Read out server serial number

Numerous servers have the serial number stored electronically in the hardware. This article shows how to read out the serial number of Intel servers under Linux.

Hint: All Thomas-Krenn servers delivered on or after March 7, 2011 have the serial number stored, see also Store FRU information in the IPMI module.

Reading out serial number per IPMI

The server serial number (chassis serial) can be read out, for example, with ipmitool fru print:

[root@testserver ~]# ipmitool fru print
FRU Device Description : Builtin FRU Device (ID 0)
 Board Mfg Date        : Tue Feb 10 13:46:00 2015
 Board Mfg             : Supermicro
 Board Product         : Supermicro Mainboard X10SLH-F
 Board Serial          :           
 Product Manufacturer  : Thomas-Krenn.AG
 Product Name          : 1HE Supermicro Chassis CSE-511/512L
 Product Part Number   :  
 Product Version       :  
 Product Serial        : 9000121847
 Product Asset Tag     : BIOS: 1.1a

Information on the use of ipmitool can be found in the article Configuring IPMI under Linux using ipmitool.

Author: Werner Fischer Werner Fischer, working in the Knowledge Transfer team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his studies of Computer and Media Security at FH Hagenberg in Austria. He is a regular speaker at many conferences like LinuxTag, OSMC, OSDC, LinuxCon, and author for various IT magazines. In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and training for a good result at the annual Linz marathon relay.

Translator: Alina Ranzinger Alina has been working at Thomas-Krenn.AG since 2024. After her training as multilingual business assistant, she got her job as assistant of the Product Management and is responsible for the translation of texts and for the organisation of the department.