How can I programmatically get the MAC address of an iphone - ios

Question

How to programmatically get an iPhone's MAC address and IP address?

Answer 1

NOTE As of iOS7, you can no longer retrieve device MAC addresses. A fixed value will be returned rather than the actual MAC
Somthing I stumbled across a while ago. Originally from here I modified it a bit and cleaned things up.
IPAddress.h
IPAddress.c
And to use it
InitAddresses();
GetIPAddresses();
GetHWAddresses();
int i;
NSString *deviceIP = nil;
for (i=0; i<MAXADDRS; ++i)
{
static unsigned long localHost = 0x7F000001; // 127.0.0.1
unsigned long theAddr;
theAddr = ip_addrs[i];
if (theAddr == 0) break;
if (theAddr == localHost) continue;
NSLog(#"Name: %s MAC: %s IP: %s\n", if_names[i], hw_addrs[i], ip_names[i]);
//decided what adapter you want details for
if (strncmp(if_names[i], "en", 2) == 0)
{
NSLog(#"Adapter en has a IP of %s", ip_names[i]);
}
}
Adapter names vary depending on the simulator/device as well as wifi or cell on the device.

Answer 2

Update: this will not work on iOS 7. You should use ASIdentifierManager.
More clean solution on MobileDeveloperTips website:
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/sysctl.h>
#include <net/if.h>
#include <net/if_dl.h>
...
- (NSString *)getMacAddress
{
int mgmtInfoBase[6];
char *msgBuffer = NULL;
size_t length;
unsigned char macAddress[6];
struct if_msghdr *interfaceMsgStruct;
struct sockaddr_dl *socketStruct;
NSString *errorFlag = NULL;
// Setup the management Information Base (mib)
mgmtInfoBase[0] = CTL_NET; // Request network subsystem
mgmtInfoBase[1] = AF_ROUTE; // Routing table info
mgmtInfoBase[2] = 0;
mgmtInfoBase[3] = AF_LINK; // Request link layer information
mgmtInfoBase[4] = NET_RT_IFLIST; // Request all configured interfaces
// With all configured interfaces requested, get handle index
if ((mgmtInfoBase[5] = if_nametoindex("en0")) == 0)
errorFlag = #"if_nametoindex failure";
else
{
// Get the size of the data available (store in len)
if (sysctl(mgmtInfoBase, 6, NULL, &length, NULL, 0) < 0)
errorFlag = #"sysctl mgmtInfoBase failure";
else
{
// Alloc memory based on above call
if ((msgBuffer = malloc(length)) == NULL)
errorFlag = #"buffer allocation failure";
else
{
// Get system information, store in buffer
if (sysctl(mgmtInfoBase, 6, msgBuffer, &length, NULL, 0) < 0)
errorFlag = #"sysctl msgBuffer failure";
}
}
}
// Befor going any further...
if (errorFlag != NULL)
{
NSLog(#"Error: %#", errorFlag);
return errorFlag;
}
// Map msgbuffer to interface message structure
interfaceMsgStruct = (struct if_msghdr *) msgBuffer;
// Map to link-level socket structure
socketStruct = (struct sockaddr_dl *) (interfaceMsgStruct + 1);
// Copy link layer address data in socket structure to an array
memcpy(&macAddress, socketStruct->sdl_data + socketStruct->sdl_nlen, 6);
// Read from char array into a string object, into traditional Mac address format
NSString *macAddressString = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%02X:%02X:%02X:%02X:%02X:%02X",
macAddress[0], macAddress[1], macAddress[2],
macAddress[3], macAddress[4], macAddress[5]];
NSLog(#"Mac Address: %#", macAddressString);
// Release the buffer memory
free(msgBuffer);
return macAddressString;
}

Answer 3

I wanted something to return the address regardless of whether or not wifi was enabled, so the chosen solution didn't work for me. I used another call I found on some forum after some tweaking. I ended up with the following (excuse my rusty C ) :
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <net/if_dl.h>
#include <ifaddrs.h>
char* getMacAddress(char* macAddress, char* ifName) {
int success;
struct ifaddrs * addrs;
struct ifaddrs * cursor;
const struct sockaddr_dl * dlAddr;
const unsigned char* base;
int i;
success = getifaddrs(&addrs) == 0;
if (success) {
cursor = addrs;
while (cursor != 0) {
if ( (cursor->ifa_addr->sa_family == AF_LINK)
&& (((const struct sockaddr_dl *) cursor->ifa_addr)->sdl_type == IFT_ETHER) && strcmp(ifName, cursor->ifa_name)==0 ) {
dlAddr = (const struct sockaddr_dl *) cursor->ifa_addr;
base = (const unsigned char*) &dlAddr->sdl_data[dlAddr->sdl_nlen];
strcpy(macAddress, "");
for (i = 0; i < dlAddr->sdl_alen; i++) {
if (i != 0) {
strcat(macAddress, ":");
}
char partialAddr[3];
sprintf(partialAddr, "%02X", base[i]);
strcat(macAddress, partialAddr);
}
}
cursor = cursor->ifa_next;
}
freeifaddrs(addrs);
}
return macAddress;
}
And then I would call it asking for en0, as follows:
char* macAddressString= (char*)malloc(18);
NSString* macAddress= [[NSString alloc] initWithCString:getMacAddress(macAddressString, "en0")
encoding:NSMacOSRomanStringEncoding];
free(macAddressString);

Answer 4

Starting from iOS 7, the system always returns the value 02:00:00:00:00:00 when you ask for the MAC address on any device.
In iOS 7 and later, if you ask for the MAC address of an iOS device, the system returns the value 02:00:00:00:00:00. If you need to identify the device, use the identifierForVendor property of UIDevice instead. (Apps that need an identifier for their own advertising purposes should consider using the advertisingIdentifier property of ASIdentifierManager instead.)"
Reference: releasenotes

Answer 5

There are vary solutions about this, but I couldn't find a whole thing.
So I made my own solution for :
nicinfo
How to use :
NICInfoSummary* summary = [[[NICInfoSummary alloc] init] autorelease];
// en0 is for WiFi
NICInfo* wifi_info = [summary findNICInfo:#"en0"];
// you can get mac address in 'XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX' form
NSString* mac_address = [wifi_info getMacAddressWithSeparator:#"-"];
// ip can be multiple
if(wifi_info.nicIPInfos.count > 0)
{
NICIPInfo* ip_info = [wifi_info.nicIPInfos objectAtIndex:0];
NSString* ip = ip_info.ip;
NSString* netmask = ip_info.netmask;
NSString* broadcast_ip = ip_info.broadcastIP;
}
else
{
NSLog(#"WiFi not connected!");
}

Answer 6

This looks like a pretty clean solution: UIDevice BIdentifier
// Return the local MAC addy
// Courtesy of FreeBSD hackers email list
// Accidentally munged during previous update. Fixed thanks to erica sadun & mlamb.
- (NSString *) macaddress{
int mib[6];
size_t len;
char *buf;
unsigned char *ptr;
struct if_msghdr *ifm;
struct sockaddr_dl *sdl;
mib[0] = CTL_NET;
mib[1] = AF_ROUTE;
mib[2] = 0;
mib[3] = AF_LINK;
mib[4] = NET_RT_IFLIST;
if ((mib[5] = if_nametoindex("en0")) == 0) {
printf("Error: if_nametoindex error\n");
return NULL;
}
if (sysctl(mib, 6, NULL, &len, NULL, 0) < 0) {
printf("Error: sysctl, take 1\n");
return NULL;
}
if ((buf = malloc(len)) == NULL) {
printf("Could not allocate memory. error!\n");
return NULL;
}
if (sysctl(mib, 6, buf, &len, NULL, 0) < 0) {
printf("Error: sysctl, take 2");
free(buf);
return NULL;
}
ifm = (struct if_msghdr *)buf;
sdl = (struct sockaddr_dl *)(ifm + 1);
ptr = (unsigned char *)LLADDR(sdl);
NSString *outstring = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%02X:%02X:%02X:%02X:%02X:%02X",
*ptr, *(ptr+1), *(ptr+2), *(ptr+3), *(ptr+4), *(ptr+5)];
free(buf);
return outstring;
}

Answer 7

Now iOS 7 devices – are always returning a MAC address of 02:00:00:00:00:00.
So better use [UIDevice identifierForVendor].
so better to call this method to get app specific unique key
Category will more suitable
import "UIDevice+Identifier.h"
- (NSString *) identifierForVendor1
{
if ([[UIDevice currentDevice] respondsToSelector:#selector(identifierForVendor)]) {
return [[[UIDevice currentDevice] identifierForVendor] UUIDString];
}
return #"";
}
Now call above method to get unique address
NSString *like_UDID=[NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",
[[UIDevice currentDevice] identifierForVendor1]];
NSLog(#"%#",like_UDID);

Answer 8

#Grantland
This "pretty clean solution" looks similar to my own improvement over iPhoneDeveloperTips solution.
You can see my step here:
https://gist.github.com/1409855/
/* Original source code courtesy John from iOSDeveloperTips.com */
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <sys/sysctl.h>
#include <net/if.h>
#include <net/if_dl.h>
+ (NSString *)getMacAddress
{
int mgmtInfoBase[6];
char *msgBuffer = NULL;
NSString *errorFlag = NULL;
size_t length;
// Setup the management Information Base (mib)
mgmtInfoBase[0] = CTL_NET; // Request network subsystem
mgmtInfoBase[1] = AF_ROUTE; // Routing table info
mgmtInfoBase[2] = 0;
mgmtInfoBase[3] = AF_LINK; // Request link layer information
mgmtInfoBase[4] = NET_RT_IFLIST; // Request all configured interfaces
// With all configured interfaces requested, get handle index
if ((mgmtInfoBase[5] = if_nametoindex("en0")) == 0)
errorFlag = #"if_nametoindex failure";
// Get the size of the data available (store in len)
else if (sysctl(mgmtInfoBase, 6, NULL, &length, NULL, 0) < 0)
errorFlag = #"sysctl mgmtInfoBase failure";
// Alloc memory based on above call
else if ((msgBuffer = malloc(length)) == NULL)
errorFlag = #"buffer allocation failure";
// Get system information, store in buffer
else if (sysctl(mgmtInfoBase, 6, msgBuffer, &length, NULL, 0) < 0)
{
free(msgBuffer);
errorFlag = #"sysctl msgBuffer failure";
}
else
{
// Map msgbuffer to interface message structure
struct if_msghdr *interfaceMsgStruct = (struct if_msghdr *) msgBuffer;
// Map to link-level socket structure
struct sockaddr_dl *socketStruct = (struct sockaddr_dl *) (interfaceMsgStruct + 1);
// Copy link layer address data in socket structure to an array
unsigned char macAddress[6];
memcpy(&macAddress, socketStruct->sdl_data + socketStruct->sdl_nlen, 6);
// Read from char array into a string object, into traditional Mac address format
NSString *macAddressString = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%02X:%02X:%02X:%02X:%02X:%02X",
macAddress[0], macAddress[1], macAddress[2], macAddress[3], macAddress[4], macAddress[5]];
NSLog(#"Mac Address: %#", macAddressString);
// Release the buffer memory
free(msgBuffer);
return macAddressString;
}
// Error...
NSLog(#"Error: %#", errorFlag);
return nil;
}

Answer 9

It's not possible anymore on devices running iOS 7.0 or later, thus unavailable to get MAC address in Swift.
As Apple stated:
In iOS 7 and later, if you ask for the MAC address of an iOS device, the system returns the value 02:00:00:00:00:00. If you need to identify the device, use the identifierForVendor property of UIDevice instead. (Apps that need an identifier for their own advertising purposes should consider using the advertisingIdentifier property of ASIdentifierManager instead.)

Answer 10

#import <sys/socket.h>
#import <net/if_dl.h>
#import <ifaddrs.h>
#import <sys/xattr.h>
#define IFT_ETHER 0x6
...
- (NSString*)macAddress
{
NSString* result = nil;
char* macAddressString = (char*)malloc(18);
if (macAddressString != NULL)
{
strcpy(macAddressString, "");
struct ifaddrs* addrs = NULL;
struct ifaddrs* cursor;
if (getifaddrs(&addrs) == 0)
{
cursor = addrs;
while (cursor != NULL)
{
if ((cursor->ifa_addr->sa_family == AF_LINK) && (((const struct sockaddr_dl*)cursor->ifa_addr)->sdl_type == IFT_ETHER) && strcmp("en0", cursor->ifa_name) == 0)
{
const struct sockaddr_dl* dlAddr = (const struct sockaddr_dl*) cursor->ifa_addr;
const unsigned char* base = (const unsigned char*)&dlAddr->sdl_data[dlAddr->sdl_nlen];
for (NSInteger index = 0; index < dlAddr->sdl_alen; index++)
{
char partialAddr[3];
sprintf(partialAddr, "%02X", base[index]);
strcat(macAddressString, partialAddr);
}
}
cursor = cursor->ifa_next;
}
}
result = [[[NSString alloc] initWithUTF8String:macAddressString] autorelease];
free(macAddressString);
}
return result;
}

Answer 11

To create a uniqueString based on unique identifier of device in iOS 6:
#import <AdSupport/ASIdentifierManager.h>
NSString *uniqueString = [[[ASIdentifierManager sharedManager] advertisingIdentifier] UUIDString];
NSLog(#"uniqueString: %#", uniqueString);

Answer 12

A lot of these questions only address the Mac address. If you also require the IP address I just wrote this, may need some work but seems to work well on my machine...
- (NSString *)getLocalIPAddress
{
NSArray *ipAddresses = [[NSHost currentHost] addresses];
NSArray *sortedIPAddresses = [ipAddresses sortedArrayUsingSelector:#selector(localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare:)];
NSNumberFormatter *numberFormatter = [[NSNumberFormatter alloc] init];
numberFormatter.allowsFloats = NO;
for (NSString *potentialIPAddress in sortedIPAddresses)
{
if ([potentialIPAddress isEqualToString:#"127.0.0.1"]) {
continue;
}
NSArray *ipParts = [potentialIPAddress componentsSeparatedByString:#"."];
BOOL isMatch = YES;
for (NSString *ipPart in ipParts) {
if (![numberFormatter numberFromString:ipPart]) {
isMatch = NO;
break;
}
}
if (isMatch) {
return potentialIPAddress;
}
}
// No IP found
return #"?.?.?.?";
}