Python script to turn the output of the airport utility to more manageable JSON format with some fields filtered out.
This script is result of the necessity to scan the wireless networks on macOS from terminal and the need to consume the result by some other components understanding JSON.
$ /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/airport -xs | ./airport-parser # | jq dump
$ # OR
$ ./airport-parser ~/path.to.airport.dump.xml
$ # Output
[
{
"HT": true,
"radio": {
"rssi": -39,
"noise": -95,
"channel": {
"current": 36,
"flags": 1040
},
"mode": 2,
"country": "CZ"
},
"bssid": "XX:XX:XX:XX:XXX",
"ssid": "Next door 5G",
"security": [
{
"type": "wpa2",
"auth": [
"psk"
],
"unicast": [
"ccmp"
],
"group": "ccmp"
}
]
}
]When dealing with some terminal wizardery I needed to find out all wireless networks in the vacinity. The Apple have a tool for probing the wireless networks "hidden" in private framework: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/airport. The tool outputs scan data (using airport -s) such as:
SSID BSSID RSSI CHANNEL HT CC SECURITY (auth/unicast/group)
XNet @ Protected XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX -57 13 Y CZ WPA2(PSK/AES/AES)
XNet @ Guests XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX -59 13 Y CZ WPA2(PSK/AES/AES)
XNet @ Hall XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX -59 13 Y CZ WPA2(PSK/AES/AES)
Next door XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX -33 11 Y -- WPA2(PSK/AES/AES)
Internet XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX -65 6 Y -- NONE
The first approach is to try to naively parse it "by hand" - using good old bash and tools - somewhere along the lines of (this code: is quite old; is horrible š¤¦ - but can be used as proof of concept for anyone interested - so here you go):
EXEC_AIR="/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/airport"
WIFIS=$($EXEC_AIR -s | awk -F. '\
function ltrim(s) {sub(/^[ \t\r\n]+/, "", s); return s}; \
function rtrim(s) {sub(/[ \t\r\n]+$/, "", s); return s}; \
function trim(s) { return rtrim(ltrim(s)); }; \
\
BEGIN {FIELDWIDTHS = "33 18 5 8 3 3 80"; print "[\n"} \
NR > 1 {print " { \"ssid\": \"" trim($1) "\",", "\"rssi\": \"" trim($3) "\", \"security\": \"" trim($7) "\" },"} \
END {print " { \"ssid\": \"" trim($1) "\",", "\"rssi\": \"" trim($3) "\", \"security\": \"" trim($7) "\" }\n]"}' \
| jq 'sort_by(.ssid,.rssi) | unique_by(.ssid)')
echo $(jq -nc --argjson list "$WIFIS" '{Available: ($list)')Apple provided the -x option allowing the output to be spitted out in XML (PLIST) format but plutil didn't take it as an input (abbrevieted version for one interface):
XML output example
<array>
<dict>
<key>80211D_IE</key>
<dict>
<key>IE_KEY_80211D_CHAN_INFO_ARRAY</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>IE_KEY_80211D_FIRST_CHANNEL</key>
<integer>36</integer>
<key>IE_KEY_80211D_MAX_POWER</key>
<integer>20</integer>
<key>IE_KEY_80211D_NUM_CHANNELS</key>
<integer>1</integer>
</dict>
</array>
<key>IE_KEY_80211D_COUNTRY_CODE</key>
<string>CZ</string>
</dict>
<key>AGE</key><integer>0</integer>
<key>AP_MODE</key><integer>2</integer>
<key>BEACON_INT</key><integer>100</integer>
<key>BSSID</key><string>XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX</string>
<key>CAPABILITIES</key><integer>2321</integer>
<key>CHANNEL</key><integer>48</integer>
<key>CHANNEL_FLAGS</key><integer>20</integer>
<key>HT_CAPS_IE</key>
<dict>
<key>AMPDU_PARAMS</key>
<integer>23</integer>
<key>ASEL_CAPS</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>CAPS</key>
<integer>111</integer>
<key>EXT_CAPS</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>MCS_SET</key><data> ... </data>
<key>TXBF_CAPS</key><integer>0</integer>
</dict>
<key>HT_IE</key>
<dict>
<key>HT_BASIC_MCS_SET</key><data> ... </data>
<key>HT_DUAL_BEACON</key><false/>
<key>HT_DUAL_CTS_PROT</key><false/>
<key>HT_LSIG_TXOP_PROT_FULL</key><false/>
<key>HT_NON_GF_STAS_PRESENT</key><true/>
<key>HT_OBSS_NON_HT_STAS_PRESENT</key><false/>
<key>HT_OP_MODE</key><integer>0</integer>
<key>HT_PCO_ACTIVE</key><false/>
<key>HT_PCO_PHASE</key><false/>
<key>HT_PRIMARY_CHAN</key><integer>48</integer>
<key>HT_PSMP_STAS_ONLY</key><false/>
<key>HT_RIFS_MODE</key><false/>
<key>HT_SECONDARY_BEACON</key><false/>
<key>HT_SECONDARY_CHAN_OFFSET</key><integer>3</integer>
<key>HT_SERVICE_INT</key><integer>0</integer>
<key>HT_STA_CHAN_WIDTH</key><true/>
<key>HT_TX_BURST_LIMIT</key><false/>
</dict>
<key>IE</key><data> ... </data>
<key>NOISE</key><integer>0</integer>
<key>RATES</key><array><integer>6</integer></array>
<key>RSN_IE</key>
<dict>
<key>IE_KEY_RSN_AUTHSELS</key>
<array><integer>2</integer></array>
<key>IE_KEY_RSN_MCIPHER</key><integer>4</integer>
<key>IE_KEY_RSN_UCIPHERS</key><array><integer>4</integer></array>
<key>IE_KEY_RSN_VERSION</key><integer>1</integer>
</dict>
<key>RSSI</key><integer>-58</integer>
<key>SSID</key><data>...</data>
<key>SSID_STR</key><string>XNet 5G @ Protected</string>
<key>VHT_CAPS</key>
<dict>
<key>INFO</key><integer>843055152</integer>
<key>SUPPORTED_MCS_SET</key><data> ... </data>
</dict>
<key>VHT_OP</key>
<dict>
<key>BASIC_MCS_SET</key><integer>-6</integer>
<key>CHANNEL_CENTER_FREQUENCY_SEG0</key><integer>0</integer>
<key>CHANNEL_CENTER_FREQUENCY_SEG1</key><integer>0</integer>
<key>CHANNEL_WIDTH</key><integer>0</integer>
</dict>
</dict>
<array>After searching for some while and finding the coresponding RNS IE and WPA IE values for encryptions, the scirpt in this repository was born. It outputs information similar to the default airport -s only in JSON:
[
{
"HT": true,
"radio": {
"rssi": -39,
"noise": -95,
"channel": {
"current": 36,
"flags": 1040
},
"mode": 2,
"country": "CZ"
},
"bssid": "XX:XX:XX:XX:XXX",
"ssid": "Next door 5G",
"security": [
{
"type": "wpa2",
"auth": [
"psk"
],
"unicast": [
"ccmp"
],
"group": "ccmp"
}
]
}
]