Check Hardware Information on Linux Graphically With Hardinfo

Here's a handy GUI tool that details all the essentials hardware information on your Linux system.
Warp Terminal

There are ways to get hardware information about your system in Linux. And the majority of them are command-line based solutions like inxi.

As a desktop Linux user, if you feel more comfortable with a graphical application, let me tell you about a tool that you can use to get information about your system hardware.

The tool is called Hardinfo2 (short for hardware information). It is a system profiler and benchmark for Linux systems. It displays hardware (and some software) information in a neat GUI tool.

HardInfo2 default home screen with general computer information.
Hardinfo2
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Hardinfo2 is the actively maintained fork of the popular but discontinued Hardinfo project.

Install Hardinfo on Ubuntu and other Linux distributions

If you are using Fedora, Hardinfo2 is available in the official repositories. Install it using the command:

sudo dnf install hardinfo2

In Ubuntu 24.04, Hardinfo2 is not available in the official repo, where it is still the old Hardinfo.

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Hardinfo2 will be available on official Ubuntu repositories starting on Ubuntu 24.10.

In all other distributions, including Ubuntu, you can use the deb file from the official releases page to install Hardinfo2.

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Keep in mind, the releases are separate for different versions of the same operating system. You should choose according to what version of the distribution you use. For Ubuntu, you should look for the version and amd64 in the file name.

Once downloaded, you can install it from the deb file with a little effort.

3 Ways to Install Deb Files on Ubuntu & Remove Them Later
This beginner article explains how to install deb packages on Ubuntu. It also shows you how to remove those deb packages afterward.

Alternatively, you can use the command below to install Hardinfo2, where <path-to-downloaded-file.deb> has to be replaced with the actual path of the downloaded deb file.

sudo apt install <path-to-downloaded-file.deb>

This will ask whether you want to start iperf3 at the boot time. iperf3 is used to benchmark internal network speed. You should choose Yes.

Start iperf3 at boot
Start iperf3 at boot

Using Hardinfo to get hardware information on Linux

Once installed, you can start the application by looking for it in the menu:

Open Hardinfo2 from Ubuntu Activities Overview.
Open Hardinfo2

Here, you should see various parameters in the left sidebar and if you choose them, you can see related information on the right side.

A summary of system hardware
System Summary

For example, you can see the processor information:

Processor information displayed using hardinfo2
Processor Information

You can see what networking interfaces are available for your system:

Network Interface Information in Hardinfo2
Network Information

You may also check the CPU temperature among other things:

Temperature measurements is shown in Hardinfo2
Sensor Information

Generate a benchmark report

With Hardinfo2, you can benchmark your system and create a comprehensive report. For this, click on Information β†’ Generate Report.

Click on Information in the main menu and select Generate Report option.
Information β†’ Generate Report

This will ask you to select what items are to be included in the report. Check on uncheck the items and then click on Generate.

Select items to create report and click on Generate.
Select items for report

In the next window, you will be asked to enter a name for the file. Give it and hit save to create a report in HTML format.

This will perform some benchmark tests. You should not move your mouse or press any key until the actions are completed. This will be notified to you.

Once all checks are done, you can view the report in a browser.

Hardinfo2 generated report is dispayed on Firefox web browser.
Generated Report

Bonus: Change the appearance of Hardinfo2

Hardinfo2 allows you to change the background appearance of the window. It has some selected appearance settings. Click on View β†’ Theme β†’ Select Theme.

Change the appearance of Hardinfo2. Select a theme from View -> Theme
Appearance Settings

Here is the look, when Tux Star theme is applied:

Tux Star Theme is applied to Hardinfo2.
Theme Tux Star

Conclusion

All this information can be found on the command-line, specially from the /proc directory. But it is always good to have a tool that gives you all this information in one user-friendly interface. Don’t you think so?

About the author
Abhishek Prakash

Abhishek Prakash

Created It's FOSS 11 years ago to share my Linux adventures. Have a Master's degree in Engineering and years of IT industry experience. Huge fan of Agatha Christie detective mysteries πŸ•΅οΈβ€β™‚οΈ

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