If you’re working in Terminal on your Mac, you need to know the most important UNIX commands: those that work with directories, those that work with files, and miscellaneous but commonly used commands. Folders are called directories in UNIX. Commands that refer to filenames, as most do, assume that you’re talking about files in the. UNIX desktop operating system. In addition, OS X is the only UNIX environment that natively runs Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, and thousands of other consumer applications—all side by side with traditional command-line, X11, and Java applications. Tight integration with hardware—from the sleek MacBook to the eight-core Mac Pro.

In this article, I will take you through different ways to List/Get/Display/Find MAC Address in Linux. You might be aware of Ethernet Card/Network Card/NIC Controller which works at Network level and is responsible for communicating with other network devices in a Network Topology. It is used in Layer-2 Communication. You can find the usage of MAC address in wide range of Network Devices currently in use. This is typically in-line with IEEE 802 Network technologies.

The Mac has always been an efficient tool, pleasant to use and customize, and eminently hackable. But now with Mac OS® X's BSD core, many a Unix® developer has found it irresistible. The latest version of Mac OS X, called Panther, makes it even easier for users to delve into the underlying Unix. Mac OS X and Linux implement an interface between user programs and an OS kernel. This interface started in Unix and got standardized in the so called POSIX. standard. Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment is a good book to read if you want to learn about this interface. Unix is more than just the implementation though. If neither of these programs are currently installed on your Mac, you can download XQuartz from the Mac App Store (free). To enable forwarding, just run XQuartz/X11 before starting Terminal. If a xterm window pops up from XQuartz/X11, you may close that window before starting Terminal, since Terminal is more feature-rich than XTerm (my opinion).

What is MAC Address

MAC is abbreviated as Media Access Control. It is a unique 48 bit(6-byte) address assigned to a Network Interface. It is almost used in all the Network Devices which has network controller in it. It will always show in this form 00:07:Y7:1C:6L:03.

Find MAC Address in Linux

Also Read:25 Useful Linux SS Command Examples to Monitor Network Connections

Method 1: How to find MAC Address in Linux Using ifconfig command

If you want to check MAC Address of all the network interfaces in Linux using our traditional ifconfig command then you need to use ifconfig -a command as shown below.

NOTE:

Method 2: How to find an ethernet MAC Address in Linux Using ifconfig command

If you want to check the MAC Address of a specific network interface using ifconfig command then you need to use network interface name with ifconfig command as shown below. Here we are checking MAC Address of interface enp0s3 using ifconfig enp0s3 command.

NOTE:

Method 3: How to find MAC Address in Linux Using ip addr sh command

If you want to check the MAC address of all the network interfaces then you need to simply use ip addr sh command and check the MAC address from ether field as shown below.

Method 4: How to find an ethernet MAC Address in Linux using ip addr sh command

If you want to check the MAC address of some specific network interface then you need to use the interface name with ip addr sh command and check the MAC address from ether field as shown below. In this example we are checking MAC address of enp0s3 network interface.

Method 5: How to find MAC Address in Linux Using ip link show command

If you want to check the MAC address of all the network interfaces then you can use another useful ip link show command and check the MAC address from link/ether field as shown below.

Method 6: How to find an ethernet MAC Address in Linux using ip link show command

If you want to check the MAC address of some specific network interface then you need to use the interface name with ip link show command and check the MAC address from ether field as shown below. In this example we are checking MAC address of enp0s3 network interface.

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Method 7: How to find MAC Address in Linux using ethtool command

You can also use another useful linux tool called ethtool to find MAC address in Linux as shown below. Here I am checking MAC address of my ethernet card enp0s3 using ethtool command hence you need to mention your Interface name before running below command.

Method 8: How to find MAC Address in Linux using Regex with ifconfig command

You can use a simple grep regular expression with ifconfig command to find the MAC Address of an ethernet card in Linux as shown below. Like above example, Here I am using regular expression on my System enp0s3 interface so you need to change and mention your interface name instead of enp0s3 before running below command.

Method 9: How to find MAC Address in Linux using SYS Files

If you want to check MAC address in Linux using SYS files you need to check network address file using below cat command. As mentioned below SYS file is a text file so its contents can always be seen through Linux cat command.

Mac Unix

Method 10: How to find MAC Address in Linux using AWK Regex with ifconfig command

You can also use AWK regular expression with ifconfig command to find MAC Address in Linux as shown below. Here we are grepping ether keyword from ifconfig command and then piping to awk to get first and second column output separated by tab.

Method 11: How to find MAC Address in Linux using Sed Regex with ifconfig command

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Like above example, you can also use Sed Regular expressions with ifconfig command to find MAC Address in Linux as shown below.

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