How to use the command 'inxi' (with examples)

Description:

The ‘inxi’ command is used to print a summary of system information and resources for debugging purposes. It provides detailed information about the CPU, memory, hard drive, kernel, network, and various other aspects of the system. This command is particularly useful for troubleshooting and diagnosing system issues.

Use case 1: Print a summary of CPU, memory, hard drive and kernel information

Code:

inxi

Motivation:

This use case allows you to quickly get an overview of the essential system components of your machine. By running the ‘inxi’ command without any arguments, you can retrieve information about the CPU, memory, hard drive, and kernel. This provides a snapshot of the system’s hardware and software configuration, which can be useful for understanding the system’s capabilities and for troubleshooting purposes.

Explanation:

• No arguments are provided in this command. It simply executes the ‘inxi’ command without any additional options.
• The ‘inxi’ command internally gathers system information about the CPU, memory, hard drive, and kernel, and then presents it in a concise and readable format.

Example output:

CPU:       Dual Core Intel Core i7-7600U (-MT MCP-) speed/max: 2791/3000 MHz
Kernel:    5.10.16-200.fc33.x86_64 x86_64 Up: 9d 5h 24m
Mem:       3363.3/15746.7 MiB (21.4%)
Storage:   476.94 GiB (5.7% used)

In this example output, you can see the details about the CPU, kernel version, memory usage, and storage utilization of the system.

Use case 2: Print a full description of CPU, memory, disk, network and process information

Code:

inxi -Fz

Motivation:

When troubleshooting or analyzing system performance, having comprehensive information about the CPU, memory, disk, network, and processes can be extremely helpful. The ‘-Fz’ option in the ‘inxi’ command provides a full description of all these components, allowing you to get a detailed understanding of the system’s resources and performance.

Explanation:

• The ‘-Fz’ option is provided in this command.
• ‘-F’ stands for “full output” and provides a comprehensive summary of the system’s hardware and software information.
• ‘z’ specifies that the information should be displayed in a human-readable and easily understandable format.

Example output:

System:
  Kernel: 5.10.16-200.fc33.x86_64 x86_64 bits: 64 
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.10.16-200.fc33.x86_64 
  root=UUID=f49d998e-1076-4920-9dc3-39a32122e6a8 ro quiet rhgb quiet 
  resume=UUID=659b9332-d763-4e11-b8ad-65e535f3fa9a 
  Desktop: GNOME 3.38.4 
  Distro: Fedora release 33 (Thirty Three) 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop 
  System: Dell product: Latitude 7480 v: N/A serial: <superuser-required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0VW0WR v: A00 serial: <superuser-required> 
  UEFI: Dell v: 1.10.0 
  date: 09/22/2020 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 35.7 Wh condition: 36.3/60.0 Wh (61%) 
  model: Samsung SDI DELL F3YGT3B status: Not charging 

This example output includes detailed information about the system’s kernel, desktop environment, machine type, battery status, and other relevant details.

Use case 3: Print information about the distribution’s repository

Code:

inxi -r

Motivation:

In certain situations, you may need to check information about the distribution’s repository, such as the repository URL, enabled repositories, distribution version, and package managers available. This information is useful for ensuring that the repositories are properly configured and for understanding the sources from where the system retrieves software packages.

Explanation:

• The ‘-r’ option is used in this command to retrieve distribution repository information.
• ‘-r’ stands for repository and instructs the ‘inxi’ command to print relevant details about the distribution’s repository.

Example output:

Repos:     Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-cloud-sdk.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http://packages.cloud.google.com/apt cloud-sdk main
           ...
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jitsi.list 
           1: deb https://download.jitsi.org stable/ 
           2: deb-src https://download.jitsi.org stable/

In this example output, you can see the active apt repositories along with their respective URLs and configuration details.

Conclusion:

The ‘inxi’ command provides valuable system information in a concise and readable format. It enables users to gather essential details about the CPU, memory, disk, network, kernel, as well as repository information. By utilizing the various options available with this command, users can gather specific information suited to their requirements, helping in troubleshooting, diagnosis, and system analysis.