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
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?