Reading out DMI hardware infos via sysfs

It is possible to read out hardware infos with dmidecode with Linux. However, root rights are required. Some information such as BIOS-version information can be read out directly via sysfs.

Information and access rights

$ ls -l /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/
total 0
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 bios_date
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 bios_release
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan  9 15:45 bios_vendor
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 bios_version
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 board_asset_tag
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 board_name
-r-------- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 board_serial       [root-only]
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan  9 15:45 board_vendor
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 board_version
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 chassis_asset_tag
-r-------- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 chassis_serial     [root-only]
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 chassis_type
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 chassis_vendor
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 chassis_version
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan  9 15:45 modalias
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    0 Jan 10 11:13 power
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 product_family
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan  9 15:45 product_name
-r-------- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 product_serial     [root-only]
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 product_sku
-r-------- 1 root root 4096 Jan 10 11:13 product_uuid       [root-only]
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan  9 15:45 product_version
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    0 Jan  9 15:45 subsystem -> ../../../../class/dmi
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan  9 15:45 sys_vendor
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Jan  9 15:45 uevent

Example

bios date/release/vendor/version

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/bios_date
05/04/2023

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/bios_release
9.1

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/bios_vendor
American Megatrends Inc.

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/bios_version
0901

board asset_tag/name/serial/vendor/version

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/board_asset_tag
To be filled by O.E.M.

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/board_name
K14PA-U24 Series

Erfordert root-Rechte:

# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/board_serial
221113188600078

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/board_vendor
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/board_version
60SB0B60-SB0B01

chassis asset_tag/serial/type/vendor

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/chassis_asset_tag
To be filled by O.E.M.

Erfordert root-Rechte:

# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/chassis_serial
I022440094

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/chassis_type
23

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/chassis_vendor
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.

modalias

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/modalias
dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0901:bd05/04/2023:br9.1:svnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:pnRS500A-E12-RS12U:pvr00:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnK14PA-U24Series:rvr60SB0B60-SB0B01:cvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:ct23:cvr13SF02J0AM0101:skuSKU:

product family/name/serial/sku/uuid/version

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_family
Server

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_name
RS500A-E12-RS12U

Erfordert root-Rechte:

# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_serial
R3S0MD0003SH

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_sku
SKU

Erfordert root-Rechte:

# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_uuid
c80f1d0b-346b-e17c-f3f0-a036bcc9333b

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/product_version
00

sys vendor

$ cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/sys_vendor
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.

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.