the file /sys/class/net/eth0/address carries your mac adress as simple string you can read with fopen()/fscanf()/fclose(). Nothing easier than that.

And if you want to support other network interfaces than eth0 (and you probably want), then simply use opendir()/readdir()/closedir() on /sys/class/net/.

edited Jul 10, 2017 at 8:54

haccks

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answered Nov 22, 2009 at 23:11

user175104

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5 Good answer, but not applicable in all situations. e.g. embedded systems (especially older ones, such as old versions of busybox, that don't have sysfs nor can support it because the system itself may be too old) – Alex Marshall Apr 15, 2013 at 12:45
3 The question specifically asked for a C solution – Charles Salvia Jun 19, 2014 at 1:48
13 @CharlesSalvia opening and reading a system file still seems like a C solution... as long as you know what your target system provides! Granted, your program will be tied to that type of system. But just compiling a program ties it to a system's architecture. I think this answer will help in many (but not all) situations. – moodboom Dec 29, 2016 at 14:53
(using Debian derived Bunsen on WiFi) See: /sys/class/net/wlp2s0/address – AAAfarmclub Sep 12, 2020 at 23:30

You need to iterate over all the available interfaces on your machine, and use ioctl with SIOCGIFHWADDR flag to get the mac address. The mac address will be obtained as a 6-octet binary array. You also want to skip the loopback interface.

#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <net/if.h> 
#include <unistd.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <string.h>

int main()
{
    struct ifreq ifr;
    struct ifconf ifc;
    char buf[1024];
    int success = 0;

    int sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, IPPROTO_IP);
    if (sock == -1) { /* handle error*/ };

    ifc.ifc_len = sizeof(buf);
    ifc.ifc_buf = buf;
    if (ioctl(sock, SIOCGIFCONF, &ifc) == -1) { /* handle error */ }

    struct ifreq* it = ifc.ifc_req;
    const struct ifreq* const end = it + (ifc.ifc_len / sizeof(struct ifreq));

    for (; it != end; ++it) {
        strcpy(ifr.ifr_name, it->ifr_name);
        if (ioctl(sock, SIOCGIFFLAGS, &ifr) == 0) {
            if (! (ifr.ifr_flags & IFF_LOOPBACK)) { // don't count loopback
                if (ioctl(sock, SIOCGIFHWADDR, &ifr) == 0) {
                    success = 1;
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
        else { /* handle error */ }
    }

    unsigned char mac_address[6];

    if (success) memcpy(mac_address, ifr.ifr_hwaddr.sa_data, 6);
}

edited May 25, 2012 at 0:35

Jamesprite

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answered Nov 22, 2009 at 19:48

Charles Salvia

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1 Why does this not need struct in front if ifreq and ifconf? Were typedefs for these structs removed in more recent kernels, that existed in 2009 when this was written? – Karl P Jul 20, 2011 at 17:39
I think it should be noted that OpenVZ containers do not have a MAC address and therefore, none of these solutions would work. The MAC address is (assumed to be) 00:00:00:00:00:00 – SameOldNick Feb 22, 2014 at 7:19
2 It only works if there is link on eth0. It doesn't work if the network cable is unplugged (on Ubuntu). – Florin Petriuc

You want to take a look at the getifaddrs(3) manual page. There is an example in C in the manpage itself that you can use. You want to get the address with the type AF_LINK.

in the manpage of getifaddrs linked the type AF_LINK is not described. Perhaps this is superseded by AF_PACKET ? – mpromonet Feb 6, 2016 at 15:15
3 According to stackoverflow.com/a/26038501/5230867 it seems that AF_LINK is macOS/BSD-specific, while AF_PACKET is the Linux equivalent. – Manfred Urban Sep 26, 2018 at 23:05

Add a comment

#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <linux/if.h>
#include <netdb.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int main()
{
  struct ifreq s;
  int fd = socket(PF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, IPPROTO_IP);

  strcpy(s.ifr_name, "eth0");
  if (0 == ioctl(fd, SIOCGIFHWADDR, &s)) {
    int i;
    for (i = 0; i < 6; ++i)
      printf(" %02x", (unsigned char) s.ifr_addr.sa_data[i]);
    puts("\n");
    return 0;
  }
  return 1;
}

edited Oct 18, 2011 at 8:10

Using getifaddrs you can get MAC address from the family AF_PACKET.

In order to display the MAC address to each interface, you can proceed like this:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <ifaddrs.h>
#include <netpacket/packet.h>

int main (int argc, const char * argv[])
{
    struct ifaddrs *ifaddr=NULL;
    struct ifaddrs *ifa = NULL;
    int i = 0;

    if (getifaddrs(&ifaddr) == -1)
    {
         perror("getifaddrs");
    }
    else
    {
         for ( ifa = ifaddr; ifa != NULL; ifa = ifa->ifa_next)
         {
             if ( (ifa->ifa_addr) && (ifa->ifa_addr->sa_family == AF_PACKET) )
             {
                  struct sockaddr_ll *s = (struct sockaddr_ll*)ifa->ifa_addr;
                  printf("%-8s ", ifa->ifa_name);
                  for (i=0; i <s->sll_halen; i++)
                  {
                      printf("%02x%c", (s->sll_addr[i]), (i+1!=s->sll_halen)?':':'\n');
                  }
             }
         }
         freeifaddrs(ifaddr);
    }
    return 0;
}

Ideone

edited Jun 7, 2019 at 5:56

answered Feb 6, 2016 at 15:06

mpromonet

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I have just write one and test it on gentoo in virtualbox.

// get_mac.c
#include <stdio.h>    //printf
#include <string.h>   //strncpy
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <net/if.h>   //ifreq
#include <unistd.h>   //close

int main()
{
    int fd;
    struct ifreq ifr;
    char *iface = "enp0s3";
    unsigned char *mac = NULL;

    memset(&ifr, 0, sizeof(ifr));

    fd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, 0);

    ifr.ifr_addr.sa_family = AF_INET;
    strncpy(ifr.ifr_name , iface , IFNAMSIZ-1);

    if (0 == ioctl(fd, SIOCGIFHWADDR, &ifr)) {
        mac = (unsigned char *)ifr.ifr_hwaddr.sa_data;

        //display mac address
        printf("Mac : %.2X:%.2X:%.2X:%.2X:%.2X:%.2X\n" , mac[0], mac[1], mac[2], mac[3], mac[4], mac[5]);
    }

    close(fd);

    return 0;
}

answered Jun 24, 2014 at 12:45

Akagi201

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Assuming that c++ code (c++11) is okay as well and the interface is known.

#include <cstdint>
#include <fstream>
#include <streambuf>
#include <regex>

using namespace std;

uint64_t getIFMAC(const string &ifname) {
  ifstream iface("/sys/class/net/" + ifname + "/address");
  string str((istreambuf_iterator<char>(iface)), istreambuf_iterator<char>());
  if (str.length() > 0) {
    string hex = regex_replace(str, std::regex(":"), "");
    return stoull(hex, 0, 16);
  } else {
    return 0;
  }
} 
int main()
{
  string iface = "eth0";
  printf("%s: mac=%016llX\n", iface.c_str(), getIFMAC(iface));
}

Lincoln

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On Linux, use the service of "Network Manager" over the DBus.
There is also good'ol shell program which can be invoke and the result grabbed (use an exec function under C):

$ /sbin/ifconfig | grep HWaddr

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A very portable way is to parse the output of this command.

ifconfig | awk '$0 ~ /HWaddr/ { print $5 }'

Provided ifconfig can be run as the current user (usually can) and awk is installed (it often is). This will give you the mac address of the machine.

edited Jan 25, 2016 at 14:03

mpromonet

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answered Nov 22, 2009 at 19:54

hookenz

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4 It's not very portable at all. It gives nothing on Mac OS X. The output of ifconfig does not contain the text HWaddr. – dreamlax Nov 22, 2009 at 20:25
Had to do this earlier in the year on solaris, linux and hpux. – hookenz Nov 22, 2009 at 22:04
1 Well, the concept is portable. The text may need tweaking for other platforms. – hookenz Nov 22, 2009 at 22:05
2 Using shell scripts, even one as tiny as yours is far from portable. There is a joke that goes that a shell is easier to port than a shell script :p – sigjuice Nov 23, 2009 at 1:59
8 Also, this isn't going to compile in any C compiler I know of. – BobbyShaftoe Nov 23, 2009 at 14:10

Show 1 more comment

Expanding on the answer given by @user175104 ...

netlink socket is possible

man netlink(7) netlink(3) rtnetlink(7) rtnetlink(3)

#include <assert.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <linux/if.h>
#include <linux/rtnetlink.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#define SZ 8192

int main(){

  // Send
  typedef struct {
    struct nlmsghdr nh;
    struct ifinfomsg ifi;
  } Req_getlink;
  assert(NLMSG_LENGTH(sizeof(struct ifinfomsg))==sizeof(Req_getlink));
  int fd=-1;
  fd=socket(AF_NETLINK,SOCK_RAW,NETLINK_ROUTE);
  assert(0==bind(fd,(struct sockaddr*)(&(struct sockaddr_nl){
    .nl_family=AF_NETLINK,
    .nl_pad=0,
    .nl_pid=getpid(),
    .nl_groups=0
  }),sizeof(struct sockaddr_nl)));
  assert(sizeof(Req_getlink)==send(fd,&(Req_getlink){
    .nh={
      .nlmsg_len=NLMSG_LENGTH(sizeof(struct ifinfomsg)),
      .nlmsg_type=RTM_GETLINK,
      .nlmsg_flags=NLM_F_REQUEST|NLM_F_ROOT,
      .nlmsg_seq=0,
      .nlmsg_pid=0
    },
    .ifi={
      .ifi_family=AF_UNSPEC,
      // .ifi_family=AF_INET,
      .ifi_type=0,
      .ifi_index=0,
      .ifi_flags=0,
      .ifi_change=0,
    }
  },sizeof(Req_getlink),0));

  // Receive
  char recvbuf[SZ]={};
  int len=0;
  for(char *p=recvbuf;;){
    const int seglen=recv(fd,p,sizeof(recvbuf)-len,0);
    assert(seglen>=1);
    len += seglen;
    if(((struct nlmsghdr*)p)->nlmsg_type==NLMSG_DONE||((struct nlmsghdr*)p)->nlmsg_type==NLMSG_ERROR)
      break;
    p += seglen;
  }

  struct nlmsghdr *nh=(struct nlmsghdr*)recvbuf;
  for(;NLMSG_OK(nh,len);nh=NLMSG_NEXT(nh,len)){
    if(nh->nlmsg_type==NLMSG_DONE)
      break;

    struct ifinfomsg *ifm=(struct ifinfomsg*)NLMSG_DATA(nh);

    printf("#%d ",ifm->ifi_index);
    #ifdef _NET_IF_H
    #pragma GCC error "include <linux/if.h> instead of <net/if.h>"
    #endif

    // Part 3 rtattr
    struct rtattr *rta=IFLA_RTA(ifm); // /usr/include/linux/if_link.h
    int rtl=RTM_PAYLOAD(nh);

    for(;RTA_OK(rta,rtl);rta=RTA_NEXT(rta,rtl))switch(rta->rta_type){
    case IFLA_IFNAME:printf("%s ",(const char*)RTA_DATA(rta));break;
    case IFLA_ADDRESS:
      printf("hwaddr ");
      for(int i=0;i<5;++i)
        printf("%02X:",*((unsigned char*)RTA_DATA(rta)+i));
      printf("%02X ",*((unsigned char*)RTA_DATA(rta)+5));
      break;
    case IFLA_BROADCAST:
      printf("bcast ");
      for(int i=0;i<5;++i)
        printf("%02X:",*((unsigned char*)RTA_DATA(rta)+i));
      printf("%02X ",*((unsigned char*)RTA_DATA(rta)+5));
      break;
    case IFLA_PERM_ADDRESS:
      printf("perm ");
      for(int i=0;i<5;++i)
        printf("%02X:",*((unsigned char*)RTA_DATA(rta)+i));
      printf("%02X ",*((unsigned char*)RTA_DATA(rta)+5));
      break;
    }

    printf("\n");

  }

  close(fd);
  fd=-1;
  return 0;

}

Example

#1 lo hwaddr 00:00:00:00:00:00 bcast 00:00:00:00:00:00
#2 eth0 hwaddr 57:da:52:45:5b:1a bcast ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff perm 57:da:52:45:5b:1a
#3 wlan0 hwaddr 3c:7f:46:47:58:c2 bcast ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff perm 3c:7f:46:47:58:c2

answered Sep 11, 2020 at 5:36

Darren Ng

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-1

This is a Bash line that prints all available mac addresses, except the loopback:

for x in `ls /sys/class/net |grep -v lo`; do cat /sys/class/net/$x/address; done

Can be executed from a C program.

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[C++][linux]linux C++获取mac地址

[C++][linux]linux C++获取mac地址

How to get MAC address of your machine using a C program?

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