HW-PROBE(1) User Commands HW-PROBE(1)
NAME
hw-probe - Hardware probe and system info collection tool
DESCRIPTION
NAME:
Hardware Probe (hw-probe) A tool to probe for hardware, check op-
erability and find drivers
DESCRIPTION:
Hardware Probe (hw-probe) is a tool to probe for hardware, check
its operability and upload result to the BSD hardware database.
By creating probes you contribute to the "HDD/SSD Desktop-Class
Reliability Test" study: https://github.com/linuxhw/SMART
USAGE:
hw-probe [options]
EXAMPLE:
hw-probe -all -upload
PRIVACY:
Private information (including the username, machine's hostname,
IP addresses, MAC addresses, UUIDs and serial numbers) is NOT up-
loaded to the database.
The tool uploads 32-byte prefix of salted SHA512 hash of MAC ad-
dresses and serial numbers to properly identify unique computers
and hard drives. UUIDs are decorated in the same way, but format-
ted like regular UUIDs in order to save readability of logs. All
the data is uploaded securely via HTTPS.
INFORMATION OPTIONS:
-h|-help
Print this help.
-v|-version
Print version info.
-dumpversion
Print the tool version (1.6) and don't do anything else.
GENERAL OPTIONS:
-all
Probe for hardware.
-log-level N
Set the logging level to N. Available values:
- minimal - default - maximal
-minimal|-min
Collect minimal number of logs. Equal to --log-level=min.
-maximal|-max
Collect maximal number of logs. Equal to --log-level=max.
-enable LIST
Comma separated list of logs to enable in addition to current log
level.
-disable LIST
Comma separated list of logs to disable in current log level.
Some logs cannot be disabled. For example, you can disable col-
lecting of 'fstab', but you cannot disable logging of 'smartctl'.
-check
Check devices operability. Test performance of CPU, memory,
graphics cards and drives.
-check-extended
Perform extended check.
-upload
Upload result to the hardware database. You will get a permanent
URL to view the probe.
By use of this option you confirm uploading of 32-byte prefix of
salted SHA512 hash of MAC addresses and serial numbers to prevent
duplication of computers in the DB.
-hwinfo-path PATH
Path to a local hwinfo binary.
-proxy ADDRESS:PORT
Set outgoing http/https proxy using syntax: proxy.domain.lo-
cal:3128
INVENTORY OPTIONS:
-i|-inventory-id ID
Mark the probe by inventory ID.
-generate-inventory-id
Generate new inventory ID.
-email ADDR
Email for node status notifications.
MONITORING OPTIONS:
-start
Start monitoring of the node.
-stop
Stop monitoring of the node.
-remind-inventory
Remind node inventory ID.
OTHER OPTIONS:
-save DIR
Save probe package to DIR. This is useful if you are offline and
need to upload a probe later (with the help of -src option).
-src|-source PATH
A probe to upload.
-fix PATH
Update list of devices and host info in the probe using probe
data.
-show-devices
Show devices list.
-show
Show host info and devices list.
-show-host
Show host info only.
-verbose
Use with -show option to show type and status of the device.
-printers
Probe for printers.
-scanners
Probe for scanners.
-id|-name DESC
Any description of the probe.
-pci-ids
PATH
-usb-ids
PATH
-sdio-ids PATH
-pnp-ids
PATH
Path to {pci,usb,sdio,pnp}.ids file to read missed device names.
-list
List executed probes (for debugging).
-clean
Do nothing. Obsolete option.
-save-uploaded
Save uploaded probes.
-debug|-d
Do nothing. Obsolete option.
-dump-acpi
Probe for ACPI table.
-decode-acpi
Decode ACPI table.
-import DIR
Import probes from the database to DIR for offline use.
If you are using Snap or Flatpak package, then DIR will be cre-
ated in the sandbox data directory.
Provide inventory ID by -i option in order to import your inven-
tory.
DATA LOCATION:
Probes info is saved in the /root/HW_PROBE directory.
A tool to probe for hardware, check operability and find drivers Li-
cense: LGPL-2.1-or-later OR BSD-4-Clause
Usage: hw-probe [options] Example: hw-probe -all -upload
AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Mathieu Malaterre <malat@debian.org> for
the Debian GNU/Linux system (but may be used by others).
Hardware Probe 1.6 September 2022 HW-PROBE(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Sat Oct 3 07:35:25 CEST 2026.