airodump-ng-oui-update

airodump-ng-oui-update [options]

-h, --help
    Display usage summary and options.

-f, --force
    Force download and update regardless of file age.

-p, --print
    Print current OUI database contents and exit.

The airodump-ng-oui-update utility from the Aircrack-ng WiFi security toolkit maintains the Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI) database. OUIs are the first 24 bits (3 bytes) of a MAC address assigned by IEEE to manufacturers. This database enables airodump-ng to display vendor names (e.g., 'Apple') alongside MAC addresses in packet captures, improving analysis readability.

The command downloads the latest oui.txt from standards-oui.ieee.org/oui/oui.txt, parses it to extract OUI-to-vendor mappings, and generates the airodump-ng compatible file, typically at /usr/share/aircrack-ng/oui.txt. It checks a timestamp to avoid unnecessary downloads; use -f to override.

Essential for accurate vendor resolution in wireless audits, as new devices register OUIs regularly. Run periodically or integrate into scripts. No capture interface needed; purely a maintenance tool. Installed with Aircrack-ng package.

Requires internet access and write permissions to OUI file directory (e.g., /usr/share/aircrack-ng). Fails silently if IEEE site unreachable; check logs.

airodump-ng-oui-update
Update if outdated.

airodump-ng-oui-update -f
Force full update.

airodump-ng-oui-update -p | grep Apple
Search printed database.

Default: /usr/share/aircrack-ng/oui.txt. Verify with airodump-ng-oui-update -p | head.

Developed as part of Aircrack-ng suite (v1.1+, 2012); evolved to handle IEEE site changes and format updates for reliable vendor lookups.

airodump-ng(8), airmon-ng(8), aircrack-ng(1)