Best way to extract MAC address from ifconfig's output?

Question

What is the best way to extract the MAC address from `ifconfig`'s output? Sample output: ``` bash-3.00# ifconfig eth0 eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 1F:2E:19:10:3B:52 inet addr:127.0.0.66 Bcast:127.255.255.255 Mask:255.0.0.0 UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 .... .... ``` Should I use cut, AWK or anything else, and what are the merits and demerits of one method over the other.

Accepted Answer

You can do a cat under `/sys/class/`

```
cat /sys/class/net/*/address
```

Specifically for `eth0`

```
cat /sys/class/net/eth0/address
```

Best way to extract MAC address from ifconfig's output?

Solution

Problem