The answer depends on what Operating System the device is running, or basically, what it is. To assign an IP address to your device, we need the set of 12 characters, separated by :’s or -‘s, two together, like: 5A:E4:4C:E6:D8:73
On UNIX-based systems (all flavors of Linux, macOS, Solaris, FreeBSD, etc…), you can either use a Terminal/X11 window and issue the command ‘ifconfig’ and the MAC follows ‘ether’ under the en0, en1, en2, … heading – often, en0 is for Ethernet, en1 is for WiFi/Wireless, so choose the proper section.
Image 1 – Mac OS X ‘ifconfig’
On macOS, the other option is to open System Settings (under the ‘Apple’ menu) and open the ‘Network’ pane. Choose your ‘Ethernet’ connection on the list in the left column, then click the ‘Advanced…’ button, then the ‘Hardware’ tab and provide the ‘MAC Address’. This second method can also help you verify you’ve got the right one from the first.
Image 2 – Mac OS X System Preferences – Network – Advanced – Ethernet
On Windows, open a Command Prompt by going to the Start menu and clicking ‘Run…’, then enter ‘cmd’ as the command to open and press enter. At the command prompt ‘>’, enter ‘getmac /v’ then press enter. The MAC address for your network connection will be listed in the Physical Address column. You may see more than one network device listed (as shown below). The Connection Name for your ethernet connection will typically start with “Local Area Connection” and the Network Adapter column will typically *not* include “VPN”, “Virtual”, etc…
Image 3 – Windows ‘getmac’ command
On newer versions/flavors/distros of Linux, Open a terminal and issue the command ‘ip address’ or ‘ip addr’ or ‘ip a’ or ‘ip link’ to get the MAC address of the given network card. eno1 usually is the network card name for the onboard Ethernet but sometimes it could also be called enpNxxxxx (e.g. enp0s31f6) or enpNxx (e.g. enp0s3) or ethN (e.g. eth0 or eth1).
Image 4 – MATE Terminal ‘ip address’ command
On other types of devices (printers, lab equipment, sensors, TV’s, etc.), it could be printed on the box the device came in, on a sticker on the back/bottom of the device, or by navigating it’s menu system. Printers can often print a configuration or network page.
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