diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_docs.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_docs.yml
index a62fd12a5a102..364c0505152b2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_docs.yml
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: echo "${{ github.workspace }}/bin" >> "${GITHUB_PATH}"
 
+      - name: 'System information'
+        shell: bash
+        run: . ci/funs.sh && nimCiSystemInfo
+
       - name: 'Build csourcesAny (posix)'
         # this would work on windows and other CI use this on windows,
         # but we ensure here that `ci/build_autogen.bat` keeps working on windows.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_packages.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_packages.yml
index 247cd29718bd1..d033aba1070d8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_packages.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_packages.yml
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 2
 
-      - name: 'Install node.js 12.x'
+      - name: 'Install node.js 16.x'
         uses: actions/setup-node@v2
         with:
-          node-version: '12.x'
+          node-version: '16.x'
 
       - name: 'Install dependencies (Linux amd64)'
         if: runner.os == 'Linux' && matrix.cpu == 'amd64'
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: echo "${{ github.workspace }}/bin" >> "${GITHUB_PATH}"
 
+      - name: 'System information'
+        shell: bash
+        run: . ci/funs.sh && nimCiSystemInfo
+
       - name: 'Build csourcesAny'
         shell: bash
         run: . ci/funs.sh && nimBuildCsourcesIfNeeded CC=gcc ucpu='${{ matrix.cpu }}'
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
index b0fa8cab77584..112fb0a6236e8 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines.yml
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ jobs:
 
     - task: NodeTool@0
       inputs:
-        versionSpec: '12.x'
-      displayName: 'Install node.js 12.x'
+        versionSpec: '16.x'
+      displayName: 'Install node.js 16.x'
       condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['skipci'], 'false'))
 
     - bash: |
@@ -147,16 +147,7 @@ jobs:
       condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['skipci'], 'false'))
       displayName: 'Add build binaries to PATH'
 
-    - bash: |
-        set -e
-        . ci/funs.sh
-        echo_run echo 'PATH:' "$PATH"
-        echo_run echo '##[section]gcc version'
-        echo_run gcc -v
-        echo_run echo '##[section]nodejs version'
-        echo_run node -v
-        echo_run echo '##[section]make version'
-        echo_run make -v
+    - bash: . ci/funs.sh && nimCiSystemInfo
       condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['skipci'], 'false'))
       displayName: 'System information'
 
diff --git a/ci/funs.sh b/ci/funs.sh
index 52dbc916274b2..cad0052468804 100644
--- a/ci/funs.sh
+++ b/ci/funs.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 echo_run () {
   # echo's a command before running it, which helps understanding logs
   echo ""
-  echo "$@"
+  echo "cmd: $@" # in azure we could also use this: echo '##[section]"$@"'
   "$@"
 }
 
@@ -67,6 +67,19 @@ _nimBuildCsourcesIfNeeded(){
   echo_run cp bin/nim $nim_csources
 }
 
+nimCiSystemInfo(){
+  nimDefineVars
+  echo_run eval echo '$'nim_csources
+  echo_run pwd
+  echo_run date
+  echo_run uname -a
+  echo_run git log --no-merges -1 --pretty=oneline
+  echo_run eval echo '$'PATH
+  echo_run gcc -v
+  echo_run node -v
+  echo_run make -v
+}
+
 nimCsourcesHash(){
   nimDefineVars
   echo $nim_csourcesHash