Networking, Iris Scenarios: Searching for MAC Addresses

Searching for MAC addresses is one of the fastest ways to locate a machine with a problem. Iris provides several ways to search for MAC addresses within a network.

MAC address and network name

If you know both the MAC address and the network name, you can use the MAC address search box at the top of any of the tabbed options in a My Switches view or a My Networks view.

From any of the "My" views, the Search for MAC address on the... option is located above the table near the Change Network and Change Switch options.

Select the network you wish to search from the alphabetical menu list; then enter the MAC address in the text entry field.

Switch and network

If you know the switch and network but not the MAC address itself, you can start with the My Switches view.

Search tip: Enter a few letters of the network name in the text entry box in the header of the Ports & Networks column. This will automatically reduce the visible list to switches with networks containing those letters.

Once you've located the network, click on the MAC Addrs link beside the network name to see the ports and current MAC addresses for that network and switch.

Network only

If you know the network but not the switch or MAC address, start from the My Networks view.

Search tip: Enter a few letters of the network name in the text entry box in the header of the Network Name column. This will automatically reduce the visible list to switches with networks containing those letters.

Once you've located the network, select the switch you want to investigate from the MAC Addresses menu list. Some networks may contain only one switch; others may contain several.

Selecting a switch under the MAC Addresses menu will take you to a page listing port information about all MAC addresses belonging to that network on that switch.

From a Port Status page (detailed or overview)

From a Port Status Overview page, you can view a broad range of port data by either selecting one or more checkboxes and changing to the Port Details tab or clicking on the link on a port number. Either action will take you to the Detailed Port Status tab.

However, the MAC address associated with the port is one of the fields not visible from the Detailed Port Status page. In order to get from a Detailed Port Status page to a MAC address, you'll need to click on the MAC Addresses tab.