For guys who spent most times in a terminal, it makes a lot of sense to be able to connect to your Bluetooth devices such as Speakers, Transmitters and any other electronic devices from the terminal. In this article we’ll discuss how you can control a Bluetooth device from a Linux terminal – Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and Arch based distributions.
The Bluetooth wireless technology is a worldwide specification for a small-form factor, low-cost radio solution that provides links between mobile computers, mobile phones, other portable handheld devices, and connectivity to the Internet. The specification is developed, published and promoted by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG).
In this guide, we’ll use BlueZ which provides support for the core Bluetooth layers and protocols. It is flexible, efficient and uses a modular implementation. It has the following key features.
- Complete modular implementation
- Symmetric multi processing safe
- Multithreaded data processing
- Support for multiple Bluetooth devices
- Real hardware abstraction
- Standard socket interface to all layers
- Device and service level security support
Install BlueZ on Linux
Install BlueZ packages by using any of the following commands that matches your Linux distribution.
### Ubuntu / Debian ###
sudo apt update
sudo apt install bluetooth bluez bluez-tools rfkill
### Fedora ###
sudo dnf install bluez bluez-tools
### Arch Linux / Manjaro ###
sudo pacman -S bluez bluez-utils This installation provides the bluetoothctl utility. You need to add your account to the lp group if you wish to connect to a bluetooth tether.
sudo usermod -aG lp $USER
newgrp lp
The bluetooth device should be started and enabled.
$ systemctl is-enabled bluetooth.service
enabled
$ systemctl status bluetooth.service
● bluetooth.service - Bluetooth service
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2019-11-30 17:14:12 EAT; 3h 55min ago
Docs: man:bluetoothd(8)
Main PID: 1638 (bluetoothd)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 18590)
Memory: 2.3M
CPU: 47ms
CGroup: /system.slice/bluetooth.service
└─1638 /usr/libexec/bluetooth/bluetoothd
Nov 30 17:14:12 myfed.example.net systemd[1]: Starting Bluetooth service...
Nov 30 17:14:12 myfed.example.net bluetoothd[1638]: Bluetooth daemon 5.52
Nov 30 17:14:12 myfed.example.net systemd[1]: Started Bluetooth service.
Nov 30 17:14:12 myfed.example.net bluetoothd[1638]: Starting SDP server
Nov 30 17:14:12 myfed.example.net bluetoothd[1638]: Bluetooth management interface 1.14 initialized
Nov 30 21:07:52 myfed.example.net bluetoothd[1638]: Endpoint registered: sender=:1.77 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSink/sbc
Nov 30 21:07:52 myfed.example.net bluetoothd[1638]: Endpoint registered: sender=:1.77 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/sbc
How to pair and connect to a Bluetooth device
We’re going to use the bluetoothctl CLI tp configure bluez. If you have an alternative front-end tool such as GNOME Bluetooth, you can use it instead.
First ensure Bluetooth is not disabled.
$ rfkill ID TYPE DEVICE SOFT HARD 0 bluetooth tpacpi_bluetooth_sw blocked unblocked 1 wlan phy0 unblocked unblocked
If it is blocked, unblock it by using the command below.
$ rfkill unblock bluetoothConfirm it is unblocked.
$ rfkill
ID TYPE DEVICE SOFT HARD
0 bluetooth tpacpi_bluetooth_sw unblocked unblocked
1 wlan phy0 unblocked unblocked
2 bluetooth hci0 unblocked unblocked
Using bluetoothctl to connect to a Bluetooth device
This is a general outline of pairing a device using bluetoothctl.
- Start the bluetoothctl interactive command.
$ bluetoothctl Agent registered $ bluetoothctl show Controller 20:79:18:5E:4B:64 (public) Name: myfed.example.net Alias: myfed.example.net Class: 0x000c010c Powered: yes Discoverable: no DiscoverableTimeout: 0x00000000 Pairable: no UUID: Headset AG (00001112-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: A/V Remote Control (0000110e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: PnP Information (00001200-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: Audio Sink (0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: Headset (00001108-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: A/V Remote Control Target (0000110c-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: Generic Access Profile (00001800-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: Audio Source (0000110a-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: Generic Attribute Profile (00001801-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) Modalias: usb:v1D6Bp0246d0534 Discovering: no Advertising Features: ActiveInstances: 0x00 SupportedInstances: 0x05 SupportedIncludes: tx-power SupportedIncludes: appearance SupportedIncludes: local-name
Input help to get a list of available commands.
- Turn on your bluetooth adapter
[bluetooth]# agent KeyboardOnly Agent is already registered [bluetooth]# default-agent Default agent request successful [bluetooth]# power on Changing power on succeeded
- Do a scan to detect your Bluetooth devices
# scan on Discovery started [CHG] Controller 20:79:18:5E:4B:64 Discovering: yes [NEW] Device 14:AB:C5:CC:C7:AB 14-AB-C5-CC-C7-AB [CHG] Device 14:AB:C5:CC:C7:AB TxPower: 8 [CHG] Device 14:AB:C5:CC:C7:AB Name: DESKTOP-N9GVMQ2 [CHG] Device 14:AB:C5:CC:C7:AB Alias: DESKTOP-N9GVMQ2 [CHG] Device 14:AB:C5:CC:C7:AB UUIDs: 0000110c-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [CHG] Device 14:AB:C5:CC:C7:AB UUIDs: 0000110a-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [CHG] Device 14:AB:C5:CC:C7:AB UUIDs: 0000110e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [CHG] Device 14:AB:C5:CC:C7:AB UUIDs: 0000111f-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [CHG] Device 14:AB:C5:CC:C7:AB UUIDs: 0000111e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [NEW] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 JBL Clip 3
- Pair with discovered bluetooth device
[bluetooth]# pair 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 Attempting to pair with 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 Connected: yes [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 UUIDs: 00001108-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 UUIDs: 0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 UUIDs: 0000110c-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 UUIDs: 0000110e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 UUIDs: 0000111e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 ServicesResolved: yes [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 Paired: yes Pairing successful # trust 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 Trusted: yes Changing 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 trust succeeded # paired-devices Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 JBL Clip 3 # devices Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 JBL Clip 3
- Connect to device after pairing
[bluetooth]# connect 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 Attempting to connect to 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 [CHG] Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 Connected: yes Connection successful [JBL Clip 3]# info Device 5C:FB:7C:A4:13:C6 (public) Name: JBL Clip 3 Alias: JBL Clip 3 Class: 0x00200414 Icon: audio-card Paired: yes Trusted: yes Blocked: no Connected: yes LegacyPairing: no UUID: Headset (00001108-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: Audio Sink (0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: A/V Remote Control Target (0000110c-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: A/V Remote Control (0000110e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) UUID: Handsfree (0000111e-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb) ManufacturerData Key: 0x0057 ManufacturerData Value: 01 00 cb 0e d0 1e 03 01 ........ RSSI: -21 TxPower: 0
Power on Bluetooth Adapter at Power on
To power on your Bluetooth adapter at system startup, open the configuration file.
sudo vim /etc/bluetooth/main.confAdd the line AutoEnable=true
[Policy]
AutoEnable=trueReference guides:
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