How to ping MAC address in Linux

Question

I want to ping a known MAC address, I tried to use nmap:

sudo nmap -sP 192.168.15.1/24 | grep  20:64:32:3F:B1:A9

But in this case its ping all

Answer 1

Combining the above good answers into a single script: (Usage: macping aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff)

#!/bin/bash
network=192.168.1.1/24
if [ "$#" -ne 1 ]; then echo Usage example: $0 aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff; exit 2; fi;
nmap -sP -T4 $network >& /dev/null
ip=$(arp -n | grep $1 | awk ' { print $1 }')
ping $ip -n -q -c 2 -i 0.2 -w 1 >& /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo Device is online \($ip\)
else
    echo Device is offline
    exit 1
fi;

Extending: To maintain a list of network devices, by mac address, and display the online/offline status of each.
Uses include:

• Monitoring your server status's
• checking your internet connection is up
• checking if a specific device has connected to your wifi
• checking your smart TV is really off
• etc

Each device name is displayed in green if online, red if offline.
A desktop notification is displayed when a device status changes.

Tested under linux mint, should work on other distro's.

#!/bin/bash

#Create associated array's 
declare -A devicelist #device name: mac address
declare -A statuslist #device name: online status

devicelist[Server01]=aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:01
devicelist[Server02]=aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:02
devicelist[MyPhone] =aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:03
devicelist[SmartTV] =aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:04

#Colour Constants
BRed='\033[1;31m'  
BGreen='\033[1;32m' 
Reset='\033[m'

function mactoip(){
  echo $(arp -n | grep -i $mac | awk ' { print $1 }')
}

while [ true ]; do
    clear
    arp_cache_rebuilt=no
    for devicename in ${!devicelist[@]}; do
        status=OFFLINE
        mac=${devicelist[${devicename}]}
        ip=$( mactoip $mac )
        if [ -z $ip ] && [ $arp_cache_rebuilt = "no" ]; then
            #we need to rebuild the arp cache...
            nmap -sn -T4 192.168.1.0/24 >& /dev/null
            ip=$( mactoip $mac )
            arp_cache_rebuilt=yes
        fi;

        if [ ! -z $ip ]; then
            ping $ip -n -q -c 2 -i 0.2 -w 1 >& /dev/null
            if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then status=ONLINE; fi
        fi;
        #if device's previous status not yet recorded, then set it now.
        if [ ! ${statuslist[${devicename}]+_} ]; then statuslist[${devicename}]=$status; fi

        if [ $status = "ONLINE" ]; then colour=$BGreen; else colour=$BRed; fi;
        echo -e ${colour}${devicename}${Reset} - $ip
        if [ ${statuslist[${devicename}]} != $status ]; then
          notify-send -i ac-adapter -u critical -t 1000 $status "$devicename"
        fi;
        statuslist[$devicename]=$status
    done
    echo -
    sleep 5
done