Finding a MAC address
Sometimes, we need to determine the hardware MAC address of a network interface, for example for an Avaya MAS keycode.
We can use ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) to do this.
The following describes how, either from Mac OS X or Windows.
Note: This procedure will only work for devices on the same subnet as the computer doing the discovery.
- Either:
- macOS X: Open a Terminal window.
- Windows: Click Start ➤ Run, type cmd, and click Ok
- Type
ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, with the IP address of the device who's MAC address you want to find. - Type ctrl-c to stop the ping.
- Type
arp -a(to display all of the current ARP entries) - The resulting output displays the IP address and a corresponding MAC address
The ARP table is cached, which is why a ping is needed to refresh it for that IP address entry.
To update the ARP table with all active network devices, ping the broadcast address (eg, x.x.x.255).
Example TTY Output:
Below we find the MAC address of device 10.5.3.68 is 00:F4:B9:32:28:19$ ping 10.5.3.68 - ping the device PING 10.5.3.68 (10.5.3.68): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 10.5.3.68: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=129.831 ms 64 bytes from 10.5.3.68: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=138.959 ms ^C --- 10.5.3.68 ping statistics --- 2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0.0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 129.831/134.395/138.959/4.564 ms $ arp -a - print the arp entries ? (10.5.0.4) at 0:50:e8:0:90:51 on en1 ifscope [ethernet] ? (10.5.1.232) at 24:77:3:7c:af:98 on en1 ifscope [ethernet] ? (10.5.3.68) at 0:f4:b9:32:28:19 on en1 ifscope [ethernet] <- here it is! ? (10.5.255.255) at ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff on en1 ifscope [ethernet] $
MAC / OUI lookup:
The first 3 octets of a MAC address uniquely identifies the hardware vendor, or manufacturer (OUI).
Enter a MAC address (or just the first 3 octets), and click submit to find the hardware vendor.
000000: Officially Xerox