Question

Possible Duplicate:
How to get a unique computer identifier in Java (like disk id or motherboard id)
Need to identify local machine somehow in java

I want to get some sort of unique ID for the computer (ie IP address).

I have tried:

InetAddress inetAddress = null;
try {
    inetAddress = InetAddress.getLocalHost();
} catch (final UnknownHostException ex) {}
return inetAddress.getHostAddress();

This gives an IP, but this one seems to change periodically. Is there a way to get one the DOES NOT change?

Thanks in advance!

NOTE:

I need to be able to associate this ID with the computer.

Answer 1

If the machine is on DHCP, the IP address will change periodically. You could use the hostname, or you could use the MAC address, which you can get with java.net.NetworkInterface.getHardwareAddress()