LSMCODE(8)

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, this is LSMCODE(8) — the manual page for lsmcode, and its whole job is literally list microcode and firmware levels. Short name, big "what's inside my hardware" energy. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

Here's the summoning spell, exactly as written:

       lsmcode [-A | --All | -d<name> | --device=<name>] [--tabular |
               --no-menus] [-p<database-file> | --path=<database-file> |
               -z<database-archive> | --zip=<database-archive>] [-h | --help]

Tiny heads-up: the synopsis is out here showing --tabular and --no-menus too, even though the OPTIONS list below doesn't give them their own little paragraphs. No cap, that's just how the page is. 👀

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

This program is part of the lsvpd package for Linux, and that package is a (partial) reimplementation of AIX's lsvpd and related commands. So yes, it's giving "Linux cousin of an AIX classic." 🌈

lsmcode lists hardware microcode and firmware levels. The output can be presented in a human readable format, or in a more structured format that's easily parsable by other software. Both vibes are valid: one for your eyeballs, one for your scripts. 💖

The Linux version does not support the interactive menus that are found in the AIX version. So don't go looking for a cute little menu situation here — it's not in this version. 🙈

lsmcode retrieves information from lsvpd's hardware inventory database. Therefore, the vpdupdate(8) command must have been executed prior to running lsmcode.

🚨 Bestie warning: vpdupdate(8) must have been executed prior to running lsmcode. No database update, no inventory tea. 🫶

Some IBM POWER systems feature dynamic VPD. lsmcode will only list version information corresponding to dynamic VPD when invoked by the root user — when invoked by another user, this version information will be omitted, but other version information will still be listed. So root gets the dynamic-VPD bonus content; everyone else still gets the regular version tea. 👑

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• -A, --All — Display information for all supported hardware. Full sweep, all the supported hardware, let's go. 🔥
• -d<name>, --device=<name> — Only show configuration information for the component with the given name. One component, one name, no extra noise. ✨
• -p<database-file>, --path=<database-file> — Use <database-file> as the hardware inventory database, rather than the default file. Note the supplied filename must include a full path. (/var/lib/lsvpd/vpd.db). This option is useful for producing output for previous hardware inventory databases that have been replaced by the system. Point it at the old database if that's the vibe. 📁
• -z<database-archive>--zip=<database-archive> — Use <database-archive> as the hardware inventory database, rather than the default directory (/var/lib/lsvpd/). The archive has been compressed using gzip(1). This option is useful for producing output for old hardware inventory databases that have been archived by the system. (The synopsis spells this one with a | as -z<database-archive> | --zip=<database-archive> — I'm keeping the OPTIONS label exactly as the page has it. 💅)
• -h, --help — Display a help screen and quit. Respect the exit strategy. 🚪

🌸 FILES 🌸

• /var/lib/lsvpd/vpd.db — Database file used by lsmcode. That's the default database babe. 💾

💀 BUGS 💀

lsmcode will not reflect changes in firmware/microcode versions for certain hardware without a reboot. This will (hopefully) be supported in a later version on Linux 2.6 systems with dynamic /proc/device-tree. So yeah, reboot required for some hardware — dramatic but true. 😭

Version information for some adapters may not be available because retrieval mechanisms have not yet been implemented. Not me inventing info — the page literally says those mechanisms aren't there yet. 🙈

🔮 SEE ALSO 🔮

Go check out these besties: lsvpd(8), lscfg(8), lsvio(8), vpdupdate(8). iykyk. 💜

💌 AUTHORS 💌

Eric Munson <ebmunson@us.ibm.com>. Brad Peters <bpeters@us.ibm.com>.

Copyright (c) 2003 - 2013 IBM.

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That's the whole lsmcode(8) page from the lsvpd package, bestie — the footer on this one just reads LSMCODE(8), with no separate version or date line to spill, so consider this your cute sign-off: slay, stay updated, and run vpdupdate(8) before you come for lsmcode. 💖✨