---
name: "sg_rmsn"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "sg3_utils"
version: "1.49-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/sg_rmsn"
---

# sg\_rmsn(8)

send SCSI READ MEDIA SERIAL NUMBER command

## NAME

sg\_rmsn - send SCSI READ MEDIA SERIAL NUMBER command

## SYNOPSIS

**sg\_rmsn** \[*--help*\] \[*--raw*\] \[*--readonly*\] \[*--verbose*\] \[*--version*\] *DEVICE*

## DESCRIPTION

Send a SCSI READ MEDIA SERIAL NUMBER command to *DEVICE* and outputs the response.

This command is described in SPC-3 found at www.t10.org . It was originally added to SPC-3 in revision 11 (2003/2/12). It is not an mandatory command and the author has not seen any SCSI devices that support it.

## OPTIONS

Arguments to long options are mandatory for short options as well.

- **-h**, **--help**

  output the usage message then exit.

- **-r**, **--raw**

  sends the serial number (if found) to stdout. This output may contain non-printable characters (e.g. the serial number is padded with NULLs at the end so its length is a multiple of 4). The default action is to print the serial number out in ASCII-HEX with ASCII characters to the right. All error messages are sent to stderr.

- **-R**, **--readonly**

  opens the DEVICE read-only rather than read-write which is the default. The Linux sg driver needs read-write access for the SCSI READ MEDIA SERIAL NUMBER command but other access methods may require read-only access.

- **-v**, **--verbose**

  increase the level of verbosity, (i.e. debug output).

- **-V**, **--version**

  print the version string and then exit.

## NOTES

Device identification information is also found in a standard INQUIRY response and its VPD pages (see sg\_vpd). The relevant VPD pages are the "device identification page" (VPD page 0x83) and the "unit serial number" page (VPD page 0x80).

The MMC-4 command set for CD/DVD/HD-DVD/BD drives has a "media serial number" feature (0x109) \[and a "logical unit serial number" feature\]. These can be viewed with sg\_get\_config.

## EXIT STATUS

The exit status of sg\_rmsn is 0 when it is successful. Otherwise see the [sg3\_utils(8)](/sg3_utils/8.md) man page.

## AUTHORS

Written by Douglas Gilbert.

## REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to \<dgilbert at interlog dot com\>.

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2005-2012 Douglas Gilbert\
 This software is distributed under a BSD-2-Clause license. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

## SEE ALSO

**sg\_vpd(sg3\_utils), sg\_get\_config(sg3\_utils)**