Gaining information about a Linux system is very easy, there are quite a few Linux commands that can print detailed specs of your hardware configuration.
The lsblk
command prints information about your block devices. This can be used to list all disk partitions and CD/DVD drives.
┌─[jason@neo]─[~] └──╼ $lsblk NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT sda 8:0 0 465.8G 0 disk ├─sda1 8:1 0 454G 0 part / ├─sda2 8:2 0 1K 0 part └─sda5 8:5 0 11.8G 0 part [SWAP] sdb 8:16 1 15G 0 disk └─sdb1 8:17 1 15G 0 part /media/jason/707B-A3DF sr0 11:0 1 3.7G 0 rom /media/cdrom0 |
Use the lsusb
command to print a list of all USB devices on your machine. In my Debian laptop, this prints information about the integrated WIFI adapter and the card reader.
┌─[✗]─[jason@neo]─[~] └──╼ $lsusb Bus 004 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub Bus 003 Device 005: ID 0bda:58c2 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Bus 003 Device 004: ID 0bda:0129 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTS5129 Card Reader Controller Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0cf3:e004 Atheros Communications, Inc. Bus 003 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub Bus 001 Device 002: ID 13fe:5500 Kingston Technology Company Inc. Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub |
The lspci
command will also print hardware information. This lists all installed hardware.
┌─[jason@neo]─[~] └──╼ $lspci 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09) 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09) 00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04) 00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04) 00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04) 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04) 00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4) 00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev c4) 00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04) 00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM76 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 04) 00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04) 00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04) 01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 05) 02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01) |
To get information about the installed CPU, use the lscpu
command.
┌─[✗]─[jason@neo]─[~] └──╼ $lscpu Architecture: x86_64 CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit Byte Order: Little Endian CPU(s): 4 On-line CPU(s) list: 0-3 Thread(s) per core: 2 Core(s) per socket: 2 Socket(s): 1 NUMA node(s): 1 Vendor ID: GenuineIntel CPU family: 6 Model: 58 Model name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3337U CPU @ 1.80GHz Stepping: 9 CPU MHz: 1504.476 CPU max MHz: 2700.0000 CPU min MHz: 800.0000 BogoMIPS: 3591.53 Virtualization: VT-x L1d cache: 32K L1i cache: 32K L2 cache: 256K L3 cache: 3072K NUMA node0 CPU(s): 0-3 |
This prints information about the CPU including Virtualization and the clock speed.
The lshw command will allow you to get information about the installed graphics adapter. Firstly, install the utility if needed.
root@neo:/home/jason# apt install lshw |
Then run this command to get graphics adapter information.
root@neo:/home/jason# lshw -short | grep -i --color display /0/100/2 display 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller |
If you wish to get more detailed processor information, run this command as root.
root@neo:/home/jason# dmidecode -t processor |
Here is another example, getting system information.
root@neo:/home/jason# dmidecode -t system # dmidecode 2.12 SMBIOS 2.7 present. Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes System Information Manufacturer: Dell Inc. Product Name: Inspiron 3521 Version: A05 Serial Number: HSD5DW1 UUID: 4C4C4544-0053-4410-8035-C8C04F445731 Wake-up Type: Power Switch SKU Number: xxx123x#ABA Family: 103C_5335KV Handle 0x0021, DMI type 12, 5 bytes System Configuration Options Option 1: String1 for Type12 Equipment Manufacturer Option 2: String2 for Type12 Equipment Manufacturer Option 3: String3 for Type12 Equipment Manufacturer Option 4: String4 for Type12 Equipment Manufacturer Handle 0x0032, DMI type 32, 20 bytes System Boot Information Status: No errors detected |
Run the command man dmidecode
to get more information on the keywords to use when gaining system info with this useful utility.
Or run it like this.
jason$ sudo dmidecode -t dmidecode: option requires an argument -- 't' Type number or keyword expected Valid type keywords are: bios system baseboard chassis processor memory cache connector slot |
This is the best way to get information about the motherboard.
root@neo:/home/jason# dmidecode -t baseboard # dmidecode 2.12 SMBIOS 2.7 present. Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 16 bytes Base Board Information Manufacturer: Dell Inc. Product Name: 0010T1 Version: A00 Serial Number: .HSD5DW1.CN1296633M0063. Asset Tag: Not Specified Features: Board is a hosting board Board is replaceable Location In Chassis: Type2 - Board Chassis Location Chassis Handle: 0x0003 Type: Motherboard Contained Object Handles: 0 Handle 0x001F, DMI type 10, 6 bytes On Board Device Information Type: Video Status: Enabled Description: Intel Video Graphics Controller Handle 0x0035, DMI type 41, 11 bytes Onboard Device Reference Designation: Hanksville Gbe Lan Connection Type: Ethernet Status: Enabled Type Instance: 1 Bus Address: 0000:00:00.1 |
Give these useful commands a go and get a good picture of the installed hardware in your machine today.
If the Linux user has an NVidia card and the proprietary drivers installed, the nvidia-smi
command will return detailed graphics card information. This does not require sudo or a root prompt.
jason$ nvidia-smi Tue Nov 1 13:39:51 2016 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | NVIDIA-SMI 367.44 Driver Version: 367.44 | |-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | GPU Name Persistence-M| Bus-Id Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC | | Fan Temp Perf Pwr:Usage/Cap| Memory-Usage | GPU-Util Compute M. | |===============================+======================+======================| | 0 GeForce GT 740 Off | 0000:04:00.0 N/A | N/A | | 50% 29C P0 N/A / N/A | 92MiB / 1996MiB | N/A Default | +-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Processes: GPU Memory | | GPU PID Type Process name Usage | |=============================================================================| | 0 Not Supported | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |