Linux find Windows 10 OEM product key command

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How To – Linux find Windows 10 OEM product key

I removed and installed Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS on my development Lenovo laptop. However, I need to use my Windows 10 pro in KVM VM for running the accounting app. How do I find and print my embedded Windows 10 pro key from a Linux command line option? How can I retrieve Microsoft Windows 8 and 10 OEM product key from BIOS?Most modern desktop and laptop comes with Windows 8 or 10 keys embedded in BIOS. Thinkpad, Dell, and many other BIOS vendors expose these keys to Linux, too, along with tons of data. So one can find and retrieve Windows 10 or Windows 8 key using Linux. The key helps to activate the Windows version without any input from users.

To find your original Windows 10 product key from Linux:

Open the terminal application. You must run the Linux command as the root user. Type ‘ sudo strings /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM ‘ to print Windows 10 or Windows 8 OEM product key You can also use the acpidump command to get the same information under Linux.

Let us see all the commands and examples in detail.

Say hello to /sys/firmware/acpi/tables

ACPI tables can be retrieved via sysfs in latest Linux kernels. For example, type the following ls command:

ls -l /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/

Sample outputs:

total 0 -r-------- 1 root root 300 Jan 17 17:01 APIC -r-------- 1 root root 160 Jan 17 17:01 'ASF!' -r-------- 1 root root 74 Jan 17 17:01 BATB -r-------- 1 root root 56 Jan 17 17:01 BGRT -r-------- 1 root root 40 Jan 17 17:01 BOOT drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Jan 17 17:01 data -r-------- 1 root root 84 Jan 17 17:01 DBG2 -r-------- 1 root root 52 Jan 17 17:01 DBGP -r-------- 1 root root 144 Jan 17 17:01 DMAR -r-------- 1 root root 157823 Jan 17 17:01 DSDT drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Jan 17 17:01 dynamic -r-------- 1 root root 83 Jan 17 17:01 ECDT -r-------- 1 root root 276 Jan 17 17:01 FACP -r-------- 1 root root 64 Jan 17 17:01 FACS -r-------- 1 root root 68 Jan 15 15:04 FPDT -r-------- 1 root root 56 Jan 17 17:01 HPET -r-------- 1 root root 148 Jan 17 17:01 LPIT -r-------- 1 root root 60 Jan 17 17:01 MCFG -r-------- 1 root root 85 Jan 17 17:01 MSDM -r-------- 1 root root 45 Jan 17 17:01 NHLT -r-------- 1 root root 6950 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT1 -r-------- 1 root root 3817 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT10 -r-------- 1 root root 5759 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT11 -r-------- 1 root root 7036 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT12 -r-------- 1 root root 244 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT13 -r-------- 1 root root 1389 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT2 -r-------- 1 root root 21120 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT3 -r-------- 1 root root 12605 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT4 -r-------- 1 root root 10844 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT5 -r-------- 1 root root 1554 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT6 -r-------- 1 root root 1328 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT7 -r-------- 1 root root 6725 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT8 -r-------- 1 root root 10433 Jan 17 17:01 SSDT9 -r-------- 1 root root 52 Jan 17 17:01 TPM2 -r-------- 1 root root 66 Jan 17 17:01 UEFI1 -r-------- 1 root root 298 Jan 17 17:01 UEFI2 -r-------- 1 root root 40 Jan 17 17:01 WSMT

The /sys/firmware/acpi/tables facility can be used by platform/BIOS vendors to provide a Linux compatible environment without modifying the underlying platform firmware. This facility also provides a powerful feature to debug and test ACPI BIOS table compatibility quickly with the Linux kernel by changing the old platform provided ACPI tables or inserting new ACPI tables.

How to retrieve Windows 8 and Windows 10 OEM product key from BIOS when using Linux

First, open the terminal application by pressing Ctrl – Alt + T keyboard shortcut. Then type the following cat command:

sudo cat /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM

Feel free to use the tail command as shell pipe:

sudo cat /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM | tail -1



A note about retrieving the product key in Windows 10 or Windows 8 itself

Open a new command prompt window (cmd.exec) and type the following command:

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey



Conclusion

You learned how to find your embedded Windows 8 or Windows 10 OEM product key from a Linux command line option or when Linux installed.