SKU: TR-100, filed under Technical Reports (TR).
What is it? A machine information report used at United States Graphics Company
"Machine Report" is similar to Neofetch, but very basic. It's a bash script that's linked in the user's login startup script, .bashrc or .bash_profile; it displays useful machine information right in the terminal session. Typically, at U.S. Graphics Company, we use it for remote servers and Machine Report is displayed when a user logs into the server over ssh. See installation instructions on how to do this.
Alpha release, only compatible with Debian systems with ZFS root partition running as root user. This is not ready for public use at all. But you should totally try to use it. The worst that's going to happen is it'll destroy your system. Your help is appreciated in making this project production worthy.
Since it is a bash script, you've got the source code. Just modify that for your needs. No need for any abstractions, directly edit the code. No modules, no DSL, no config files, none of it. Single file for easy deployment. Only abstraction that's acceptable is variables at the top of the script to customize the system, but it should stay minimal.
Problem with providing tools with a silver spoon is that you kill the creativity of the users. Remember MySpace? Let people customize the hell out of it and share it. Central theme as you'll see is this:
ENCOURAGE USERS TO DIRECTLY EDIT THE SOURCE
When you build a templating engine, a config file, a bunch of switches, etc; it adds 1) bloat 2) complexity 3) limits customization because by definition, customization template engine is going to be less featureful than the source code itself. So let the users just edit the source. Keep it well organized.
Another consideration is to avoid abstracting the source code at the expense of direct 1:1 readability. For e.g., the section "Machine Report" at the end of the bash script prints the output using printf—a whole bunch load of printf statements. There is no need to add loops or functions returning functions. What you see is roughly what will print. 1:1 mapping is important here for visual ID.
Tabular, short, clear and concise. The tool's job is to inform the user of the current state of the system they are logging in or are operating. No emojis (except for the one used as a warning sign). No colors (as default, might add an option to add colors).
This script is designed for us, for our internal use.
- AMD EPYC CPU
- Debian OS
- ZFS installed on root partition
- VMWare Hypervisor
lscpu
If your system is different, things might break. Look up the offending line and you can try to fix it for your specific system.
For login sessions over ssh, reference the script ~/.machine_report.sh in your .bashrc file. Make sure the script is executable by running chmod +x ~/.machine_report.sh.
Copy machine_report.sh from this repository and add it to ~/.machine_report.sh ('.' for hidden file if you wish). Reference it in your .bashrc file as follows (example bashrc file):
# This is your .bashrc file.
# Add the following lines anywhere in the file.
# Run Machine Report only when in interactive mode
if [[ $- == *i* ]]; then
~/.machine_report.sh
fiBSD 3 Clause License, Copyright © 2024, U.S. Graphics, LLC. See LICENSE file for license information.