Xref: utzoo comp.unix.programmer:670 comp.unix.ultrix:5568
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!udel!haven!decuac!hussar.dco.dec.com!mjr
From: mjr@hussar.dco.dec.com (Marcus J. Ranum)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.programmer,comp.unix.ultrix
Subject: Re: WANTED: ethernet address or other unique ID
Keywords: ethernet-address unique-ID
Message-ID: <1990Dec11.143509.8237@decuac.dec.com>
Date: 11 Dec 90 14:35:09 GMT
References: <747@utrcu1.UUCP>
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Washington Ultrix Resource Center
Lines: 20

In article <747@utrcu1.UUCP> emmerik@utrcu1.UUCP (Emmerik P.J.L. van) writes:
>
>Wanted: a way of obtaining a unique identifier for a SUN-workstation
>        from a program.
>
>On some systems we use the ethernet address of a workstation as a unique
>identifier

	The Sun has a unique host id#, unless I'm mistaken. Take a look
at the man page on "hostid" or something like that.

	Using the ethernet address as a unique identifier is questionably
unique, since it can be changed with ioctl()s on some machines (which is
what DECnet does). At least it guarantees that only one machine at a time
on a local network will use that number, though.

mjr.
-- 
	I'd trade all the CASE tools in the world for one real
programmer.     [From the programming notebooks of a heretic, 1990]