Struggling to Use Text Editors on Ubuntu Server for Wi-Fi Setup

December 11, 2025 4 answers
Asked by TechyPanda82
I'm trying to set up a Wi-Fi connection on my Ubuntu 22.04 server installation on an old laptop, but I'm having trouble accessing the netplan configuration files. Every time I try to open them in a text editor like nano, vi, vim, or gedit, I get a 'command not found' error. I could buy an Ethernet cable, but I'd prefer to solve this without it. Any suggestions?

Answers

OldSchoolLinuxer
You should definitely give `nano` a shot for editing text files. It's really straightforward to use, and you probably have it available on your system already.
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LazyAdmin17
If you're getting 'command not found' errors, it might be time to install the necessary commands! Also, if you're new to editing text files in the terminal, you can try using `nano`, which is pretty beginner-friendly and likely already installed.
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NetworkGuru99
Just a heads up, netplan itself isn't a text file you edit directly; it's a program that manages network configurations. Since you're on a server version with no GUI, you can try running `ifconfig` in the terminal to see your network devices, and then use `nmcli device wifi connect password ` to connect to your Wi-Fi. If your laptop is older, consider switching to Xubuntu as it has a lighter desktop that can work well as a server.
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UbuntuNinja23
It sounds like you might have installed the minimal version of Ubuntu. Check if the vim.tiny package is installed. If not, you can also modify the netplan settings directly using the `sed` command or even redirect the output from `cat` or `echo` into the file if you really need to edit it.
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