lately i have shifted to new location so is my machine. new location new net connection but the configuration process was different. previously I used connection with static IP but this time i have got to use dynamic IP assigned by DHCP. DHCP server identifies my PC using my MAC address. Up to this point I was fine but the problem was I could not use the physical address of my NIC rather I have to use the one provided by the connection provider. So i had to change the MAC address and this was the problem as I did not know how to change the MAC address in Linux. The technician come along, advised me that i would not be able to use this connection in Linux platform. This sounded real ridiculous. After doing little googling and skimming through ref book, I found the solution. The solution is not that difficult.
use ifconfig utility:
MAC address can be changed very easily using ifconfig.Before issuing command, be root user.Then issue the following command on the terminal:
#/sbin/ifconfig eth0 down hw ether address
here it is assumed that ifconfig is in the /sbin directory.
eth0 is the name of the interface/NIC which address is to be changed.
down means the NIC is to be shutdown before changing address.
hw ether means hardware address class is ether(which indicates ethernet).
address is the address which will used as the new mac.
After the successful execution of the command. start the NIC again using the command:
#/sbin/ifconfig eth0 up
and that is all I needed.
bingo leung said,
October 24, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Hi,
I tried this tweak on my fed 9 box!
But failed..firstly, I couldn’t find ‘ipconfig’..all that wa ‘plipconfig’…even though I continued only to read ‘this operation is not allowed’! [:(]
nur said,
October 25, 2008 at 4:03 am
hi thanks for visiting my blog… I think u didn’t read the guideline carefully. Because the command is not “ipconfig”, it is “ifconfig” . moreover you need to become root user before executing the command. I think this will help.
Regards.
Mohammed said,
April 11, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Hi,
I tried this, but after changing the MAC address the connection with the network failed, and when i turned MAC address back the connection return.
Can you help me please
ww said,
November 10, 2009 at 6:37 am
Maybe a MAC address restriction is imposed on your network (ie only certain mac addresses can gain access to the network)