How to get Linux version from the command line

Introduction

Given a minimal version of a Linux system, how can you know which distribution and which version of the distribution you are working on? This is a vital question. First, you may think about typing in uname -a, but this does not provide all of the information you may need. Luckily, there is a file that almost all distributions have that keeps this valuable data.

1. Using neofetch tool

Install neofetch tool.

# CentOS / Rocky / AlmaLinux
sudo yum -y install epel-release
sudo yum -y install neofetch

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install neofetch

With the package installed run the neofetch command to use it.

$ neofetch

Ubuntu output sample:

CentOS output sample:

2. Checking /etc/os-release contents

This is the /etc/os-release file. You might guess how it can be viewed because we covered the use of cat command previously. So, you simply do the following and you will happily have what you are looking for.

$ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="22.04"
VERSION="22.04.1 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)"
VERSION_CODENAME=jammy
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy

3. Using uname command

uname, on the other hand, provides the following system information:

• -a, –all print all information, in the following order, except omit -p and -i if unknown:
• -s, –kernel-name print the kernel name
• -n, –nodename print the network node hostname
• -r, –kernel-release print the kernel release
• -v, –kernel-version print the kernel version
• -m, –machine print the machine hardware name
• -p, –processor print the processor type (non-portable)
• -i, –hardware-platform print the hardware platform (non-portable)
• –version output uname version information and exit
• -o, –operating-system (mostly outputs GNU/Linux)

Examples of uname usage to get information about your OS release.

$ uname -o                                                                           
GNU/Linux

$ uname -m                                                                                                    
 x86_64

$ uname -r
5.15.0-58-generic

$ uname -s
 Linux

$ uname -a
Linux jammy 5.15.0-58-generic #64-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 5 11:43:13 UTC 2023 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

As you can see above, the distribution and version of the distribution cannot be found using the uname command.

4. Using lsb_release command

On Debian based Linux distributions, you can use the lsb_release command to print distribution-specific information.

Available options:

-v, --version: Show the version of the LSB against which your current installation is compliant.
-i, --id:  Display the distributor's ID.
-d, --description: Display a description of the currently installed distribution.
-r, --release: Display the release number of the currently installed distribution.
-c, --codename: Display the code name of the currently installed distribution.
-a, --all: Display all of the above information.
-s, --short: Use the short output format for any information displayed.  This format omits the leading header(s).
-h, --help: Show summary of options.

See examples on usage below.

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS
Release:	22.04
Codename:	jammy

$ lsb_release -c
Codename:	jammy

$ lsb_release -d
Description:		Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS

$ lsb_release -i
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu

Using hostnamectl command

For Linux systems with Systemd init, you can get some system information from hostnamectl command output, like the Operating System, Kernel version and CPU architecture.

Run the hostnamectl command as shown below.

root@jammy:~# hostnamectl
 Static hostname: jammy
       Icon name: computer-vm
         Chassis: vm
      Machine ID: c7e6502e86e14649a2d8e0bc52a1645c
         Boot ID: ea250abf24cb4081ac0d6d3c4e34e261
  Virtualization: kvm
Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS
          Kernel: Linux 5.15.0-58-generic
    Architecture: x86-64
 Hardware Vendor: Hetzner
  Hardware Model: vServer

See the complete list of available options with:

$ hostnamectl  --help
hostnamectl [OPTIONS...] COMMAND ...

Query or change system hostname.

  -h --help              Show this help
     --version           Show package version
     --no-ask-password   Do not prompt for password
  -H --host=[USER@]HOST  Operate on remote host
  -M --machine=CONTAINER Operate on local container
     --transient         Only set transient hostname
     --static            Only set static hostname
     --pretty            Only set pretty hostname

Commands:
  status                 Show current hostname settings
  set-hostname NAME      Set system hostname
  set-icon-name NAME     Set icon name for host
  set-chassis NAME       Set chassis type for host
  set-deployment NAME    Set deployment environment for host
  set-location NAME      Set location for host

See the hostnamectl(1) man page for details.

Check /etc/issue Content

View content on /etc/issue which also has OS release short information.

$ cat /etc/issue
Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS \n \l

Conclusion

Finding the distribution and version of the distribution is as easy as you have found out. We hope it was beneficial and informative.

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