============
bluetoothctl
============

-----------------------------------
Bluetooth Control Command Line Tool
-----------------------------------

:Version: BlueZ
:Copyright: Free use of this software is granted under the terms of the GNU
            Lesser General Public Licenses (LGPL).
:Date: November 2022
:Manual section: 1
:Manual group: Linux System Administration

SYNOPSIS
========

**bluetoothctl** [**-a** *capability*] [**-e**] [**-m**] [**-t** *seconds*]
[**-v**] [**-h**]

DESCRIPTION
===========

**bluetoothctl(1)** interactive bluetooth control tool. The tool works with
Bluetooth Classic (BR/EDR) and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) controllers.

The tool is menu driven but can be automated from the command line.
Examples are given in the automation section.

OPTIONS
=======

-a capability, --agent capability        Register agent handler: <capability>
-e, --endpoints                  Register Media endpoints
-m, --monitor                    Enable monitor output
-t seconds, --timeout seconds    Timeout in seconds for non-interactive mode
-v, --version       Display version
-h, --help          Display help


Commands
========

list
----

List available controllers.

:Usage: **# list**

show
----

Controller information.

:Usage: **# show [ctrl]**

select
------

Select default controller.

:Usage: **# select <ctrl>**

devices
-------

List available devices, with an optional property as the filter.

:Usage: **# devices [Paired/Bonded/Trusted/Connected]**

system-alias
------------

Set controller alias.

:Usage: **# system-alias <name>**

reset-alias
-----------

Reset controller alias.

:Usage: **# reset-alias**

power
-----

Set controller power.

When the controller is powered off, the USB port the controller is attached to
is put into a suspend state.

:Usage: **# power <on/off>**

advertise
---------

Enable/disable advertising with given type.

If you exit the program advertising will be disabled.

When advertising the controller should advertise with random address but may
use its public address if it does not support the feature (address of the
device).

A device can advertise if it initiated the connection to another advertising
device.

:Usage: **# advertise <on/off/type>**

set-alias
---------

Set device alias.

:Usage: **# set-alias <alias>**

scan
----

Scan for devices.

For LE, scanning is an important requirement before connecting or pairing.

The purpose of scanning is to find devices that are advertising with their
discoverable flag set (either limited or general). Once you have found the
address then you can connect or pair.

Note the following when scanning:

  - When scanning the controller will use a random address that is not
    resolvable so the public address is not leaked. A new random address is
    created every time scan on is used.
  - When turning on scanning the device will start receiving advertising reports
    of what devices are advertising.
  - The filtering of duplicate advertising reports may be enabled depending on
    the filtering settings.
  - Device objects found during a scan session will only be persisted if they
    are connected/paired otherwise they are removed after some time.

:Usage: **# scan <on/off/bredr/le>**

pair
----

Pair with device.

This will pair with a device and then trust and connect to it. If the device is
already paired this will first remove the pairing.

The command can either be used while the controller is in the connected or not
connected state.

If the controller is already connected then the pair command can be used without
an arguments. If the controller is not connected, the pair command can be given
the address of a device with an active scan report and it will initiate the
connection before pairing.

Before pairing the agent must be selected to choose the authentication
mechanism.

:Usage: **# pair <dev>**

pairable
--------

Set controller pairable mode.

This enables/disables pairing. If pairing is disabled then the controller will
not accept any pairing requests.

:Usage: **# pairable <on/off>**

discoverable
------------

Set discoverable mode.

This enables/disables discoverable mode. If discoverable is disabled then the
controller will not respond to any scan requests.

In LE if discoverable if off the controller will just passively scan and not
make scan requests to advertising devices. If on it will make the advertising
requests.

It will use a random address if supported by the controller. The length of time
"discoverable on" is valid is determined by discoverable-timeout command.

:Usage: **# discoverable <on/off>**

discoverable-timeout
--------------------

Set discoverable timeout.

The time in seconds that "discoverable on" is valid.

:Usage: **# discoverable-timeout [value]**

agent
-----

Enable/disable agent with given capability.

This chooses the local authentication mechanism of the controller. It is needed
for pairing and allows you to choose the IO capabilities of the controller.

The valid agent capabilities are: DisplayOnly, DisplayYesNo, KeyboardDisplay,
KeyboardOnly, NoInputNoOutput.

:Usage: **# agent <on/off/capability>**

default-agent
-------------

Set current agent as the default one.

After selecting the agent this will make it the default agent.

:Usage: **# default-agent**

trust
-----

Trust device.

:Usage: **# trust <dev>**

untrust
-------

Untrust device.

:Usage: **# untrust <dev>**

block
-----

Block device.

:Usage: **# block <dev>**

unblock
-------
Unblock device

:Usage: **# unblock <dev>**

remove
------

Remove device.

:Usage: **# remove <dev>**

connect
-------

Connect device.

This will initiate a connection to a device.

To connect with an LE device the controller must have an active scan report of
the device it wants to connect to.

If no advertising report is received before the timeout a
le-connection-abort-by-local error will be issued. In that case either try
again to connect assuming the device is advertising.

:Usage: **# connect <dev>**

disconnect
----------

Disconnect device.

For LE when disconnecting from an active connection the device address is not
needed.

:Usage: **# disconnect <dev>**

info
----

Device information.

:Usage: **# info <dev>**


Advertise Submenu
=================

See **bluetoothctl-advertise(1)**.

Monitor Submenu
===============

See **bluetoothctl-monitor(1)**

Scan Submenu
============

See **bluetoothctl-scan(1)**

Gatt Submenu
============

See **bluetoothctl-gatt(1)**

Admin Submenu
=============

See **bluetoothctl-admin(1)**

Player Submenu
==============

See **bluetoothctl-player(1)**

Endpoint Submenu
================

See **bluetoothctl-endpoint(1)**

Transport Submenu
=================

See **bluetoothctl-transport(1)**

Management Submenu
==================

See **bluetoothctl-mgmt(1)**

Assistant Submenu
==================

See **bluetoothctl-assistant(1)**

AUTOMATION
==========
Two common ways to automate the tool are to use Here Docs or the program expect.
Using Here Docs to show information about the Bluetooth controller.

.. code::

   bluetoothctl <<EOF
   list
   show
   EOF


RESOURCES
=========

http://www.bluez.org

REPORTING BUGS
==============

linux-bluetooth@vger.kernel.org
