I have been searching for a terminal command line to disconnect or connect 802.1x authentication, but not the network interface. I was searching some help pages and it showed command lines to export and import 802.1x settings/certificates but not disconnecting and connecting.
2 Answers
This button is tied to the eapolclient. When it's connected, you can disconnect it by killing the eapolclient process:
$ ps ax | grep eapol
83601 ?? Ss 0:00.05 /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/EAPOLController.bundle/Contents/Resources/eapolclient -i en0
$ sudo kill 83601
When I do this the GUI button switches to show it's disconnected. The bad news is, I don't know how you can start it again :(
Perhaps you can achieve the same by turning the interface off/on:
sudo ifconfig <interface> down
sudo ifconfig <interface> up
Disconnecting from WiFi Networks
sudo ln -s /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport /usr/local/bin/airport
sudo airport --disassociate
Run these commands in Terminal. Your WiFi will disconnect, while the AirPort Network Interface remains enabled.