NAME
system_profiler — reports system hardware and software configuration.
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
Operating System Software Overview:
system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType
Application Software – querying Microsoft
system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType | grep Microsoft
