lsscsi - list SCSI devices (or hosts) and their attributes

lsscsi [--classic|-c] [--device|-d] [--generic|-g] [--help|-h] [--hosts|-H] [--kname|-k] [--long|-l] [--verbose] [--version] [<h:c:t:l>]

Uses information in sysfs (linux kernels 2.6.0 and later) to list scsi devices (or hosts) currently attached to the system. Options can be used to control the amount and form of information provided for each device.

If a <h:c:t:l> argument is given then it acts as a filter and only devices that match it are listed. The colons don't have to be present, and '-', '*', '?' or missing arguments at the end are wildcards. '-' needs to stand alone or else it is taken as the beginning of an option (e.g. '-:-:-:-' is illegal). '*' needs to be escaped from the shell. A leading '[' and trailing ']' are permitted (e.g. '[1:0:0]' matches all luns on 1:0:0).

By default in this utility device node names (e.g. "/dev/sda" or "/dev/root_disk") are obtained by noting the major and minor numbers for the listed device obtained from sysfs (e.g. the contents of /sys/block/sda/dev) and then looking for a match in the "/dev" directory. This "match by major and minor" will allow devices that have been given a different name by udev (for example) to be correctly reported by this utility.

In some situations it may be useful to see the device node name that linux would produce by default, so the '--kname' option is provided. An example of where this may be useful is kernel error logs which tend to report disk error messages using the disk's default kernel name.

--classic | -c

The output is similar to that obtained from 'cat /proc/scsi/scsi'

--device | -d

After outputting the (probable) scsi device name the the device node major and minor numbers are shown in brackets (e.g. "/dev/sda[8:0]").

--generic | -g

Output the scsi generic device file name. Note that if the sg driver is a module it needs to be loaded otherwise '-' will appear

--help | -h

Output the usage message and exit

--hosts | -H

List the SCSI hosts currently attached to the system. If this option is not given then SCSI devices are listed

--kname | -k

Use linux default algorithm for naming devices (e.g. block major 8, minor 0 is "/dev/sda") rather than the "match by major and minor" in the "/dev" diretory as discussed above.

--long | -l

Output additional information for each SCSI device (host). Can be used multiple times for more output in which case the shorter form is more convenient (e.g. '-lll'). When used three times (i.e. '-lll') outputs SCSI device (host) attributes one per line; preceded by two spaces; in the form "<attribute_name>=<value>".

--verbose | -v

outputs directory names where information is found. Use twice for more output.

--version | -V

outputs version number information and exits

Information for this command is derived from the the sysfs file system whose mount point is found by examining the contents of /proc/mounts . SCSI (pseudo) devices that have been detected by the SCSI mid level will be listed even if the required upper level drivers (i.e. sd, sr, st or osst) have not been loaded. If the appropriate upper level driver has not been loaded then the device file name will appear as '-' rather than something like '/dev/st0'. Note that some devices (e.g. scanners and medium changers) do not have a primary upper level driver and can only be accessed via a scsi generic (sg) device name.

Written by Doug Gilbert

Report bugs to <dgilbert at interlog dot com>.

Copyright © 2003-2005 Douglas Gilbert

This software is distributed under the GPL version 2. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

lspci lsusb and systool The latter utility can be found in the sysfsutils package.