Determining Your Linux Version

With Microsoft Windows it is easy to determine the version of the MS Windows Operating system currently installed. With Linux it is easy to determine the version of the Linux kernel you are running. However, the distribution version is determined differently depending on which distribution you are using. Also, further component version information depends on distribution and kernel.

[Krissy's Question and Answer] addresses the issue of determining installed version information briefly. Here we explore it in greater detail.

Linux Kernel

Q: how can I tell what linux kernel version I have?
A: type 'uname -s -r'

Linux Components

gcc compiler

Q: how can I tell what gcc version I have?
A: type 'gcc --version'

glibc

Q: how can I tell what glibc version I have?
A: type '/lib/libc.so.6'

Xwindows / XFree86 / and Windows Managers

XFree86

Q: how can I tell what vesion of xwindows I have?
A: type 'XFree86 -version' or 'xdpyinfo'

Linux Distribution Specific

There is no one super command to accomplish this. Instead you will need to make some observations.

• Use 'dmesg' to see if system displayed distro during boot.
• Check for presence of certail signature distro files,
• You may also check the issue or issue.net file. type 'cat /etc/issue'
• Many distributions create a 'release' text file in /etc. Try typing 'ls -a /etc |grep -i release'
• Or try: 'cat /etc/*release' or 'cat /etc/*version'

CentOS

CentOS creates '/etc/centos-release'

Debian

Debian creates '/etc/debian_version'

Knoppix

With the CD in the drive (doesn't work for disk installation) type: strings /mnt/cdrom/KNOPPIX/boot.img | grep BETA
for installed knoppix, at the shell type: /etc/knoppix-version

Mandrake

at the shell type: cat /etc/mandrake-release

Mint

at the shell type: cat /etc/apt/sources.list

Redhat

Redhat creates '/etc/redhat-release'

SuSE

SuSE creates '/etc/SuSE-release'

Ubuntu

at the shell type: sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
or within the GUI, System > About Ubuntu
or at the shell type: lsb_release -a
or at the shell type: sudo cat /etc/apt/sources.list|grep Release