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From: vjs@rhyolite.wpd.sgi.com (Vernon Schryver)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
Subject: Re: How do you determine Ethernet #?
Summary: see sysid(2)
Message-ID: <70732@sgi.sgi.com>
Date: 30 Sep 90 17:55:03 GMT
References: <Sep.28.12.11.34.1990.21193@caip.rutgers.edu> <70727@sgi.sgi.com>
Sender: guest@sgi.sgi.com
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA
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The quickest hack to find target's ethernet address is to
`/usr/etc/ping -c 5 target; /usr/etc/arp target`.

Many uses of the Ethernet MAC address are for "software node locking."
This is a grievious misuse, because the Ethernet address can change
when the ethernet board is replaced in systems where the ethernet
board is separate, including MP systems where the ethernet is on the
IO[23].  There is also an ioctl() that changes the ethernet address,
making such ethernet address "node locking" kind of loose.

Sysinfo(1) and sysid(2) describe how to obtain a better number.


Vernon Schryver,    vjs@sgi.com