Get a unique computer ID in Python on windows and linux

Question

I\'d like to get an id unique to a computer with Python on Windows and Linux. It could be the CPU ID, the motherboard serial, ... or anything else.

I looked at sever

Answer 1

2019 Answer (for Windows):

from typing import Optional
import re
import subprocess
import uuid

def get_windows_uuid() -> Optional[uuid.UUID]:
    try:
        # Ask Windows for the device's permanent UUID. Throws if command missing/fails.
        txt = subprocess.check_output("wmic csproduct get uuid").decode()

        # Attempt to extract the UUID from the command's result.
        match = re.search(r"\bUUID\b[\s\r\n]+([^\s\r\n]+)", txt)
        if match is not None:
            txt = match.group(1)
            if txt is not None:
                # Remove the surrounding whitespace (newlines, space, etc)
                # and useless dashes etc, by only keeping hex (0-9 A-F) chars.
                txt = re.sub(r"[^0-9A-Fa-f]+", "", txt)

                # Ensure we have exactly 32 characters (16 bytes).
                if len(txt) == 32:
                    return uuid.UUID(txt)
    except:
        pass # Silence subprocess exception.

    return None

print(get_windows_uuid())

Uses Windows API to get the computer's permanent UUID, then processes the string to ensure it's a valid UUID, and lastly returns a Python object (https://docs.python.org/3/library/uuid.html) which gives you convenient ways to use the data (such as 128-bit integer, hex string, etc).

Good luck!

PS: The subprocess call could probably be replaced with ctypes directly calling Windows kernel/DLLs for the Win32_ComputerSystemProduct API (which is what wmic uses internally). But then you have to be very careful and ensure that you call it properly on all systems. For my purposes this wmic-based function is safer and is all I need. It does strong validation and produces correct results. And if the wmic output is wrong or if the command is missing, our function returns None to let you handle that any way you want (such as generating a random UUID and saving it in your app's config file instead).