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Check CPU Temperature with lm-sensors

The sensors command prints temperatures, voltages, and fan speeds for all detected hardware monitoring chips.

LinuxhardwaretemperaturemonitoringLow risk
Install lm-sensors, run `sensors-detect` once as root to initialize chip drivers, then run `sensors` to print CPU/core temperatures and fan speeds.

01Command

Command
$ sensors

02What it does

sensors reads the kernel's hwmon interfaces and prints readings for each detected chip, e.g. core temperatures per CPU core plus adapter and fan RPM lines. On a fresh system it often prints nothing until `sensors-detect` has probed and loaded the right modules. Use `sensors coretemp-*` to filter to one chip, or run it in a loop while stress-testing to watch thermals.

03Risk

RiskLow risk
Requirementslm-sensors package (apt install lm-sensors / dnf install lm-sensors); run `sensors-detect` once as root if output is empty.
!Warning: sensors-detect probes hardware addresses; accepting its defaults is safe, but avoid forcing unsupported drivers when it warns.

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

  • sensors(1) - print sensors information
    Ubuntu Manpages · technical · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: sensors prints current readings of all sensor chips; sensors-detect is an interactive program to detect available hardware monitoring chips.

Last verified: 2026-09-17 · Category: System & Settings

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