The usage and performance of a system depend on its specifications. 

What kind of processor it has? Which version of the operating system runs? How much disk space is left? 

You may require these parameters during the installation or configuration of different software.

Here at Ibmi Media, as part of our Server Management Services, we regularly help our Customers to perform Ubuntu Linux related Queries and configuration tasks.

In this context, we shall look into how you can check system and hardware details using command-line and GUI in Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa).

Different methods to check system and hardware details using command-line and GUI in Ubuntu 

1. Using Command-Line to check system and hardware details

a. System-Specific Information

All information about the system can be printed using the following command in the terminal:

$ uname -a

The information has following meanings.

i. Name of the kernel (-s): Linux

ii. Name of the host (-n): linuxapt

iii. Kernel release (-r): 5.4.0-54-generic #60-Ubuntu SMP

iv. CPU architecture (-m): x86_64

v. Operating system (-i): GNU/Linux

Options along with the command can be used to print individual parameters. For example, the kernel release can be printed using the following command:

$ uname -r

b. Distribution-Specific Information

All the Linux distribution information can be viewed by typing in the following command.

$ lsb_release -a

The information presented here consists of important information in the following order:

i. Version (not shown as lsb-core package is not installed): No ii. LSB modules are available.

iii. Distributor ID (-i): Ubuntu

iv. Description of distribution (-d):  Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS

v. Release number of the distribution (-r): Release: 20.04

vi. Codename of the distribution (-c):  focal

Individual parameters can also be obtained using respective arguments (in brackets). 

For example, release number can be obtained using the following command:

$ lsb_release –r

c. Disk Space Information

The primary purpose of df command is to report file system disk space usage. 

We will be using this utility to find used, available and the total space of the disk.

$ df –h /

2. Using GUI

i. Press the super (windows) key. Search will appear.

ii. Type in Settings. The settings application will appear.

iii. Open the application by clicking on it.

iv. Scroll down the sidebar.

v. You will now see the menu entities.

vi. Click on About.

vii. A window containing system information will appear.

a. System-Specific Information

Here, you will see the system-specific information with the following information:

i. Device Name: linuxapt

ii. Memory: 1.9GiB

iii. Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2620M CPU @ 2.70GHz × 2

iv. OS Type: 64-bit

b. Distribution-Specific Information

Here, you will see the window showing the distribution-specific information:

i. OS Name: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

ii. GNOME Version: 3.36.3

iii. Windowing System: X11

c. Disk Space Information

For example, in our case the window shows disk capacity to be 17.2 GB.

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