CPU/mother board serial number

[cweng]

Is there any system call I can use to get the CPU or mother board serial number ?
I am trying to get a unique identifier of a machine.

[macemoneta]

Your best bet is probably to create a unique signature on each machine:

dd if=/dev/random of=thisMachine bs=128 count=1

Alternatively, you could use the MAC address of the first NIC in the machine:

ip link show

[ptkdb]

Actually there are a couple of instructions to get the serial number for the CPU in Pentium III's and above. I think they're covered in some of the instruction set guides that Intel put out. I'm not sure what AMD does that might be similar, or they emulate the behavior. Intel took alot of crap for this in the press a few years ago.

[ghaefb]

Some CPU info: 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' and 'cat /var/log/dmesg' or run '/usr/sbin/x86info'
For motherboard check the dmesg file, usually there is no motherboard info, mostly chipset.

[macemoneta]

The CPU serial number for Intel CPUs is usually disabled in the BIOS by most manufacturers, because of the negative feedback they received. AMD CPUs don't have a serial number reporting facility (at least it's not not in my BIOS, nor is it reported in /proc/cpuinfo).

The x86info utility isn't included in the x86_64 version of the kernel-utils package, so you can't rely on that (and it doesn't provide a unique identifier).

The NIC card HWADDR (MAC) is supposed to be unique, but it's actually not enforced or guaranteed.

That's why if you need a unique identifier, it's best to create one.

[tashirosgt]

If the purpose is to keep track of The World, then I think The World is too big to keep track of. If you are trying to keep track of the machines on your own network, why not use the MAC addresses?

The best rule-the-World strategy would be to take a set of various non-unique pieces of information that are available about the machine and hash them into some sort of identifier that would have a large probability of being unique. The trouble with using things like the /proc/cpuinfo file is that someday someone might decide that this file needs a brand new format. So you would have to look at the source code for routines that interrogate the hardware and hope that no BIOS update to the motherboard would change the format of the hardware information.

[M.e.M.O.]

Hello ,

Sorry for bumping up a very old thread. I needed same information and this thread is coming up top almost in every search .

I have found the solution over lshw in bash , and it has a GUI for desktop environments too . Mainboard / CPU seial and loads of stuff . I thought it should be written here for later searches.

[rtguille]

For recent 2.6.x kernels:

# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/chassis_serial
# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/board_serial
# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/bios_version

[DBelton]

For recent 2.6.x kernels:

# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/chassis_serial
# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/board_serial
# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/bios_version

Not always reliable

Results of those commands on one of my systems here:

[root@tower20 default]# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/chassis_serial 
To Be Filled By O.E.M.
[root@tower20 default]# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/board_serial 
To be filled by O.E.M.
[root@tower20 default]# cat /sys/devices/virtual/dmi/id/bios_version 
V4.7
[root@tower20 default]#

[stevea]

If you are going to use MAC addresses - then keep in mind many systems have several enets and some could have none. For the multiple case you need to select a unique one among many, for example the smallest after a numeric sort.

[Dangermouse]

This works for me

dmidecode | more

[DBelton]

Interesting, DM...

I don't get any unique identifying information when I run that here...

# dmidecode 2.11
SMBIOS version fixup (2.31 -> 2.3).
SMBIOS 2.3 present.
57 structures occupying 2076 bytes.
Table at 0x000EF790.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 20 bytes
BIOS Information
	Vendor: IBM
	Version: 2AKT51AUS
	Release Date: 07/06/2005
	Address: 0xE4500
	Runtime Size: 113408 bytes
	ROM Size: 512 kB
	Characteristics:
		PCI is supported
		PNP is supported
		APM is supported
		BIOS is upgradeable
		BIOS shadowing is allowed
		ESCD support is available
		Boot from CD is supported
		EDD is supported
		ACPI is supported
		USB legacy is supported
		AGP is supported
		LS-120 boot is supported
		Smart battery is supported
		BIOS boot specification is supported

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 25 bytes
System Information
	Manufacturer: IBM
	Product Name: 8189-NU7
	Version: Not Specified
	Serial Number: Not Specified
	UUID: Not Specified
	Wake-up Type: Power Switch

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 8 bytes
Base Board Information
	Manufacturer: IBM
	Product Name: IBM
	Version: Not Specified
	Serial Number: Not Specified

Handle 0x0003, DMI type 3, 17 bytes
Chassis Information
	Manufacturer: IBM
	Type: Mini Tower
	Lock: Not Present
	Version: Not Specified
	Serial Number: Not Specified
	Asset Tag: ........................
	Boot-up State: Safe
	Power Supply State: Safe
	Thermal State: Safe
	Security Status: None
	OEM Information: 0x00000000

Handle 0x0004, DMI type 4, 35 bytes
Processor Information
	Socket Designation: WMT478/NWD
	Type: Central Processor
	Family: Pentium 4
	Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
	ID: 29 0F 00 00 FF FB EB BF
	Signature: Type 0, Family 15, Model 2, Stepping 9
	Flags:
		FPU (Floating-point unit on-chip)
		VME (Virtual mode extension)
		DE (Debugging extension)
		PSE (Page size extension)
		TSC (Time stamp counter)
		MSR (Model specific registers)
		PAE (Physical address extension)
		MCE (Machine check exception)
		CX8 (CMPXCHG8 instruction supported)
		APIC (On-chip APIC hardware supported)
		SEP (Fast system call)
		MTRR (Memory type range registers)
		PGE (Page global enable)
		MCA (Machine check architecture)
		CMOV (Conditional move instruction supported)
		PAT (Page attribute table)
		PSE-36 (36-bit page size extension)
		CLFSH (CLFLUSH instruction supported)
		DS (Debug store)
		ACPI (ACPI supported)
		MMX (MMX technology supported)
		FXSR (FXSAVE and FXSTOR instructions supported)
		SSE (Streaming SIMD extensions)
		SSE2 (Streaming SIMD extensions 2)
		SS (Self-snoop)
		HTT (Multi-threading)
		TM (Thermal monitor supported)
		PBE (Pending break enabled)
	Version: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
	Voltage: 1.8 V
	External Clock: 100 MHz
	Max Speed: 3400 MHz
	Current Speed: 2800 MHz
	Status: Populated, Enabled
	Upgrade: Socket 478
	L1 Cache Handle: 0x0005
	L2 Cache Handle: 0x0006
	L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided
	Serial Number: Not Specified
	Asset Tag: Not Specified
	Part Number: Not Specified

...... Lots of other things cut that pertain to cache, ports, etc... ...

Got me curious, so ran it on another machine here as well..

Still no unique identifying information:

# dmidecode 2.11
SMBIOS 2.6 present.
58 structures occupying 2067 bytes.
Table at 0x000FD2D0.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes
BIOS Information
	Vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
	Version: V4.7
	Release Date: 07/28/2010
	Address: 0xF0000
	Runtime Size: 64 kB
	ROM Size: 1024 kB
	Characteristics:
		ISA is supported
		PCI is supported
		PNP is supported
		APM is supported
		BIOS is upgradeable
		BIOS shadowing is allowed
		ESCD support is available
		Boot from CD is supported
		Selectable boot is supported
		BIOS ROM is socketed
		EDD is supported
		5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
		3.5"/720 kB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
		3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
		Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
		8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
		Serial services are supported (int 14h)
		Printer services are supported (int 17h)
		CGA/mono video services are supported (int 10h)
		ACPI is supported
		USB legacy is supported
		LS-120 boot is supported
		ATAPI Zip drive boot is supported
		BIOS boot specification is supported
		Targeted content distribution is supported
	BIOS Revision: 8.16

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
	Manufacturer: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
	Product Name: MS-7529
	Version: 1.0
	Serial Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	UUID: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Wake-up Type: Power Switch
	SKU Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Family: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
	Manufacturer: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
	Product Name: G31TM-P21 (MS-7529)
	Version: 1.0
	Serial Number: To be filled by O.E.M.
	Asset Tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Features:
		Board is a hosting board
		Board is replaceable
	Location In Chassis: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Chassis Handle: 0x0003
	Type: Motherboard
	Contained Object Handles: 0

Handle 0x0003, DMI type 3, 21 bytes
Chassis Information
	Manufacturer: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
	Type: Desktop
	Lock: Not Present
	Version: 1.0
	Serial Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Asset Tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Boot-up State: Safe
	Power Supply State: Safe
	Thermal State: Safe
	Security Status: None
	OEM Information: 0x00000000
	Height: Unspecified
	Number Of Power Cords: 1
	Contained Elements: 0

Handle 0x0004, DMI type 4, 42 bytes
Processor Information
	Socket Designation: CPU1
	Type: Central Processor
	Family: Unknown
	Manufacturer: Intel            
	ID: F2 06 00 00 FF FB EB BF
	Version: Genuine Intel(R) CPU            2160  @ 1.80GHz     
	Voltage: 1.3 V
	External Clock: 200 MHz
	Max Speed: 1800 MHz
	Current Speed: 2400 MHz
	Status: Populated, Enabled
	Upgrade: Socket LGA775
	L1 Cache Handle: 0x0005
	L2 Cache Handle: 0x0006
	L3 Cache Handle: 0x0007
	Serial Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Asset Tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Part Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
	Core Count: 2
	Core Enabled: 2
	Thread Count: 2
	Characteristics:
		64-bit capable

.... same as above, cut the other devices info ...

[Dangermouse]

Yeh it works on the dell but not on my main comp