# Referencing Interfaces by MAC Address



## rob34 (Oct 6, 2009)

I have two USB ethernet adapters in a FreeBSD 7.2/AMD64 computer.  Here is the config from /etc/rc.conf:


```
ifconfig_axe0="inet 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0"
ifconfig_axe1="inet 192.168.4.1 netmask 255.255.255.0"
```

Are there any flags I can set to refer to these interfaces by MAC address instead of names like axe0 and axe1?  I'd like to be able to not have the physical locations of these usb network adapters influence their device names.


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## vivek (Oct 6, 2009)

I don't think so it is possible.


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## DutchDaemon (Oct 6, 2009)

I don't know if this will work, but you can try:


```
ifconfig_axe0_name="ma:ca:dd:re:ss1"
ifconfig_axe1_name="ma:ca:dd:re:ss2"
ifconfig_ma:ca:dd:re:ss1="inet 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0"
ifconfig_ma:ca:dd:re:ss2="inet 192.168.4.1 netmask 255.255.255.0"
```

Pretty sure that'll explode though


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## rob34 (Oct 6, 2009)

DutchDaemon said:
			
		

> Pretty sure that'll explode though



I gave it a shot with mixed results.  The good news is that it didn't explode!   The bad news is that it didn't work   It was a good idea though.


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## phoenix (Oct 6, 2009)

rob34 said:
			
		

> I have two USB ethernet adapters in a FreeBSD 7.2/AMD64 computer.  Here is the config from /etc/rc.conf:
> 
> 
> ```
> ...



Isn't this what devd(8) is designed for?  I'm sure there's something in devd.conf(5) that can be used to give these interfaces specific names based on the MAC.


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