Posts Tagged ‘cpuinfo’

How to check how many processor and volume groups IBM AIX eServer have

Monday, July 13th, 2020

how-many-cpus-are-on-commands-Linux-sysadmin-and-user-show-know-AIX-logo
In daily sysadmin duties I have been usually administrating GNU / Linux or FreeBSD servers.
However now in my daily sysadmin jobs I've been added to do some minor sysadmin activities on  a few IBM AIX eServers UNIX machines.

As the eServers were completely unknown to me and I logged in for a first time I needed a way to get idea on what kind of hardware I'm logging in so I wanted to get information about the Central Processing UNIT CPUs on the host.

On Linux I'm used to do a cat /proc/cpuinfo or do dmidecode etc. to get the number of CPUs, however AIX does not have /proc/cpuinfo and has its own way to get information about the system hardware.
As I've red in the IBM AIX's RedBook to get system information on AIX there is the lscfg command.
 

aix:/# lscfg
INSTALLED RESOURCE LIST

The following resources are installed on the machine.
+/- = Added or deleted from Resource List.
*   = Diagnostic support not available.

  Model Architecture: chrp
  Model Implementation: Multiple Processor, PCI bus

+ sys0                                                            System Object
+ sysplanar0                                                      System Planar
* vio0                                                            Virtual I/O Bus
* vscsi3           U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C21-T1                    Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
* vscsi2           U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C20-T1                    Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
* vscsi1           U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C11-T1                    Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
* hdisk1           U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C11-T1-L8100000000000000  Virtual SCSI Disk Drive
* vscsi0           U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C10-T1                    Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
* hdisk0           U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C10-T1-L8100000000000000  Virtual SCSI Disk Drive
* ent3             U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C5-T1                     Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
* ent2             U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C4-T1                     Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
* ent1             U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C3-T1                     Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
* ent0             U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C2-T1                     Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
* vsa0             U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C0                        LPAR Virtual Serial Adapter
* vty0             U8205.E6B.068D6AP-V4-C0-L0                     Asynchronous Terminal
+ L2cache0                                                        L2 Cache
+ mem0                                                            Memory
+ proc0                                                           Processor
+ proc4                                                           Processor


To get the number of processors on the host I've had to use:

 

aix:/# lscfg|grep -i proc
  Model Implementation: Multiple Processor, PCI bus
+ proc0                                                           Processor
+ proc4                                                           Processor


Another way to get the CPU number is with:

aix:/# lsdev -C -c processor
proc0 Available 00-00 Processor
proc4 Available 00-04 Processor

 

aix:/# lsattr -EH -l proc4
attribute   value          description           user_settable

 

frequency   3720000000     Processor Speed       False
smt_enabled true           Processor SMT enabled False
smt_threads 4              Processor SMT threads False
state       enable         Processor state       False
type        PowerPC_POWER7 Processor type        False

aix:/# lsattr -EH -l proc0
attribute   value          description           user_settable

 

frequency   3720000000     Processor Speed       False
smt_enabled true           Processor SMT enabled False
smt_threads 4              Processor SMT threads False
state       enable         Processor state       False
type        PowerPC_POWER7 Processor type        False


As you can see each of the processor is multicore has 2 Cores and each of the cores have for Threads, to get the overall number of CPUs on the system including the threaded Virtual CPUs:

aix:/# bindprocessor -q
The available processors are:  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


This specific machine has overall of 8 CPUs cores.

lscfg can be used to get various useful other info of the iron:

aix:/# lscfg -s
INSTALLED RESOURCE LIST

 

The following resources are installed on the machine.
+/- = Added or deleted from Resource List.
*   = Diagnostic support not available.

  Model Architecture: chrp
  Model Implementation: Multiple Processor, PCI bus

+ sys0
        System Object
+ sysplanar0
        System Planar
* vio0
        Virtual I/O Bus
* vscsi3           U8305…………….
        Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
* vscsi2           U8305…………….
        Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
* vscsi1           U8305…………….
        Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
* hdisk1           U8305…………….
        Virtual SCSI Disk Drive
* vscsi0           U8305……………..
        Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
* hdisk0           U8305…………….
        Virtual SCSI Disk Drive
* ent3             U8305…………….
        Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
* ent2             U8305.E6B…………….
        Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
* ent1             U8305.E6B…………….
        Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
* ent0             U8305.E6B…………….
        Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
* vsa0             U8305.E7B…………….
        LPAR Virtual Serial Adapter
* vty0             U8305.E7B…………….
        Asynchronous Terminal
+ L2cache0
        L2 Cache
+ mem0
        Memory
+ proc0
        Processor
+ proc4
        Processor

aix:/# lscfg -p
INSTALLED RESOURCE LIST

The following resources are installed on the machine.

  Model Architecture: chrp
  Model Implementation: Multiple Processor, PCI bus

  sys0                                                            System Object
  sysplanar0                                                      System Planar
  vio0                                                            Virtual I/O Bus
  vscsi3           U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1                    Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
  vscsi2           U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1                     Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
  vscsi1           U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1                    Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
  hdisk1           U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1-L8500000000000000  Virtual SCSI Disk Drive
  vscsi0           U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1                    Virtual SCSI Client Adapter
  hdisk0           U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1-L8500000000000000  Virtual SCSI Disk Drive
  ent3             U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1                     Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
  ent2             U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1                     Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
  ent1             U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1                     Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
  ent0             U8305.E7B…………….V6-C40-T1                     Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
  vsa0             U8305.E7B.069D7AP-V5-C1                        LPAR Virtual Serial Adapter
  vty0             U8305.E7B.069D7AP-V5-D1-L0                     Asynchronous Terminal
  L2cache0                                                        L2 Cache
  mem0                                                            Memory
  proc0                                                           Processor
  proc4                                                           Processor

  PLATFORM SPECIFIC

  Name:  IBM,8305-E7B
    Model:  IBM,8305-E7B
    Node:  /
    Device Type:  chrp

  Name:  openprom
    Model:  IBM,AL730_158
    Node:  openprom

  Name:  interrupt-controller
    Model:  IBM, Logical PowerPC-PIC, 00
    Node:  interrupt-controller@0
    Device Type:  PowerPC-External-Interrupt-Presentation

  Name:  vty
    Node:  vty@30000000
    Device Type:  serial
    Physical Location: …………………………………………..

  Name:  l-lan
    Node:  l-lan@30000002
    Device Type:  network
    Physical Location: …………………………………………..

  Name:  l-lan
    Node:  l-lan@30000003
    Device Type:  network
    Physical Location: …………………………………………..

  Name:  l-lan
    Node:  l-lan@30000004
    Device Type:  network
    Physical Location: …………………………………………..

  Name:  l-lan
    Node:  l-lan@30000005
    Device Type:  network
    Physical Location: …………………………………………..

  Name:  v-scsi
    Node:  v-scsi@3000005a
    Device Type:  vscsi
    Physical Location: …………………………………………..

  Name:  v-scsi
    Node:  v-scsi@3000005b
    Device Type:  vscsi
    Physical Location: …………………………………………..

  Name:  v-scsi
    Node:  v-scsi@30000014
    Device Type:  vscsi
    Physical Location: ………………………………..

  Name:  v-scsi
    Node:  v-scsi@30000017
    Device Type:  vscsi
    Physical Location: …………………………………

 


Another useful command I found is to list the equivalent of Linux's LVM Logical Volumes configured on the system, below is how:

aix:/# lspv hdisk0
00f68c6a84acb0d5 rootvg active hdisk1 00f69d6a85400468 dsvg active

To get more info on a volume group:

aix:/# lspv hdisk0 PHYSICAL VOLUME: hdisk0 VOLUME GROUP: rootvg PV IDENTIFIER: 00f68d6a85acb0d5 VG IDENTIFIER 00f68d6a00004c0000000131353444a5 PV STATE: active STALE PARTITIONS: 0 ALLOCATABLE: yes PP SIZE: 32 megabyte(s) LOGICAL VOLUMES: 12 TOTAL PPs: 959 (30688 megabytes) VG DESCRIPTORS: 2 FREE PPs: 493 (15776 megabytes) HOT SPARE: no USED PPs: 466 (14912 megabytes) MAX REQUEST: 256 kilobytes FREE DISTRIBUTION: 191..00..00..110..192 USED DISTRIBUTION: 01..192..191..82..00 MIRROR POOL: None


You can get which local configured partition is set on which ( PV )Physical Volume

aix:/# lspv -l hdisk0
hdisk0:
LV NAME               LPs     PPs     DISTRIBUTION          MOUNT POINT
lg_dumplv             64      64      00..64..00..00..00    N/A
hd8                   1       1       00..00..01..00..00    N/A
hd6                   16      16      00..16..00..00..00    N/A
hd2                   166     166     00..45..89..32..00    /usr
hd4                   29      29      00..11..18..00..00    /
hd3                   40      40      00..04..04..32..00    /tmp
hd9var                55      55      00..00..37..18..00    /var
hd10opt               74      74      00..37..37..00..00    /opt
hd1                   8       8       00..07..01..00..00    /home
hd5                   1       1       01..00..00..00..00    N/A

Getting Console and Graphical hardware system information on Linux with cpuinfo, neofetch, CPU-X (CPU-Z Unix alternative), I-nex and inxi

Tuesday, September 17th, 2019

getting-console-information-and-graphical-hardware-system-information-Linux-cpuinfo-neofetch-cpu-x-i-nex-1

Earlier I've wrote extensive article on how to get hardware information on Linux using tools such as dmidecode, hardinfo, lshw, hwinfo, x86info and biosdecode but there are few other hardware reporting tools for Linux worthy to mention that has been there for historical reasons such as cpuinfo as we as some new shiny ones such as neofetch (a terminal / console hardware report tool as well the CPU-X and I-Nex  which is Linux equivalent to the all known almost standard for Windows hardware detection CPU-Z worthy to say few words about.
 

1. cpuinfo

 

Perhaps the most basic tool to give you a brief information about your Processor type (model) number of Cores and Logical Processors is cpuinfo

I remember cpuinfo has been there since the very beginning on almost all Linux distributions's repository, nowadays its popularity of the days when the kings on the Linux OS server scenes were Slackware, Caldera OpenLinux and Redhat 6.0 Linux and Debian 3.0  declined but still for scripting purposes it is handy small proggie.

To install and run it in Debian  / Ubuntu / Mint Linux etc.:

 

aptitude install -y cpuinfo

/usr/bin/cpu-info

 

Linux-get-processor-system-info-in-console-cpu-info

 

2. neofetch

 

The next one worthy to install and check is neofetch (a cross-platform and easy-to-use system information
 command line script that collects your Linux system information and display it on the terminal next to an image, it could be your distributions logo or any ascii art of your choice.)

The cool thing about neofetch is besides being able to identify the System server / desktop hardware parameters, it gives some basic info about number of packages installed on the system, memory free and in use, used kernel and exact type of System (be it Dell PowerEdge Model XX, IBM eSeries Model / HP Proliant Model etc.

neofetch-OS-hardware-information-Linux-ascii-system-info-desktop-notebook

neofetch info generated on my home used Lenovo Thikpad T420

neofetch-OS-hardware-information-Linux-ascii-system-info-pcfreak-home-server
neofetch info from www.pc-freak.net running current machine

neofetch even supports Mac OS X and Windows OS ! 🙂

To install neofetch on Mac OS X:
 

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"


or via Mac ported packages using brew

brew install neofetch


neofetch-screenshot-from-Mac-OS-X

neofetch is even installable on Windows OS that has the scoop command line installer tool installer manager with below PowerShell code in cmd.exe (Command line):

powershell Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -scope CurrentUser
iex (new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://get.scoop.sh')
scoop install git
scoop install neofetch

neofetch-microsoft-windows-hardware-command-line-report-tool-screenshot


By the way Scoop was quite a finding for me and it is pretty handy to install plenty of useful command line Linux / UNIX tools, such as curl, wget, git etc. in the same easy straight forward way as a standard yum or apt-get on Windows (without explicitly installing things as GnuWin and CygWin).
 

3. CPU-X graphical user interface hardware report Linux GUI alternative to Windows CPU-Z


The packages for CPU-X are a bit outdated and even though there are rpm packages for Fedora, OpenSuSE and .deb package for Debian for Debian, Ubuntu and ArchLinux (pacman), there is no up to date version for Debian 10 and the package builds distributed for different Linux distros are a bit outdated.

Thus to install CPU-X on any Linux distribution it is perhaps best to use the portable version (static binary) of CPU-X.
It is currently available on https://github.com/X0rg/CPU-X/releases

To install latest portable version of CPU-X

wget https://github.com/X0rg/CPU-X/releases/download/v3.2.4/CPU-X_v3.2.4_portable.tar.gz

mkdir CPU-X
cd CPU-X

tar -zxvvf CPU-X_v3.2.4_portable.tar.gz
-rwxr-xr-x yohan/users 4563032 2019-01-13 22:15 CPU-X_v3.2.4_portable.bsd64
-rwxr-xr-x yohan/users 5484968 2019-01-13 22:15 CPU-X_v3.2.4_portable.linux64

 

cp -rpf CPU-X_v3.2.4_portable.linux64 /usr/local/bin/
ln -sf /usr/local/bin/CPU-X_v3.2.4_portable.linux64 /usr/local/bin/cpu-x


Next run as superuser (root)
 

hipo@jeremiah:~$ su -c 'cpu-x'

 

As seen from below screenshots cpu-x reports a lot of concrete specific hardware data on:

  • Processor
  • Motherboard
  • Memory
  • System
  • Graphic card
  • Performance

cpu-x-cpu-cpu-z-alternative-linux-screenshot-CPU-info

cpu-x-cpu-cpu-z-alternative-linux-screenshot-caches-info

cpu-x-cpu-cpu-z-alternative-linux-screenshot-Motherboard-info

cpu-x-cpu-cpu-z-alternative-linux-screenshot-memory-info

cpu-x-cpu-cpu-z-alternative-linux-screenshot-system-info

cpu-x-cpu-cpu-z-alternative-linux-screenshot-graphics-info

CPU-X can be installed also on FreeBSD very easily by just installing from BSD port tree sysutils/cpu-x/
It is also said to work on other *BSDs, NetBSD, OpenBSD Unixes but I guess this will require a manual compilation based on FreeBSD's port Makefile.

4. I-Nex another GUI alternative to CPU-Z for UNIX / Linux

I-Nex is even more useful for general hardware reporting as it reports many hardware specifications not reported by CPU-X such as Battery type and Model Name  (if the hardware report is on a laptop), info on USB devices slots or plugged USB devices brand and specifications, the available Network devices on the system (MAC Addresses) of each of it, Installed and used drivers on Hard Disk (ATA / SATA / SCSI / SSD), HW Sector size, Logical Block size, HDD Sectors count and other specific Hard Drive data as well as information on available Audio (Sound Blaster) devices (HDA-Intel), used Codecs, loaded kernel ALSA driver, Video card used and most importantly indicators on Processor reported CPU (temperature).

 

To install I-nex

Go to https://launchpad.net/i-nex or any of the mirror links where it resides and install the respective package, in my case, I was doing the installation on Debian Linux, so fetched current latest amd64 package which as of moment of writting this article is i-nex_7.6.0-0-bzr977-20161012-ubuntu16.10.1_amd64.deb , next installed it with dpkg
 

dpkg -i i-nex_7.6.0-0-bzr977-20161012-ubuntu16.10.1_amd64.deb

 

As the package was depending on some other .deb packages, which failed to install to install the missing ones I had to further run
 

apt –fix-broken install

i-nex-cpu-info-linux-hardware-info-program

 

hre

I-Nex thermal indicators about CPU temperature on a Linux Desktop notebook

i-nex-gpu-info-linux-hardware-info-program

i-nex-mobo-info-linux-hardware-info-program

i-nex-audio-info-linux-hardware-info-program

i-nex-drivers-info-linux-hardware-info-program

i-nex-system-info-linux-hardware-info-program

i-nex-battery-info-linux-hardware-info-program

 

There are other Hardware identification report tools such as CUDA-Z that are useful to check if you have Nvidia Video Card hardware Installed on the PC to check the status of CUDA enabled GPUs, useful if working with nVidia Geforce, Quadro, Tesla cards and ION chipsets.

If you use it however be aware that CUDA-Z is not compatible with 3rd-party linux drivers for NVidia so make sure you have the current official Nvidia version.

 

5. Inxi full featured system information script

 

Inxi is a 10000 lines mega bash script that fetches hardware details from multiple different sources in /proc /sys and from commands on the system, and generates a beautiful looking console report that non technical users can read easily.

inxi-10-k-mega-bash-shell-script-reporting-on-installed-system-computer-hardware

 

inxi -Fx

 

 

inxi-report-on-installed-hardware-on-my-lenovo-thinkpad-home-laptop

Each of the pointed above tools has different method of collection of Hardware information from various resources e.g. – kernel loaded modules, dmesg, files like /proc/meminfo /proc/version /proc/scsi/scsi /proc/partitions.
Hence some of the tools are likely to report more info than otheres, so in case if some information you need regarding the system plugged in hardware is missing you can perhaps obtain it from another program. Most Linux distribution desktop provided GNOME package are including Hardinfo gui tool, but in many cases above mentioned tools are likely to add even more on info on what is inside your PC Box.
If you're aware of others tools that are useful not mentioned here please share it.