Linux software to randomize PC hostname & wireless MAC for privacy at hotspots

Y Knot · 2010-09-24T16:59:30+00:00

If I understand Jeff L. correctly, hotspots often log your hostname and wirelss car MAC address; so I wish to automatically change my wireless card MAC and laptop PC hostname upon every reboot.On Windows, I can change these things manually but there are plenty of freeware packages which pseudo-randomize the hostname (based on a lookup table) and wireless MAC address for added privacy at hotspots upon every reboot. These work great!However, on Linux, while I can change these things manually, I have not yet found software that does so automatically upon every reboot.Here's how I change the hostname on Linux manually:$ sudo vi /etc/hostsChange the contents of /etc/hosts from:127.0.1.1 ubuntu ubuntuChange the contents of /etc/hosts to:# 127.0.1.1 ubuntu ubuntu127.0.0.1 foo foo $ sudo echo foo > /etc/hostname$ sudo rebootAnd, here's how I change the MAC address on Linux manually:$ ifconfig -a | grep HWaddr$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 down hw ether DE:AD:BE:EF:CA:FE$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 upThe question is where can I find software that will perform that task of changing the wireless card MAC address and PC hostname upon every reboot?

Sep 24, 2010 20 Replies

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Bit Twister 15 years ago

No, you can change it anytime you like, BUT you may lose your gui desktop access because of name change and you would need to restart any service/daemons which use the node name. Examples: mysqld, postfix, sendmail, leafnode, dovecot,..

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