Linux command to tell if the machine is physical or virtual
If you've got systemd installed, it comes with systemd-detect-virt.
me@real-machine:~$ systemd-detect-virt
none
me@vm:~$ systemd-detect-virt
qemu
Can detect many different types of virtualization and containers, too.
If don't have systemd, there is also virt-what which has a package at least on Debian (and considering where it comes from, unsurprisingly for RedHat too).
See also “Easy way to determine virtualization technology” on Unix & Linux for a bunch more approaches.
Using lshw will give you system information:
- Run the command:
sudo apt-get install lshw- NOTE: This command may vary depending on the Linux distribution.
- Run the command:
sudo lshw -class system - This will show information about the system. For example, if the machine is a Dell or HP, that will be the product. In the case of a virtual machine, the product will be the name of the emulator.