How to identify that you're running under a VM?

Question

Is there a way to identify, from within a VM, that your code is running inside a VM?

I guess there are more or less easy ways to identify specific VM systems, especi

Answer 1

Here is a (java + windows) solution to identify whether underlying machine is physical or virtual.

Virtual Machines Examples:

Manufacturer

• Xen
• Microsoft Corporation
• innotek GmbH
• Red Hat
• VMware, Inc.

Model

• HVM domU
• Virtual Machine
• VirtualBox
• KVM

• VMware Virtual Platform

  import java.io.BufferedReader;
  import java.io.InputStreamReader;
  import java.util.ArrayList;
  import java.util.List;
  
  public abstract class OSUtil {
  
  public static final List readCmdOutput(String command) {
      List result = new ArrayList<>();
  
      try {
          Process p=Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cmd /c " + command);
          p.waitFor();
          BufferedReader reader=new BufferedReader(
                  new InputStreamReader(p.getInputStream())
                  );
          String line;
          while((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
              if(line != null && !line.trim().isEmpty()) {
                  result.add(line);
              }
          }
      } catch (Exception e) {
          e.printStackTrace();
      }
  
      return result;
  }
  
  public static final String readCmdOutput(String command, int lineNumber) {
      List result = readCmdOutput(command);
      if(result.size() < lineNumber) {
          return null;
      }
  
      return result.get(lineNumber - 1);
  }
  
  public static final String getBiosSerial() {
      return readCmdOutput("WMIC BIOS GET SERIALNUMBER", 2);
  }
  
  public static final String getHardwareModel() {
      return readCmdOutput("WMIC COMPUTERSYSTEM GET MODEL", 2);
  }
  
  public static final String getHardwareManufacturer() {
      return readCmdOutput("WMIC COMPUTERSYSTEM GET MANUFACTURER", 2);
  }
  
  public static void main(String[] args) {
      System.out.println("BIOS Serial: " + getBiosSerial());
      System.out.println("Hardware Model: " + getHardwareModel());
      System.out.println("Hardware Manufacturer: " + getHardwareManufacturer());
  }
  }
  

You can use the output to decide whether it is a VM or a physical machine:

Physical machine output:

BIOS Serial: 2HC3J12
Hardware Model: Inspiron 7570
Hardware Manufacturer: Dell Inc.

Virtual machine output:

BIOS Serial: 0
Hardware Model: Innotec GmBH
Hardware Manufacturer: Virtual Box