mac address
 

how to find the mac address because on my redhat Linux machine I have 10 network card installed, I don't know which to use as MAC address. Is there any thumb rule in finding MAC address of Linux machine in case of multiple Ethernet cards..??


please please help

ifconfig mac address = hwaddr

Computers do not have MAC addresses, NICs do. You have 10 NICs, therefore you have 10 MACs. If you want to know which one of the 10 you're currently using, then use ifconfig.

I know that but there are multiple Ethernet cards installed on my machine , which one should I use as my machine MAC address

++++++++++++++++++++++command output of my machine+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ifconfig -a
bond0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:90:FA:1A:47:12
inet6 addr: fe80::290:faff:fe1a:4712/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MASTER MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:51292853 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:93765353 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:19024257168 (17.7 GiB) TX bytes:130226181896 (121.2 GiB)

bond0.2200 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:90:FA:1A:47:12
inet addr:102.210.72.18 Bcast:10.10.73.255 Mask:255.255.254.0
inet6 addr: fe80::290:faff:fe1a:4712/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MASTER MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:31496131 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:80508114 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:16128517806 (15.0 GiB) TX bytes:129825297499 (120.9 GiB)

bond1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 90:E2:BA:42:95:3E
inet6 addr: fe80::92e2:baff:fe42:953e/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MASTER MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:233636545 errors:113 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:113
TX packets:205390684 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:72260754347 (67.2 GiB) TX bytes:75892460670 (70.6 GiB)

bond1.2160 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 90:E2:BA:42:95:3E
inet addr:159.202.228.117 Bcast:159.202.228.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::92e2:baff:fe42:953e/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MASTER MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:194091965 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:203593348 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:64639941836 (60.2 GiB) TX bytes:75696627235 (70.4 GiB)

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 90:E2:BA:42:95:3E
UP BROADCAST RUNNING SLAVE MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:26176079 errors:32 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:32
TX packets:53444316 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:4446549207 (4.1 GiB) TX bytes:18923979935 (17.6 GiB)
Memory:c4200000-c4280000

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 90:E2:BA:42:95:3E
UP BROADCAST RUNNING SLAVE MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:75499150 errors:68 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:68
TX packets:364048 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:27312922113 (25.4 GiB) TX bytes:44521151 (42.4 MiB)
Memory:c4280000-c4300000

eth2 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 40:F2:E9:21:7A:12
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Memory:c4580000-c45a0000

eth3 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 40:F2:E9:21:7A:13
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Memory:c45a0000-c45c0000

eth4 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 40:F2:E9:21:7A:14
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Memory:c45c0000-c45e0000

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What do you need the MAC address for? Whatever device is connected to a particular ethernet card, that card's MAC address is the adress that device will see...

I need MAC address for this machine as third party applications will generate licenses for their products to run on this machine & which are bound to MAC addresses

It depends on the application, but in my experience licenses are usually tied to the MAC of eth0. You should contact the providers to ask them though.