dmidecode Displays Incorrect Processor Manufacturer and Version on Debian 12 Guest in KVM (RHEL 9.4 Host), but Works Correctly on Other Virtualization Platforms like Hyper-V, Oracle VirtualBox, and VMware ESXi

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I am new to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I have installed RHEL 9.4 on an Intel Core i7 13th Gen machine and prepared a Debian 12 virtual machine (guest) using KVM. Within the Debian 12 guest, the dmidecode command reports incorrect values for the processor manufacturer and version. Specifically, it shows "Red Hat" as the processor manufacturer and "RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)" as the processor version, instead of the actual manufacturer and version, which are "Intel(R) Corporation" and "13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1360P," respectively.

However, when I run dmidecode on Debian 12 guests within other virtualization platforms, such as Hyper-V, Oracle VirtualBox, or VMware ESXi, it correctly reports the processor details.

root@DEB-KVM-c9a2ea07b86e45f9ad685704bfb0809d:~# dmidecode -s processor-manufacturer
Red Hat
Red Hat
Red Hat
Red Hat
root@DEB-KVM-c9a2ea07b86e45f9ad685704bfb0809d:~# dmidecode -s processor-version
RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)
RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)
RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)
RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)

Environment:

  • Host System:
    • Processor: Intel Core i7 13th Gen
    • Operating System: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 (Plow)
  [root@localhost samadhan]# cat /etc/os-release
  NAME="Red Hat Enterprise Linux"
  VERSION="9.4 (Plow)"
  ID="rhel"
  ID_LIKE="fedora"
  VERSION_ID="9.4"
  PLATFORM_ID="platform:el9"
  PRETTY_NAME="Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 (Plow)"
  ANSI_COLOR="0;31"
  LOGO="fedora-logo-icon"
  CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9::baseos"
  HOME_URL="https://www.redhat.com/"
  [root@localhost samadhan]#

[root@localhost samadhan]# uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 5.14.0-427.40.1.el9_4.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Oct 4 15:22:45 EDT 2024 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

dmidecode behavior on Actual Host machine:

[root@localhost samadhan]# dmidecode -s processor-family
Core i7

[root@localhost samadhan]# dmidecode -s processor-manufacturer
Intel(R) Corporation

[root@localhost samadhan]# dmidecode -s processor-version
13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1360P

- Guest System: (KVM)
- Operating System: Debian 12

root@debian:~# uname -a
Linux debian 6.10.6+bpo-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.10.6-1~bpo12+1 (2024-08-26) x86_64 GNU/Linux
root@debian:~# cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="12"
VERSION="12 (bookworm)"
VERSION_CODENAME=bookworm
ID=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

root@DEB-KVM-c9a2ea07b86e45f9ad685704bfb0809d:~# dmidecode -t processor
# dmidecode 3.4
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.8 present.

Handle 0x0400, DMI type 4, 42 bytes
Processor Information
        Socket Designation: CPU 0
        Type: Central Processor
        Family: Other
        Manufacturer: Red Hat
        ID: A2 06 0B 00 FF FB 8B 0F
        Version: RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)
        Voltage: Unknown
        External Clock: Unknown
        Max Speed: 2000 MHz
        Current Speed: 2000 MHz
        Status: Populated, Enabled
        Upgrade: Other
        L1 Cache Handle: Not Provided
        L2 Cache Handle: Not Provided
        L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided
        Serial Number: Not Specified
        Asset Tag: Not Specified
        Part Number: Not Specified
        Core Count: 1
        Core Enabled: 1
        Thread Count: 1
        Characteristics: None

Handle 0x0401, DMI type 4, 42 bytes

dmidecode behavior
in KVM:

root@debian:~# dmidecode -s processor-manufacturer
Red Hat
Red Hat
Red Hat
Red Hat

root@debian:~# dmidecode -s processor-version
RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)
RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)
RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)
RHEL-9.4.0 PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009)

However, when I run dmidecode on Debian 12 guests within other virtualization platforms, such as Hyper-V, Oracle VirtualBox, or VMware ESXi, it correctly reports the processor details.
Here is the example of Hyper-V virtualization platform.

root@DEB-HYPV-6068a9c398774464aa501fe74c31430a:~# dmidecode -s processor-manufacturer
Intel(R) Corporation

root@DEB-HYPV-6068a9c398774464aa501fe74c31430a:~# dmidecode -s processor-version
INTEL(R) XEON(R) SILVER 4516Y+


root@DEB-HYPV-6068a9c398774464aa501fe74c31430a:~# dmidecode -t processor
# dmidecode 3.4
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 3.1.0 present.

Handle 0x0004, DMI type 4, 48 bytes
Processor Information
        Socket Designation: None
        Type: Central Processor
        Family: Xeon
        Manufacturer: Intel(R) Corporation
        ID: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
        Signature: Type 0, Family 0, Model 0, Stepping 0
        Flags: None
        Version: INTEL(R) XEON(R) SILVER 4516Y+
        Voltage: 1.6 V
        External Clock: 100 MHz
        Max Speed: 4000 MHz
        Current Speed: 2200 MHz
        Status: Populated, Enabled
        Upgrade: None
        L1 Cache Handle: Not Provided
        L2 Cache Handle: Not Provided
        L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided
        Serial Number: None
        Asset Tag: None
        Part Number: None
        Core Count: 4
        Core Enabled: 4
        Thread Count: 1
        Characteristics:
                64-bit capable
                Multi-Core
                Hardware Thread
                Execute Protection
                Enhanced Virtualization
                Power/Performance Control

Possible Resolution:

After googling the issue, I discovered that changing the cluster compatibility version of the Red Hat Virtualization (RHV) cluster can resolve the DMI reporting issue.
This change requires a valid subscription to Red Hat Virtualization.

Is there an option to utilize Red Hat Virtualization under a free or trial subscription?

SF

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