If you're a Linux user, you may want to know what hardware your system is running on. This can be useful for troubleshooting or when you're looking to upgrade your system. Also, for system administrators, it is important to have a good understanding of the hardware components in the system. This blog post teaches you the commands you can use to check your hardware information in Linux. Additionally, if you manage multiple servers or need robust performance for your applications, you might consider opting to [buy a Linux VPS server]. A Linux VPS server offers the flexibility, control, and resources needed to efficiently handle various tasks, making it an ideal choice for both developers and system administrators.
Commands to Check Hardware Information in Linux
Hardware information can be obtained by using different commands in Linux. This section will teach you the common Linux commands for checking hardware info with detailed examples. If you're exploring Linux commands, you might also find it helpful to learn how to use the cat command in Linux for viewing and managing file content efficiently.
Iscpu
This command is used to report information about the CPU of your system. And it doesn't provide any further functionality or option.
Syntax: $ Iscpu
Ishw
This command reports brief and detailed information about several hardware components such as CPU, Memory, Disk, Network adapter, USB controller, etc. This command will extract the information from different /proc files.
Install Ishw
Using Ubuntu or Debian, you can get it from default repositories.
Syntax: $ sudo apt-get install lshw
If you use Fedora, install it from the default repositories. On CentOS, you can install Ishw from the Epl repository.
Syntax: $ sudo yum install lshw
Using Ishw
You need to run this command with super privileges to detect and report the maximum amount of information. SO run this command as root, or use sudo.
Syntax: $ sudo lshw
Report full info
Running "Ishw" will generate full information and report about all detected hardware.
And it contains a big output with a lot of technical details.
Syntax: $ sudo lshw
Report brief info
With the "-short", you will generate brief information about the hardware devices. And it gives you an idea about the hardware profile of your system.
Syntax: $ sudo lshw -short
Hwinfo
Hwinfo is another useful command to generate detailed and brief information about several different hardware components, even more than Ishw.
Install Hwinfo
It's available in the repositories of Ubuntu and Debian.
Syntax: $ sudo apt-get install hwinfo
Using Hwinfo
You can mention the hardware component you want to see the information of.
Syntax: $ hwinfo –help
Report all info
Running this command will give you full information about all hardware units.
Syntax: $ hwinfo
Report brief info
With the "-short" command, you will get brief information about the hardware devices but not the details.
Syntax: $ hwinfo –short
Lspci
This command displays information about PCI buses and the devices connected to the PCI subsystem. And includes a graphic card, network adapter, USB ports, etc.
Syntax: $ lspci
Using grep
With grep, you can filter specific devices’ information.
Syntax: $ lspci -v | grep "VGA" -A 12
Lsscsi
This command reports the scsi/sata devices, such as hard and optical drivers.
Syntax: $ lsscsi
Lsusb
This command displays brief information about the USB controllers and connected devices. You can also get detailed information about each USB port using the verbose option "-v".
For managing software dependencies in Linux, you might also find it helpful to learn how to install pip on Linux distros, a package manager widely used for Python applications.
Syntax: $ lsusb
Syntax: $ lsusb -v
Lnxi
Lnxi tool is a full-featured CLI utility that generates easy-to-read information from several sources.
Syntax: $ inxi -Fx
Isblk
It displays information about all block devices, such as optical and flash drives.
Syntax: $ lsblk
Df
It reports the disk space available on the filesystem with each file name's argument.
Syntax: $ df -H
Pydf
This command is an improved df version used to display coloured output.
Syntax: $ pydf
Fdisk
This command is used to create and manipulate disk partition tables. So, you can view, create, delete, change, resize, copy, and move partitions on a hard drive using the dialogue-driven interface.
Syntax: $ sudo fdisk -l
Mount
This command is used to mount and unmount a file system.
Syntax: $ mount | column -t
Using grep
With grep, you can filter the file system that you want to see.
Syntax: $ mount | column -t | grep ext
Free
This command is used to Check the amount of use, free and total amount of RAM on the system.
Syntax: $ free -m
Dmidecode
This command differs from the other commands because it extracts hardware information by reading data from the DMI tables.
CPU info
You can use the command below to see information about the CPU.
Syntax: $ sudo dmidecode -t processor
Ram info
You can use the command below to see information about Memory.
Syntax: $ sudo dmidecode -t memory
Bios info
You can use the command below to see information about bios.
Syntax: $ sudo dmidecode -t bios
/proc files
Most files in the /proc directory contain data about hardware and configurations. Let's check out some of them:
CPU and Memory info
You can use the commands below to see information about CPU and Memory.
Syntax: $ cat /proc/cpuinfo
Syntax: $ cat /proc/meminfo
Kernel info
You can use the command below to see information about the Linux kernel.
Syntax: $ cat /proc/version
SCSI devices
Small Computer Systems Interface, SCSI, allows you to add up to 15 peripheral devices to the computer. And you can use the command below to see information about SCSI.
Syntax: $ cat /proc/scsi/scsi
Partitions
You can use the command below to see information about partitions.
Syntax: $ cat /proc/partitions
Hdparm
This command is used to show information about Sata devices like hard disks.
Syntax: $ sudo hdparm -i /dev/sda
Conclusion
- Checking hardware information on Linux is crucial for system administrators.
- Checking your hardware’s information can be done with commands including Iscpu, hwinfo, and lspci.
- Using these commands lets you get information about every part of your computer’s hardware.
You can also buy a Linux server to practice it on a routine basis. If you're looking for a powerful and reliable option, consider exploring Linux Dedicated Servers, which offer robust performance for advanced hardware management and testing.
For a deeper understanding of your Linux system, it’s helpful to know about the important directories in Linux, as these house essential files and configurations that can also provide insights into hardware and system operations.
FAQ
What command can be used to show system hardware information in Linux?
The 'lshw' command is typically used to show system hardware information in Linux.
What type of information can be seen using the 'lshw' command?
The 'lshw' command can see detailed information about installed hardware components, such as memory, processor, hard disk and network interfaces.
Is the 'lshw' command available in all Linux distributions?
Yes, the 'lshw' command is available in all Linux distributions.
How can the output of the 'lshw' command be formatted?
The output of the 'lshw' command can be formatted into HTML, XML and plain text formats using the -html, -xml and -sanitize options, respectively.
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