VPDDECODE(8) System Manager's Manual VPDDECODE(8)
NAME
vpddecode - VPD structure decoder
SYNOPSIS
vpddecode [OPTIONS]
DESCRIPTION
vpddecode prints the "vital product data" information that can be found
in almost all IBM and Lenovo computers. Available items are:
• BIOS Build ID
• Box Serial Number
• Motherboard Serial Number
• Machine Type/Model
Some systems have these additional items:
• BIOS Release Date
• Default Flash Image File Name
Note that these additional items are not documented by IBM, so this is
guess work, and as such should not be blindly trusted. Feedback about
the accuracy of these labels is welcome.
OPTIONS
-d, --dev-mem FILE
Read memory from device FILE (default: /dev/mem)
-s, --string KEYWORD
Only display the value of the VPD string identified by KEYWORD.
It must be a keyword from the following list: bios-build-id, box-
serial-number, motherboard-serial-number, machine-type-model,
bios-release-date. Each keyword corresponds to an offset and a
length within the VPD record. Not all strings may be defined on
all VPD-enabled systems. If KEYWORD is not provided or not
valid, a list of all valid keywords is printed and vpddecode ex-
its with an error. This option cannot be used more than once.
Mutually exclusive with --dump.
-u, --dump
Do not decode the VPD records, dump their contents as hexadecimal
instead. Note that this is still a text output, no binary data
will be thrown upon you. ASCII equivalent is displayed when pos-
sible. This option is mainly useful for debugging. Mutually ex-
clusive with --string.
-h, --help
Display usage information and exit
-V, --version
Display the version and exit
FILES
/dev/mem
AUTHOR
Jean Delvare
SEE ALSO
biosdecode(8), dmidecode(8), mem(4), ownership(8)
dmidecode February 2007 VPDDECODE(8)
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