[Bug 1074377] [NEW] debian-installer fails to escape or quote special characters in /etc/network/interfaces WPA key

[Jason Rogers]

Public bug reported:

I installed Ubuntu 12.04.1 64-bit (Precise Pangolin) using the minimal
ISO (mini.iso). During installation, debian-installer asked for my
wireless networking information and successfully used it to connect
wirelessly to the network. It also wrote my wireless networking
information to /etc/network/interfaces. However, the WPA key that I
entered contained at least one special character, and debian-installer
did not escape or quote the special character(s) in
/etc/network/interfaces. The result was that, on reboot, the system hung
for a very long time during the boot process as it tried
(unsuccessfully) to re-connect to the wireless network. I fixed the
problem by simply quoting the WPA key listed in /etc/network/interfaces.
This should happen automatically if the key contains special characters.

Example:

Originally, the relevant part of /etc/network/interfaces reads something
like this:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
    wpa-ssid SSIDHere
    wpa-psk KeyWith$pecialCharacters

It ought to have read something like this:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
    wpa-ssid SSIDHere
    wpa-psk "KeyWith$pecialCharacters"

It might also be that the SSID should be quoted/escaped, too, but I'm
not sure about that.

** Affects: debian-installer (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1074377

Title:
  debian-installer fails to escape or quote special characters in
  /etc/network/interfaces WPA key

Status in “debian-installer” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  I installed Ubuntu 12.04.1 64-bit (Precise Pangolin) using the minimal
  ISO (mini.iso). During installation, debian-installer asked for my
  wireless networking information and successfully used it to connect
  wirelessly to the network. It also wrote my wireless networking
  information to /etc/network/interfaces. However, the WPA key that I
  entered contained at least one special character, and debian-installer
  did not escape or quote the special character(s) in
  /etc/network/interfaces. The result was that, on reboot, the system
  hung for a very long time during the boot process as it tried
  (unsuccessfully) to re-connect to the wireless network. I fixed the
  problem by simply quoting the WPA key listed in
  /etc/network/interfaces. This should happen automatically if the key
  contains special characters.

  Example:

  Originally, the relevant part of /etc/network/interfaces reads
  something like this:

  auto wlan0
  iface wlan0 inet dhcp
      wpa-ssid SSIDHere
      wpa-psk KeyWith$pecialCharacters

  It ought to have read something like this:

  auto wlan0
  iface wlan0 inet dhcp
      wpa-ssid SSIDHere
      wpa-psk "KeyWith$pecialCharacters"

  It might also be that the SSID should be quoted/escaped, too, but I'm
  not sure about that.

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