Getting "TypeError: cannot use a string pattern on a bytes-like object" In my function. I am trying to print the MAC address to the screen

Question

My get_current_mac function:

def get_current_mac(interface):
    ifconfig_result = subprocess.check_output(["ifconfig", interface])
    mac_address_search_result = re.search(r"\w\w:\w\w:\w\w:\w\w:\w\w:\w\w", ifconfig_result)

    if mac_address_search_result:
        return mac_address_search_result.group(0)
    else:
        print("[-] Could not read MAC address.")

I am then wanting to print the result to the screen:

options = get_arguments()
current_mac = get_current_mac(options.interface)
print("Current MAC address is: " + str(current_mac))

The entire error is:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./MAC_changer.py", line 38, in <module>
    current_mac = get_current_mac(options.interface)
  File "./MAC_changer.py", line 30, in get_current_mac
    mac_address_search_result = re.search(r"\w\w:\w\w:\w\w:\w\w:\w\w:\w\w", ifconfig_result)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.7/re.py", line 183, in search
    return _compile(pattern, flags).search(string)
TypeError: cannot use a string pattern on a bytes-like object

line 38 is: options = get_arguments()

line 30 is: mac_address_search_result = re.search(r"\w\w:\w\w:\w\w:\w\w:\w\w:\w\w", ifconfig_result)

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 10 '20 at 19:28

0

You need to convert a byte-like object into a string, this can be done using decode method:

ifconfig_result = ifconfig_result.decode('utf-8')

In this link you can read more about converting bytes to string

answered Jan 10 '20 at 19:28

Mohsen_Fatemi

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Getting "TypeError: cannot use a string pattern on a bytes-like object" In my function. I am trying to print the MAC address to the screen

1 Answers1