---
name: "airmon-ng"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "aircrack-ng"
version: "1.7-7"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/airmon-ng/8"
---

# airmon-ng(8)

POSIX sh script designed to turn wireless cards into monitor mode.

## NAME

airmon-ng - POSIX sh script designed to turn wireless cards into monitor mode.

## SYNOPSIS

**airmon-ng** \<start\|stop\> \<interface\> \[channel\] **airmon-ng** \<check\> \[kill\]

## DESCRIPTION

**airmon-ng** This script can be used to enable monitor mode on wireless interfaces. It may also be used to go back from monitor mode to managed mode. Entering the airmon-ng command without parameters will show the interfaces status.  It can also list/kill programs that can interfere with the wireless card operation.

## OPTIONAL PARAMETERS

- *start \<interface\> \[channel\]*

  Enable monitor mode on an interface (and specify a channel). Note: Madwifi-ng is a special case, 'start' has to be used on wifi interfaces and 'stop' on ath interfaces.

- *start \<interface\> \[frequency\]*

  Enable monitor mode on an interface (and specify a frequency in MHz). Note: Madwifi-ng is a special case, 'start' has to be used on wifi interfaces and 'stop' on ath interfaces.

- *stop \<interface\>*

  Disable monitor mode and go back to managed mode (except for madwifi-ng where it kills the ath VAP).

- *check \[kill\]*

  List all possible programs that could interfere with the wireless card. If 'kill' is specified, it will try to kill all of them.

- *--verbose*

  This flag must precede start/stop/check and can be combined with other parameters or used alone.  This flag will increase the verbosity to provide additional useful information which may not be needed for normal operation.

- *--debug*

  This flag must precede start/stop/check and can be combined with other parameters or used alone.  This flag will increase the verbosity to debug level to assist in troubleshooting errors in airmon-ng. Use this flag when opening a bug, but only use --verbose when requesting support in irc.

- *--elite*

  WARNING: DO NOT USE: This flag must precede start or stop and will prevent airmon-ng from removing interfaces.  WARNING: Use of this flag will immediately disqualify receiving any support from the aircrack-ng team, due to the fact that this behavior is known to be broken. WARNING!

## AUTHOR

This manual page was written by Adam Cecile \<gandalf@le-vert.net\> for the Debian system (but may be used by others). And modified to fit airmon-ng by David Francos Cuartero \<xayon@xayon.net\>. Most recently modified by Zero\_Chaos to update for the airmon-zc rewrite. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.

## SEE ALSO

**[airbase-ng(8)](/airbase-ng/8.md)**\
 **[aireplay-ng(8)](/aireplay-ng/8.md)**\
 **[airodump-ng(8)](/airodump-ng/8.md)**\
 **[airodump-ng-oui-update(8)](/airodump-ng-oui-update/8.md)**\
 **[airserv-ng(8)](/airserv-ng/8.md)**\
 **[airtun-ng(8)](/airtun-ng/8.md)**\
 **[besside-ng(8)](/besside-ng/8.md)**\
 **[easside-ng(8)](/easside-ng/8.md)**\
 **[tkiptun-ng(8)](/tkiptun-ng/8.md)**\
 **[wesside-ng(8)](/wesside-ng/8.md)**\
 **[aircrack-ng(1)](/aircrack-ng/1.md)**\
 **[airdecap-ng(1)](/airdecap-ng/1.md)**\
 **[airdecloak-ng(1)](/airdecloak-ng/1.md)**\
 **[airolib-ng(1)](/airolib-ng/1.md)**\
 **[besside-ng-crawler(1)](/besside-ng-crawler/1.md)**\
 **[buddy-ng(1)](/buddy-ng/1.md)**\
 **[ivstools(1)](/ivstools/1.md)**\
 **[kstats(1)](/kstats/1.md)**\
 **[makeivs-ng(1)](/makeivs-ng/1.md)**\
 **[packetforge-ng(1)](/packetforge-ng/1.md)**\
 **[wpaclean(1)](/wpaclean/1.md)**