How to enable Wake-on-LAN on Ubuntu 24.04 on a Mini PC

I recently set up Wake-on-LAN on my mini PC running Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS, and in this post I’ll walk you through every step I took to get it working — and ensure it stays working after reboot!

🔍 Step 1: Install ethtool

This tool lets you check and configure Wake-on-LAN:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ethtool

🔌 Step 2: Identify Your Network Interface

Find your Ethernet device name (mine was enp1s0):

ip link

Then confirm its WoL capability:

sudo ethtool enp1s0

You should see something like:

Supports Wake-on: pumbg
Wake-on: d

The d means it’s currently disabled. We want it to say g for “magic packet”.

⚡ Step 3: Enable WoL Temporarily (Test It)

To test if WoL works at all, enable it manually:

sudo ethtool -s enp1s0 wol g

Recheck:

sudo ethtool enp1s0

You’ll see:

Wake-on: g

🛠️ Step 4: Make It Permanent With udev

Create a persistent rule so it applies every time the system boots:

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/70-wake-on-lan.rules

Paste this (adjust interface name if yours is different):

ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="net", NAME=="enp1s0", RUN+="/usr/sbin/ethtool -s enp1s0 wol g"

Then reload udev and trigger the rule:

sudo udevadm control --reload
sudo udevadm trigger

Reboot and verify:

sudo reboot

sudo ethtool enp1s0

✅ If it still shows Wake-on: g, you’re good to go!

🧷 Step 5: Stop NetworkManager From Undoing It

Check your active connection name:

nmcli connection show

In my case, it was netplan-enp1s0. Then run:

sudo nmcli connection modify "netplan-enp1s0" 802-3-ethernet.wake-on-lan magic
sudo nmcli connection up "netplan-enp1s0"

🎉 Final Result

After all that, running:

sudo ethtool enp1s0

shows:

Wake-on: g

This means Wake-on-LAN is enabled and will persist through reboots. Now I can remotely power on my mini Ubuntu PC from anywhere on my network with a magic packet!

📦 Bonus Tip

You can use apps like Mocha WOL (iOS) or Wake On Lan (Android), or install the wakeonlan tool on another Linux PC:

sudo apt install wakeonlan
wakeonlan XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Replace XX:XX:XX... with your PC’s MAC address.

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Thanks for reading! Have questions or got stuck? Leave a comment and I’ll try my best to help!