acm

acm [OPTIONS] [COMMAND_FILE]
Where COMMAND_FILE is an optional input file containing commands or AML code to process for execution or analysis.

-h
    Displays the help message and exits, showing available command-line options.

-v
    Displays the version information of the acm utility and exits.

-d
    Enables verbose debug output or dumps parsed ACPI objects, depending on the context.

-f
    Redirects all standard output from acm to the specified file.

-l
    Sets the debug output level (e.g., 0-5), controlling the verbosity of messages during operation.

-e
    Executes commands or AML code from the specified input file as a batch process.

-p
    Parses an ACPI table (e.g., DSDT, SSDT) from the specified binary file.

acm, or the ACPI Machine, is a specialized utility included in the ACPI Component Architecture (ACPI CA) tools suite. It serves as an interpreter and debugger for ACPI Machine Language (AML), which is the bytecode used within ACPI tables. Unlike common user-facing utilities, acm is primarily designed for developers, system integrators, and advanced users who need to analyze, debug, or validate ACPI implementations.

It allows for processing of ACPI data tables, executing AML code, and tracing ACPI operations, making it crucial for low-level system debugging related to power management and hardware configuration. Its typical use involves processing input files containing AML code or ACPI data structures for testing and validation purposes.

acm is not a standard, widely installed user command on most Linux distributions. It is primarily an internal-use tool for ACPI development, debugging, and validation, requiring installation of the acpica-tools package. Its functionality is highly specialized and complex, intended for advanced users and developers working directly with ACPI specifications and low-level system interactions.

The primary purpose of acm is to facilitate the development and validation of ACPI implementations and firmware, rather than general system administration or everyday user tasks. It allows for detailed inspection, execution, and debugging of ACPI Machine Language (AML) code.

acm is typically not included in minimal or standard Linux installations. To use it, you usually need to install the acpica-tools or a similar development package, which might vary in name depending on your Linux distribution (e.g., 'acpica-tools' on Debian/Ubuntu, 'acpica' on Fedora).

acm is an integral part of the ACPI Component Architecture (ACPI CA) tools suite, developed by Intel. The ACPI CA provides an OS-independent reference implementation of the ACPI specification. The acm utility, along with other ACPI CA tools, has been crucial since the inception of ACPI for the development, testing, and validation of ACPI implementations across various operating systems, supporting proper power management and hardware configuration standards.

iasl(1), acpidump(8), acpi(1)