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Probing for hardware information

/sys

The kernel creates the pseudo filesystem /sys to give access to devices and information about them. Be careful when working with /sys because attempting to edit it can seriously damage its system. It is safe, though, to use ls, grep, or any command that simply displays information in these subdirectories:

/sys/block: Information about block

devices

/sys/bus: Subdirectories for each bus
/sys/class: All devices classes
/sys/devices: The hierarchy of all devices on the system
/sys/firmware: Firmware objects and their attributes
/sys/modules: Subdirectories for the kernel module

You can also use sysctl to view /sys, but be careful – it can also edit the contents, which can result in disaster unless you know exactly what you are doing (Figure 10).

Figure 10: The /sys pseudo filesystem contains dozens of directories and files that you can search for information.

Choosing a Tool

This article gives only an overview of the available tools. Much more can be said about most of these tools, but the point is to provide a quick guide. The purposes of these tools often overlap, so if one fails to give the information you need, another might. Whichever one you choose, don't be surprised if you need a search engine to fully understand much of the available information – you're delving deeply into the workings of your system's hardware.

The Author

Bruce Byfield is a computer journalist and a freelance writer and editor specializing in free and open source software. In addition to his writing projects, he also teaches live and e-learning courses. In his spare time, Bruce writes about Northwest coast art (http://brucebyfield.wordpress.com). He is also cofounder of Prentice Pieces, a blog about writing and fantasy at https://prenticepieces.com/.

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