nmcli” command:

nmcli --help

It displays the available options of nmcli as well as objects with concise descriptions.

Method 3: Using nmtui Utility (Text-based Interface)

Users can also utilize the nmtui to create, edit, activate, or deactivate network connections. Here are some possible use cases for nmtui:

Launch nmtui

To use nmtui, open a terminal and type the “nmtui” command. It launches the graphical interface in the terminal, where users can navigate using the arrow keys and hit the “Enter” key:

It displays a menu with options to edit/activate connections, set system hostname, or quit.

Modify Network Interface Settings

Users can select the “Edit a connection” option to modify the settings of a network interface, such as the IP address, DNS, gateway, add/edit/remove connections, etc.

Create/Add a New Connection

To create a new bee connection, choose “Edit a connection” and then hit the “Add” option. Then, pick the type of connection (such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, VPN, etc.) and hit the ”Create” button:

Edit an Existing Connection

To edit an existing connection, hit the “Edit” option and then choose the connection to modify. Then, users can change the settings such as the IP address, DNS servers, security options, etc.

After modification, hit the “OK” button to save the network settings.

Delete an Existing Connection

To delete an existing connection, hit the “Delete” option in the “Edit a connection” interface. It requires confirmation to delete the selected connection. Then, press the “Delete” button in the new pop-up interface:

Activate/Deactivate Connection

To activate a connection, hit the “Activate” option and then pick the connection that users want to use. Similarly, users can “deactivate” a connection by selecting it again:

Exit nmtui

To exit nmtui on Linux Mint, users can press the “Quit” option on the “NetworkManager TUI” interface:

Bonus Tip: Alternative Tools for Network Managers

To explore alternative tools for Network Managers, consider these network monitoring tools if the Network Manager Monitor is not available or suitable:

Alternative Tools

 

Description

 

vnstat

 

Tracks network traffic usage.

 

nmon

 

monitor your network activity (system statistics).

 

iftop

 

Monitors real-time bandwidth usage.

 

bmon

 

Monitors bandwidth utilization.

 

iptraf

 

Offers interactive network statistics.

That is all from the guide to installing as well as using the Network Manager on Linux Mint.

Conclusion

To install the Network Manager on Linux Mint, search the “network-manager-gnome” utility/package in the “Software Manager” or “Synaptic Package Manager”. Then, install it along with its dependencies. Also, users can install this utility/package on the Linux Mint terminal using the “apt” command.

To use Network Manager, press the “network” icon (bottom-right corner) on the panel and select “Network Settings” or “Network Connections” options. Alternatively, use the “nmcli” and “nmtui” command-line utilities to manage/configure the network settings (connect/disconnect from a network, edit network settings, or troubleshoot network problems).

This guide has helped to learn how to use Network Manager on Linux Mint with step-by-step instructions.