Finding the MAC Address of Your Network Adapter

In the following, we will describe how to determine the MAC address of a network adapter in the different operating systems. This MAC address is required for registering a computer with CSN.

The so-called media access control address (MAC address) is the hardware address of a network adapter. It is used to uniquely identify a device in a computer network. In the different operating systems it is known under different names: „physical address“ (Microsoft), „Ethernet-ID“, „Airport-ID“ or „Wi-Fi address“ (Apple) and often „hardware address“ (Linux).

Windows Vista/7/8/10

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Press +R on your keyboard.
Type cmd and press ENTER (↵).
Type ipconfig -all in the command prompt and press ENTER (↵) to get a list of all available network adapters.
Now choose the MAC address of the correct adapter. Typically, wired network adapters are labeled Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection.

Even if you might see numerous network adapters in this list, please do not choose just any MAC address but pay attention to choose the correct adapter! Otherwise your connection will not work.

► Continue to “Registering with CSN”

Linux

Here, the procedure in Ubuntu, a Debian-based Linux system, is shown. In other distributions the procedure might vary.

Open a new terminal window (e.g. by pressing CTRL, ALT and T in Ubuntu)
Type ip -brief link show in the terminal and press ENTER (↵). All available network adapters will be shown.
Now choose the MAC address of the correct adapter. Typically, the first wired network adapter is labeled eth0, but names beginning in ens or enp aren't unusual either.

► Continue to “Registering with CSN”

Mac OS X

Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu
Click on Network
Select the connection you are using (Ethernet)
Navigate to the Hardware tab to see the address

► Continue to “Registering with CSN”