Wake-On-LAN Tools and Commands: A Practical Guide for Admins

Wake-On-LAN Tools and Commands: A Practical Guide for Admins

Date: March 4, 2026

Overview

• Wake-On-LAN (WOL) lets administrators send a “magic packet” to remotely power on or wake a computer with a compatible network interface and BIOS/UEFI support. It works at the link-layer using the target NIC’s MAC address; routers/firewalls and subnet boundaries may require extra configuration.

Prerequisites

• Target device’s NIC and BIOS/UEFI support WOL and are enabled.
• The OS allows the NIC to receive magic packets when powered off/hibernating (driver power settings).
• You have the target machine’s MAC address and, for wake-over-internet, its public IP or a relay on the target network and any needed port-forwarding.
• Switches must forward the packet to the correct local network or use directed broadcast if supported.

Common Tools (CLI and GUI)

• etherwake (Linux) — simple CLI to send magic packets.
• wakeonlan (Linux/Perl/Python) — sends WOL packets; easy scripting.
• wolcmd / WakeMeOnLan (Windows) — command-line and GUI utilities from NirSoft and others.
• PowerShell — Send-WOL scripts and modules (Send-WOL function).
• Depicus Wake On LAN (Windows/Linux/macOS) — GUI and CLI tools.
• Mobile apps — numerous Android/iOS apps for sending magic packets over LAN or via VPN.
• Network management platforms (ABLE, MeshCentral, RMM tools) — integrated WOL features for fleets.

Key Commands and Examples

• Linux: etherwake

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  sudo etherwake -i eth0 00:11:22:33:44:55 

• Linux: wakeonlan

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  wakeonlan 00:11:22:33:44:55 

• Windows PowerShell (simple Send-WOL)

  powershell
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  function Send-WOL(\(mac</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">)</span><span> </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">{</span><span> </span><span></span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(54, 172, 170);">\)macBytes = (\(mac</span><span> </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">-</span><span>split </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(163, 21, 21);">'(:|-)'</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">)</span><span> </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">|</span><span> </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">ForEach-Object</span><span> </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">{</span><span> </span><span class="token">[byte]</span><span>::Parse</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">(</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(54, 172, 170);">\), ‘HexNumber’) }
    \(packet</span><span> = </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">(</span><span class="token">[byte[]]</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">(</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">,</span><span>0xFF </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">*</span><span> 6</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">)</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">)</span><span> </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">+</span><span> </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">(</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(54, 172, 170);">\)macBytes * 16)
    \(udp</span><span> = </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">New-Object</span><span> System</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">.</span><span>Net</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">.</span><span>Sockets</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">.</span><span>UdpClient </span><span>  </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(54, 172, 170);">\)udp.EnableBroadcast = \(true</span><span> </span><span>  </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(54, 172, 170);">\)udp.Send(\(packet</span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(57, 58, 52);">,</span><span> </span><span class="token" style="color: rgb(54, 172, 170);">\)packet.Length, [System.Net.IPEndPoint]::new([System.Net.IPAddress]::Broadcast, 9))
    $udp.Close()
  }
  Send-WOL “00-11-22-33-44-55”
  

• Windows: wolcmd (example)

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   ffON2NH02oMAcqyoh2UU MQCbz04ET5EljRmK3YpQ CPXAhl7VTkj2dHDyAYAf” data-copycode=“true” role=“button” aria-label=“Copy Code”>Copy CodeCopied
  wolcmd 001122334455 192.168.1.255 255.255.255.0 9