By default, the dmidecode command can only be run on Unix systems using the root user account. 


Using a standard user account will display the following error

/dev/mem: Permission denied


To allow a non-root account to execute the dmidecode application the following steps must be completed.


  • Select an existing account, or create a new dedicated user account on the Unix systems.

  • Open the sudoers configuration file - typically /etc/sudoers.

  • Add the following settings to the sudoers file

    User_Alias XIACONFIGURATION = username
    Cmnd_Alias DMIDECODE = /usr/sbin/dmidecode
    XIACONFIGURATION ALL = NOPASSWD: DMIDECODE

The non-root user should now be able to execute the dmidecode command without being prompted for a password.