# How to spoof MAC address and hostname automatically at boot on macOS [](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASXANpr_zX8 "How to spoof MAC address and hostname automatically at boot on macOS") > Heads-up: unfortunately, it is not possible to spoof MAC address on some Macs (see [issue](https://github.com/sunknudsen/privacy-guides/issues/15)). ## Requirements - Computer running macOS Catalina or Big Sur ## Caveats - When copy/pasting commands that start with `$`, strip out `$` as this character is not part of the command - When copy/pasting commands that start with `cat << "EOF"`, select all lines at once (from `cat << "EOF"` to `EOF` inclusively) as they are part of the same (single) command ## Guide ### Step 1: create `/usr/local/sbin` directory ```shell sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/sbin sudo chown ${USER}:admin /usr/local/sbin ``` ### Step 2: add `/usr/local/sbin` directory to `PATH` environment variable ```shell echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/sbin' >> ~/.zshrc source ~/.zshrc ``` ### Step 3: download [first-names.txt](./first-names.txt) This list includes top 2048 most popular names for people aged 25 from the [USA Social Security Administration](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/limits.html) (last [updated](./misc/update-first-names.sh) on March 9th 2022). ```shell curl --fail --output /usr/local/sbin/first-names.txt https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sunknudsen/privacy-guides/master/how-to-spoof-mac-address-and-hostname-automatically-at-boot-on-macos/first-names.txt ``` ### Step 4: create `spoof.sh` script ```shell cat << "EOF" > /usr/local/sbin/spoof.sh #! /bin/sh set -e set -o pipefail export LC_CTYPE=C basedir=$(dirname "$0") # Spoof computer name first_name=$(sed "$(jot -r 1 1 2048)q;d" $basedir/first-names.txt | sed -e 's/[^a-zA-Z]//g') model_name=$(system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | awk '/Model Name/ {$1=$2=""; print $0}' | sed -e 's/^[ ]*//') computer_name="$first_name’s $model_name" host_name=$(echo $computer_name | sed -e 's/’//g' | sed -e 's/ /-/g') sudo scutil --set ComputerName "$computer_name" sudo scutil --set LocalHostName "$host_name" sudo scutil --set HostName "$host_name" printf "%s\n" "Spoofed hostname to $host_name" # Spoof MAC address of Wi-Fi interface mac_address_prefix=$(networksetup -listallhardwareports | awk -v RS= '/en0/{print $NF}' | head -c 8) mac_address_suffix=$(openssl rand -hex 3 | sed 's/\(..\)/\1:/g; s/.$//') mac_address=$(echo "$mac_address_prefix:$mac_address_suffix" | awk '{print tolower($0)}') networksetup -setairportpower en0 on sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport --disassociate sudo ifconfig en0 ether "$mac_address" printf "%s\n" "Spoofed MAC address of en0 interface to $mac_address" EOF ``` ### Step 5: make `spoof.sh` executable ```shell chmod +x /usr/local/sbin/spoof.sh ``` ### Step 6: create `local.spoof.plist` launch daemon ```shell cat << "EOF" | sudo tee /Library/LaunchDaemons/local.spoof.plist Label local.spoof ProgramArguments /usr/local/sbin/spoof.sh RunAtLoad EOF ``` ### Step 7: create `spoof-hook.sh` script ```shell cat << "EOF" > /usr/local/sbin/spoof-hook.sh #! /bin/sh # Turn off Wi-Fi interface networksetup -setairportpower en0 off EOF ``` ### Step 8: make `spoof-hook.sh` executable ```shell chmod +x /usr/local/sbin/spoof-hook.sh ``` ### Step 9: make sure `com.apple.loginwindow` does not exist > Heads-up: if `com.apple.loginwindow` exists, one needs to backup user default carefully and consider using an abstraction that runs both current `LogoutHook` script and `/usr/local/sbin/spoof-hook.sh`. ```console $ sudo defaults read com.apple.loginwindow 2021-09-27 06:58:02.301 defaults[2267:25227] Domain com.apple.loginwindow does not exist ``` Domain com.apple.loginwindow does not exist 👍 ### Step 10: configure user default (used to disable Wi-Fi interface at logout) ```shell sudo defaults write com.apple.loginwindow LogoutHook "/usr/local/sbin/spoof-hook.sh" ``` ### Step 11: reboot and confirm hostname and MAC address have been spoofed #### Spoofed hostname ```console $ scutil --get HostName Ottos-MacBook-Pro ``` #### Spoofed MAC address ```console $ ifconfig en0 | grep ether | awk '{print $2}' 98:01:a7:8e:0f:51 ``` #### Hardware MAC address ```console $ networksetup -listallhardwareports | awk -v RS= '/en0/{print $NF}' 98:01:a7:5e:d0:c2 ``` “Spoofed hostname” is random and “Spoofed MAC address” does not match “Hardware MAC address”? 👍 --- ## Want things back the way they were before following this guide? No problem! ### Step 1: delete files ```shell rm /usr/local/sbin/first-names.txt rm /usr/local/sbin/spoof-hook.sh rm /usr/local/sbin/spoof.sh sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/local.spoof.plist ``` ### Step 2: delete user default ```shell sudo defaults delete com.apple.loginwindow LogoutHook ``` ### Step 3: set computer name, local hostname and hostname > Heads-up: replace `John` with your name. ```shell sudo scutil --set ComputerName "John’s MacBook Pro" sudo scutil --set LocalHostName "Johns-MacBook-Pro" sudo scutil --set HostName "Johns-MacBook-Pro" ``` ### Step 4: reboot 👍