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          


        

Answer 1

ifconfig en1 | grep -o -E '([[:xdigit:]]{1,2}:){5}[[:xdigit:]]{1,2}' 

• Replace "en1" with the name of the nic card "eth0" or remove altogether "en1" - easy and useful solution.