[Warhaven]

Hey All,

A quick question. Does OS X Server come with, or does anyone know of a bit of software, where I can send an alert if a particular MAC address joins the network? One of our laptops went missing this week, so on the off chance he opens it up and it auto-joins one of the wireless networks, we'd like to know so we can run on over to where that access point is.

Thanks

[Warhaven]

Hmm. IP Net Monitor maybe. I'll take a peek at this...

[besson3c]

Do you run your own DHCP server?

[larkost]

Talk to your networking guys and see if you can get ahold of the ARP-caches from the routers. If you can do so on a regular basis, then you can grep this file for the MAC address you are looking for. But unless the routers have this feature and you have the cooperation of the networking gus, you are not going to have much of a chance of locating the device even if it is plugged in.

[himself]

This is something that must be done from the router (or routers) that connect computers to the network, which means you'll need assistance from your network admins. Unless you are using a machine that you have access to as a DHCP server for your network, in which case that machine can tell you when the computer in question gets onto the network. If you do have a Mac OS X Server machine acting as a DHCP server, you could probably whip up a quick applescript to notify you in the event that the machine gets on the network.

[Warhaven]

Hmm. I figured as much, thanks guys. I sent the MAC address info to IT. So, if someone opens the laptop anywhere on campus, it should flag them.

Thanks,
-Rob