Manual: bluetoothctl

bluetoothctl(1)					 Linux System Administration				     bluetoothctl(1)

Name
       bluetoothctl - Bluetooth Control Command Line Tool

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: 

       -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 

   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 

   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 

   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 

   set-alias
       Set device alias.

       Usage  > set-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 

   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 

   pairable
       Set controller pairable mode.

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

       Usage  > pairable 

   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	 de‐
       vices. 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 deter‐
       mined by discoverable-timeout command.

       Usage  > discoverable 

   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 

   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 

   untrust
       Untrust device.

       Usage  > untrust 

   block
       Block device.

       Usage  > block 

   unblock
       Unblock device

       Usage  > unblock 

   remove
       Remove device.

       Usage  > remove 

   connect
       Connect device.

       This will initiate a connection to a device.

       By  default  this  commands  tries  to  connect	all the profiles the remote device supports and have been flagged as
       auto-connectable. In case when the UUID of the remote service is given only that service will be connected. The	UUID
       can  be	either	a  short  form	(16-bit	 UUID) or a long form (128-bit UUID). There are also some special values for
       well-known profiles like "a2dp-sink", "a2dp-source", "hfp-hf", "hfp-ag", "ftp" or "spp".

       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  [uuid]

       Example
	      > connect 1C:48:F9:9D:81:5C

       Example
	      > connect 1C:48:F9:9D:81:5C hsp-hs

       Example
	      > connect 1C:48:F9:9D:81:5C 00001108-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb

       Example
	      > connect 1C:48:F9:9D:81:5C 0x1108

   disconnect
       Disconnect device.

       By  default  this  commands disconnects all profiles and then terminates the connection. In case when the UUID of the
       remote service is given only that service will be disconnected.

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

       Usage  > disconnect  [uuid]

   info
       Device information.

       Usage  > info 

   bearer
       Get/Set preferred bearer.

       Usage  > bearer  [last-seen/bredr/le]

       Example get preferred bearer
	      > bearer 
		PreferredBearer: last-seen

       Example set preferred bearer to LE
	      > bearer  le
	      [CHG] Device  PreferredBearer: le
	      Changing le succeeded

       Example set preferred bearer to BREDR
	      > bearer  bredr
	      [CHG] Device  PreferredBearer: bredr
	      Changing bredr succeeded

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.

	  bluetoothctl <

REPORTING BUGS
       

Copyright
       Free use of this software is granted under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public Licenses (LGPL).

BlueZ							 March 2024					     bluetoothctl(1)