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What do the flags in /proc/cpuinfo mean?

How can I tell whether my processor has a particular feature? (64-bit instruction set, hardware-assisted virtualization, cryptographic accelerators, etc.) I know that the file /proc/cpuinfo contains this information, in the flags line, but what do all these cryptic abbreviations mean?

For example, given the following extract from /proc/cpuinfo, do I have a 64-bit CPU? Do I have hardware virtualization?
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     E8400  @ 3.00GHz

flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 lahf_lm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
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1 Answer

Bharatgxwzm
Or alternatively you can use cpuid program, it must be in debian repository. It dumps every possible info about your CPU with some explanations, so you don't get those obscure flags.

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