Identifying distros and versions

slyskawa · 04-17-2009, 11:43 AM

I have old equipment that I load various Linux distributions and versions and then I don't use them for an extended period of time. Is there a standard way to find out what distribution I am running or what version of that distribution?

If there is not a standard, then can someone point me to the commands would work for the majority of the distributions? I've tried about 15 different distros, most of them would be in the top 25 category of distrowatch.

Thanks for your help. This is my first post on LQ.

unSpawn · 04-17-2009, 11:56 AM

Welcome to LQ, hope you like it here. Usually catting /etc/*release* or equivalent should tell. If you want to have a go at detecting distro's and releases you could have a look at Rootkit Hunter: it has detection logic for most distro's that adhere to some form of /etc/*release*.

slyskawa · 06-17-2009, 05:23 PM

There is a great response to this question at http://fixunix.com/ubuntu/527917-ubuntu-version.html posted by "old guy"

Fred Caro · 08-16-2009, 11:47 AM

uname -a to find whomsoever you are.

fred.