Write down the 'Ethernet ID' you'll need to have this with you when you attempt the wake. Double-click the ethernet interface, then select the Ethernet tab. Open Energy Saver preferences and, in the Options tab, enable 'Wake for Ethernet network administrator access'.And before anyone asks: yes, the computer must be connected via ethernet. Instructions are for the interface in 10.3 and 10.4, though this will work with any Mac OS version on any hardware that supports wake-on-LAN. However, I found a website that will send the magic packet for you to any IP address (and you could probably roll your own site using sample Perl scripts that are readily accessible via Google). Only the one with the matching MAC address will actually wake up. They send the packet to your TCP network's broadcast address so it goes to all the computers available on the local network. Most implementations of this functionality work only on your LAN.
I came up with a way to use the wake-on-LAN feature from anywhere on the Internet, even though my Mac, like many, is behind a NAT router.įor those unfamiliar with wake-on-LAN: a specially-formed data packet containing your ethernet device's MAC address can be used to tell your computer to wake up. I wanted to be able to access my machine at home via SSH, but I didn't want to waste electricity to have it awake all the time and I didn't want it sitting there exposed to brute force password attempts.