MAC Address

What is a MAC Address?

A MAC address, or a networked device's physical Media Access Control address, is a sequence of 12 digits and characters that uniquely identifies the device when connecting to the network. This unique address is assigned to network interface cards during manufacturing, for example, serving as their personal ID card of sorts.

A MAC address may take on a range of formats, such as the following:

0001a2b3c4d5
0001.a2b3.c4d5
00-01-a2-b3-c4-d5
00:01:a2:b3:c4:d5

Determining Your Computer’s MAC Address

When registering your computer for network services provision, you are required to provide your departmental administrator or administration desk with your computer’s MAC address. You will also need this address to identify your computer when resolving problems or malfunctions with the assistance of the IT Service Desk.

Determining the MAC Address on Windows

To determine the MAC address on Windows:

  1. Select the Run command on the Windows Start menu.
  2. Enter cmd in the command line entry field and press Enter.
  3. Enter the command  getmac /v on the window that appears and press Enter. Information will be displayed, including the MAC address, which will be listed under the Physical Address column.

For your information, should your computer be equipped with a wireless network adapter or an additional Ethernet network adapter, numerous physical addresses will be presented for each of these, respectively.

Determining the MAC Address on Macs

To determine the MAC address for your wired or wireless (WIS_Secure or MATLAB) connections on a Mac:

  1. Launch System Preferences from the Apple menu.
  2. Access the Network preferences section.
  3. Verify that Ethernet is selected on the left-hand side of the window that appears for wired connections, or Wi-Fi for wireless connections, and click Advanced on the lower right-hand side of the window.
  4. Access the final tab titled Hardware. The MAC address will be listed on the first line.

Determining the MAC Address on Linux

To determine the MAC address on Linux:

  1. Launch a Terminal window.
  2. Run the command /sbin/ifconfig. A data list will be presented, featuring the MAC address assigned to the device, right next to the HWaddr (short for Hardware Address) heading.

Determining the Serial Number of the System Hard Drive (Volume C:) on Windows Computers

To determine your system hard drive's serial number:

  1. Select the Run command on the Windows Start menu.
  2. Enter cmd in the command line entry field and press Enter.
  3. Enter the command vol c: on the window that appears and press Enter. The hard drive's 8-character serial number will appear (in the format ####-####).