How To Get BIOS Serial Numbers On Linux

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 09:24:43 +0000

The quickest way to get a BIOS serial number on Linux:

sudo dmidecode -s system-serial-number

That’s usually all you need. dmidecode reads the DMI/SMBIOS table and prints the serial number directly.

Other options

If dmidecode isn’t available or doesn’t return what you need:

# lshw
sudo lshw -C bios | grep serial

# /sys class interface (no sudo needed)
cat /sys/class/dmi/id/product_serial

The /sys/class/dmi/id/ path is the cleanest option if you want to avoid sudo. It exposes several DMI fields: