Synopsis
system_profiler [-usage]
system_profiler [-listDataTypes]
system_profiler [-xml] dataType1 ... dataTypeN
system_profiler [-xml] [-detailLevel level]
system_profiler [-json] dataType1 ... dataTypeN
system_profiler [-json] [-detailLevel level]
Description
system_profiler reports on the hardware and software configuration of the system. It can generate plain text reports or XML reports which can be opened with System Information.app, or JSON reports
Progress and error messages are printed to stderr while actual report data is printed to stdout. Redirect stderr to /dev/null to suppress progress and error messages.
The following options are available:
-xml: Generates a report in XML format. If the XML report is redirected to a file with a ".spx" suffix that file can be opened with System Information.app.-json: Generates a report in JSON format.-listDataTypes: Lists the available datatypes.-detailLevel level: Specifies the level of detail for the report:
mini report with no personal information
basic basic hardware and network information
full all available information
-timeout: Specifies the maximum time to wait in seconds for results. If some information is not available within the specified time limit then an incomplete or partial report will be generated. The default timeout is 180 seconds. Specifying a timeout of 0 means no timeout.-usage: Prints usage info and examples.
Examples
system_profiler
Generates a text report with the standard detail level.
system_profiler -detailLevel mini
Generates a short report containing no personal information.
system_profiler -listDataTypes
Shows a list of the available data types.
system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType SPNetworkDataType
Generates a text report containing only software and network data.
system_profiler -xml > MyReport.spx
Creates a XML file which can be opened by System Profiler.app
Authors
Apple Inc.
Darwin June 30, 2003 Darwin